Page 16 of When Sinners Dare

“Mariana!”

“Sorry.” I stop and take a breath. “What do I do? Do I call the police? No, I didn’t mean that. But I mean, she’s dead. I pushed her. How can I explain that? How can I tell everyone?” I turn around and stare down at her body. The cloud of blood has grown, seeping in a steady direction away from the body. “What if she isn’t dead? What about the body?”

There’s no answer on the other end of the line, and panic and guilt take hold in my stomach, making me feel sick. I run my hand through my hair and look out into the hall. There’s normally staff. Where are the staff? “Dante, what about the staff at the house?” My voice hits a new octave, and I rush back into the kitchen and shut the door behind me.

“Bella, I need you to calm the fuck down.”

“Dante, I just killed her. Our mother. Do you hear me? I can’t calm down. Now is not the time to be calm.”

“I’m on my way.”

“You’re going to take care of this?” I whisper. “Like with the guy at the hotel for Lexi?” The words strangle in my throat this time, like I’m chocking on them.

“That wasn’t on me, but don’t worry about that. Just stay where you are.” I can hear him get into his car and start the engine.

“And Abel?” I ask.

“No. This is your mess, Mariana. You didn’t kill her. It was an accident. But you’re responsible, and so you need to handle it.”

“What do you mean, handle it. Our mother is dead,” I whisper, terrified that someone might come in at any moment and find me.

“You have to call Abel.” Cold dread settles on my skin at the thought. Abel’s relationship with her was always different to the rest of us. Maybe because he’s the oldest, or maybe because he’s done so much for her – under her direction. But for the first time, I’m scared of what my brother’s reaction might be. “Time to be the big girl now, Bella.”

CHAPTER SIX

KAI

The low sound of buzzing wakes me, and I roll out of bed to find the noise.

It’s only when I’m up and half-awake that I realise it’s the sound of a tattoo gun.

I check the clock – Five thirty am? Jesus.

Slumping back on the bed, I stare at the ceiling, about ready to go knock some sense into whoever the fuck thought this was the right time of day to put ink on skin. Ten minutes of trying to calm myself down, and I end up slinging the damn covers and getting up anyway. Coffee gets downed, and I shrug into some jeans and my battered Iron Maiden Tee. Takes me about five more minutes to work out which key belongs to the door in my bedroom that heads downstairs, and another five getting the fucking lock unlocked.

The smell of more strong coffee hits me the moment I get into what I guess is the main back storeroom. I look around, searching for the smell’s source. High racks dominate one side of the room, with clear, locked boxes filled with ink and parts neatly organised by colour coding. I keep looking, almost in awe at the detailed precision of the space. I don’t know what I expected the back room of a tattoo parlour to look like, but this wasn’t it. Maybe I expected mess and stained walls. Or some kinda chaos where we all fought for the last bottle of something. That’s not what this is at all. It’s almost military in its strictness.

A rowdy commotion of laughter suddenly breaks my thoughts, and I head out of the space and follow the sound. Six doors lead off the wide industrial corridor I get to, most of them open, apart from one at the end. I knock on it, and the laughter immediately quietens.

“Yeah?” a woman’s voice shouts.

“Coffee?”

The door swings inwards, and a short, raven-haired woman looks up at me. Dark eyes glare, heavy eyeliner accentuating them. I half look around her and see another woman lying on the bench. Full frontal on display and half a new chest piece going on. “You did not just look at my client while she’s nearly naked?” the woman spits.

I look back at her, a wry smile creeping up my face. And then I realise that’s probably not acceptable. So, I cough and keep my fucking eyes to myself. “Yeah. No. Anyway, I’m Kai. Coffee?”

“Never interrupt a session.”

“Not even for coffee?”

“I’d like a coffee,” the woman at the back says.

My eyes move.

“Don’t you dare look back there!”Shit.“You a fucking pervert?”

I frown and back off the door completely. “Jesus, give me a break. No. I’ve barely seen a woman for eight years. I just wanna make you both some fucking coffee.”

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