Page 26 of When Sinners Dare

“No. You listen and listen good. He found the body and called the police. Everyone has been notified, and we’re heading back now,” he explains, talking to me as if I might have trouble understanding his words.

“Why are we lying and saying Dante found the body?”

He looks over to me before flicking his gaze back to the road. “Because you fled. You ran, and it makes you look guilty. Walking into the house to find her, on the other hand.”

I frown and think, unsure what to say. “Do the others know the truth?”

“What truth, Mariana?” He sounds tired now, less aggressive.

“Abel, don’t. Don’t treat me like a child,” I plead. “I can stand by my own mistakes.”

He sneers and floors the car, like that tempers racing back again. “You can barely stand on your own two feet at the moment.”

“I had a drink. Don't pretend you wouldn't need one if-”

“Oh, fuck you, Mariana.” He swerves, pulling us over to the side and slamming on the brakes. Dust kicks up to the side of me, and I pull in a breath to wait for whatever’s coming. “A fucking drink? So, you killed her, got scared and then ran and tried fucking something to make yourself feel better? And you think you're ready for more? Children run. This just proves how goddamn problematic you are.”

The air crackles between us as silence descends, and I don’t say another word. Abel’s right – I did run. And, just like he and Dante have always done, they’re protecting me. “I'll say this once and never again, Mariana. Don’t fucking push me. You think I’ve been hard on you before, you won’t know what’s hit you if you keep acting like a child. Grow up. Take instruction. Behave. Use your goddamn head, and maybe we'll get through this. Don't fucking make me shackle you down.”

Dust kicks up again, and we’re tearing back out into the road. The seething tone of his words chastise me enough that I don't talk until we’re closer to home, hoping that he’ll calm down. Maybe I need the time to take a moment for myself before facing what’s coming next, too. “Dante’s covered the gate access and CCTV, so it doesn’t show you were at the house earlier,” he eventually says, calmly. “If the police want to check, they’ll be able to track you on traffic cam footage, but there’s no reason for them to investigate.”

“Okay.” Sounds like they’ve got it all figured out.

Another stretch of silence.

“Abel?” He frowns and looks sideways at me. “Do you believe me? When I say it was an accident, do you believe me?” The alcohol and adrenalin are fully out of my system now, and as we get closer, the stark reality of my actions hits me in the pit of my stomach. I wonder if any of my brothers felt guilt the first time they killed someone.

“You're not a murderer, Mariana. Stupid as fuck, yes. But guilty? No.”

“You don’t think-”

“Enough. There’s nothing you can do either way now.” He rubs his eyes, staring out into the night. “None of us can. You need to learn to deal with the reality of her being gone.”

I nod and pick at my dress. “What does that mean, though? What reality?” I ask because it sounded ominous.

“We’ll talk about it all later. Right now, we have a show to put on. There will be police at the house, probably an ambulance or coroner. You need to make sure nobody, not even Knox or Shaw suspects that you were there.”

I listen to his words and let them sink in.

“Mariana? Answer me. Do you understand?”

I look to him, and he’s glancing at me, trying to read me. “Yes, I hear you,” I murmur. Although, we’ve never had secrets between us. The family, for all its flaws, is open about everything we do. Nothing is hidden, so the fact I’m being asked to lie about something as important as this feels off. Rotten.

We pull up to the gates which are already open, and drive in. There are cars everywhere. Dante’s, I recognise, and Shaw’s, but there are also police cruisers and an ambulance.

People swarm all over the place like ants, all getting on with their jobs. Before I get out of the car I look over to Abel. Despite his treatment of me earlier, I know he did this to protect me, and I’m grateful. It was just a reminder, that’s all. Maybe a warning. Definitely his way of getting his anger out.

He nods at me and gets out of the car.

As I exit, I stand and watch for a moment before I see Dante on the top of the steps. My feet race me over the driveway and up towards him before I fling my arms around his neck. He pulls me in for a brief hug and then lets me go, but that’s all I need. The reassurance from him gives me the courage to stand up to all of this and face my brothers knowing what happened.

It's only a few moments later when a gurney with a zipped-up body bag is wheeled out from the house. It turns the blood cold in my veins as I’m faced with seeing her body.

“Why is she still here?” I ask under my breath. “I thought she’d have been taken away.” My heart begins to pound and my stomach lurches as the image of her body in the kitchen flashes before my eyes.

“It’s only been a few hours.”

We both stand and watch as the men load her up into the back of the van.

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