Page 17 of A Sinner's Truth

“I’m good.” I close the distance, pick up the papers, and start reading through the first page. “A prenup? Did you sign this?” I ask her.

“No. They wanted me to sign it at lunch.” Aria opens the fridge, doing nothing to stop me from snooping through her documents.

“So how is this going to work?” I throw the papers back down on the counter. I don’t need to read them. Because she’s not fucking signing them.

“How’s what going to work?” Aria closes the fridge, removing the stopper from a wine bottle before she reaches up to the glasses hanging under the top cabinets, grabs one, and fills it to the brim.

“This marriage for a year thing?” I can’t believe I’m considering doing this. I thought about it all night. At first, it felt like I’d be betraying Shelli. But it’s not a real marriage. There won’t be any aspect of it that’ll be real. And if I can help this girl out, why the fuck not?

It’s not like I’m going to fall in love. I don’t even know this chick. But we can pretend. Not only will it help her with her problem, it’ll also get my family to stop trying to push me into moving on.

I don’t make a habit of lying to my brothers. Technically, if I marry Aria on paper, I won’t be lying when I tell them she’s my wife. I’ll just be omitting the part about how it has an expiration date.

I’m also using any excuse to keep my mind off the cryptic shit Kristen was talking about last night. I’m not naïve. I know Shelli was hiding something from me. I’ve just been burying my head in the sand and pretending it isn’t true.

“You turned me down,” Aria says. My gaze fixates on her lips as she sips from her wineglass. What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Let’s say I’m prepared to go along with it. What do I get out of the deal?” I already know what I get, but I’m interested in seeing what she’s prepared to offer me.

“What do you want?” she counters.

“Rules,” I tell her. “If we do this, we need ground rules.”

“Okay, what kind of rules?” Aria takes a seat on one of the barstools.

“This is marriage on paper only. Don’t fall in love with me. It won’t do you any good,” I warn her.

“No sex. I’m not sleeping with you,” Aria states without missing a beat, which has me feeling both relieved and annoyed at the same time.What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Deal. I wasn’t planning on putting out anyway,” I tell her.

“Good. What else you got?” Aria presses.

“Nobody can know that this is fake. Everyone has to believe it’s real.”

“My best friend knows,” she says. “Other than that, I haven’t told a soul.”

“You trust her not to say anything?” I ask.

“I trusthimnot to say anything,” Aria clarifies.

Interesting.Her best friend is a guy. Why the fuck isn’t she just marrying him? “Is he gay?”

“Definitely not.” She laughs.

“Married?” I try again.

“Nope,” she says.

“Why aren’t you doing this with him then?”

“My father wouldn’t believe it. I need him to believe it,” she says. “And Drew is, well, kind of a whore. Fake or not, I don’t want a husband who’s going around and sleeping with half the population of Melbourne.” She gulps a heap of wine. “I mean, you can sleep with other people. Just do it discreetly.”

My brows draw together. “We’re not sleeping with other people,” I grunt.

Her eyes widen. “But you don’t want to sleep with me. Surely you’re not going to just not do it for a whole year?”

“Easily.” I lean closer to her. “If you think any man is going to touch you while you’re married to a De Bellis, you don’t know who you’re marrying.”

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