Page 40 of Never Die for a Sinner
One thing about Bella? That girl neverjustwalks. She’s always rushing somewhere, even if it’s just to refill her water bottle.
“The house is damn near spotless.”
“It can be better,” Paulina replies flatly, not even sparing her niece a glance.
Bella raises an eyebrow and tosses her long, dark braid over her shoulder. “Why don’t you scold Levi for all those greasy car parts littering the garage? Now that’s a real crime.”
Paulina’s eyes twitch. For a second, I think she might combust right in front of us, veins in her neck straining with the effort of not saying something truly incendiary. Then she huffs like a bull preparing to charge and stalks out of the kitchen with the force of a hurricane in heels.
“Those boys will be the death of me . . .”
Bella and I wait a beat. Then we look at each other—and lose it.
I slap a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh. Bella grins and shakes her head, cracking open a water bottle and taking a long drink like she didn’t just stir the pot and set it to boil.
“Thank you,” I say through a sigh, setting the napkins down on the counter. “She was two seconds away from giving me a mop and a toothbrush.”
Bella smirks, leaning against the marble island. “Of course. I know how my aunt can be.”
“A dust bully?”
“You know what they say. If she’s hard on you, that means she likes you.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” I mutter, sliding onto one of the barstools. Bella sets a plate of grapes between us, and I take one, chewing slowly.
Bella grins wider and tosses a grape into her mouth. “What happened to your car, by the way?”
The question slams into me out of nowhere. I freeze. My fingers curl around the edge of the stool. “What do you mean?”
“It showed up on a tow truck this morning,” Bella says casually, reaching for another grape. “Levi said it broke down.”
My mouth goes dry. My cheeks heat instantly, and I fight to keep my expression neutral.
“Oh. Yeah. It just kind of . . . stopped working,” I say, forcing the words out.
Bella frowns. “Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come and picked you up.”
My heart starts beating faster. “Your brother saw me on the side of the road. He stopped. It wasn’t a big deal.”
But it was.
I can still feel the ghost of his lips on mine when he drank whiskey from my tongue. Still hear the rasp in his voice when he said my name like it meant something. And no matter how many times I’ve brushed my teeth today, I can’t seem to erase the taste of him.
Bella raises a brow, clearly reading more than I meant to reveal.
“No big deal, huh?” she says slowly, a knowing gleam in her eyes.
I look away, focusing on a random speck of flour on the counter and willing myself not to smile. Or blush. Or unravel completely.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I grumble under my breath, trying to sound casual, but the sound of footsteps behind me forces me to snap my mouth shut.
Oh, no.
“I’m just saying,” Mila’s voice floats down the hall, in some heated debate with Levi and Christian. “A bakery could really take things to the next level.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Bella chimes in, her tone far too smug for someone pretending to be neutral. There’s a glimmer in her eyes—mischief, or maybe just too much awareness—and it makes my stomach flutter with nerves.
They dissolve into conversation, discussing the possibilities of adding a café to the lodge, while I try to wrangle my heart beating frantically in my chest.
