Page 16 of Did My Heart Love Till Now?

“Good morning, handsome."

I woke to a soft voice before I even opened my eyes. The sensation of a tender kiss, pressed to my cheek.

“Good morning, baby.” Stretching, I pulled Sofia into my arms.

Our legs entwined together. Last night after our fun on the beach, I brought her back to the beach house and we spent a while showering the sand off. As erotic as it had been, sex on the beach takes a long time to wash off you...or out of you.

Afterward, we planned to watch a movie in bed until we passed out, but we ended up paying less attention to the movie and spent more time talking. Yes, talking. I was not known for chatting with women in depth. I did not usually even get their names. Last night, I found out way more about Sofia than I anticipated, and I loved every moment.

Just as my lips pressed to hers, the door to the bedroom flew open. Startled, we both turned toward the sound. Joey marched in angrily. Sofia grabbed the blankets, yanking them up to her neck. I shot up to a sitting position.

“What the fuck?!”

Without a word, he snatched the remote off the nightstand next to me and pointed it toward the television on the wall.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“This.” He raised the volume then folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the screen.

A reporter appeared in front of my home with a microphone up to her chin. Oh my God! My mouth fell agape. Sofia slapped her hand over her mouth.

...outside the front gate of the D'Angelo family's home right now and there is no word if police have evidence at this time. We will be continuing with live footage throughout the day....

The camera panned over to the left, zooming in through the black, wrought iron bars of the gated entrance. That's when I saw my father, in a pricey grey suit, hands cuffed behind his back.

...and there is Silvio D'Angelo right now as he is being taken into custody...

Half a dozen uniformed men escorted him to a black, unmarked SUV. My father had that look in his eyes he got when someone was about to die a terrible death.

...what we know right now is...

Before she could finish her sentence, I yanked the remote and turned the news off.

Joey turned to us disapprovingly, hands on his hips. “I hate to be that friend,” he took a deep breath, burying his face in his palms, “but you two are about to have a hell of a time trying to hide whatever this shit is.” He marched toward the door.

I gritted my teeth. “What the fuck did my father do this time?”

He swiveled around. “Well, I actually don't know if he did anything this particular time, but her uncle,” he nodded his head at Sofia, “was found dead this morning and there is great suspicion that both our dads were the ones who did it.”

“WHAT?!” Sofia shrieked.

“Your uncle Donato.” Joey showed no remorse.

“WHAT?!” Sofia repeated, immediately collapsing into a fit of tears. Pulling the blanket up to her eyes, she sobbed.

Wrapping my arm around her, I guided her to my chest. “J, get out.”

He averted his gaze to the floor, pausing for a moment before he met my angry glare. “Sofia.” He cleared his throat, softening his tone.

She peeked out from my embrace but did not respond.

He exhaled. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

She nodded, sniffling.

The fake tone in his voice was only evident to me, but he was trying to be kind in his own way for my sake. The family always came first, but he was a faithful friend. He would never betray me despite the rules of the family.

Before he could exit the room, my phone rang. It was my mother. I rested the phone to my ear cautiously.

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