A Sinner’s Truth: Chapter 13

My heart rate increases. I can feel it beating rapidly in my chest. I fucked up, bringing her into my world. This woman reeks of innocence, and I’ve just tied her to me, put a huge fucking target on her back, and she doesn’t even know it.

“I will do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to you. I’m not going to make promises I can’t keep, though. You need to be smart. Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t go out alone. Be observant of your surroundings. We have enemies, and right now, those enemies see you as my weakness and won’t think twice before trying to use that fact against me. But like I said, I’ll do everything to make sure you are safe,” I tell her.

Aria’s face pales a little. “Right. Don’t talk to strangers. But if I followed that rule, I wouldn’t have met you and you wouldn’t have ridden in on your white horse and saved me from a fate far worse than being married to you.”

“I’m no Prince Charming, sweetheart. Get that idea right out of that pretty little head of yours,” I’m quick to warn her.

Aria smiles, a little colour returning to her cheeks. “You think I’m pretty?”

I roll my eyes. “You know you are. Come on, let’s get this over with. Just remember: Whatever you hear about me, don’t believe a word of it. Or at the very least, come and ask me if it’s true first.”

“Are you a serial killer?” Aria asks as we walk up to the front of the house.

I chuckle. “No. Are you?”

“I couldn’t be. I don’t like blood,” she says.

“There are plenty of ways to kill someone without making them bleed,” I grunt.

“Okay, well, if I ever consider that career path, I’ll ask you for pointers. Are you a cannibal?”

“What the fuck? No.” My face screws up at the thought of eating human flesh.

“Okay, well, whatever anyone tells me about you, it can’t be that bad. You’re not going to kill or eat me.” She shrugs.

My eyes roam over her body. I could definitely eat her.

I shake that thought from my head. I can’t go there. I won’t go there. I’m doing this for her, to help her. Call it my good deed for the decade. The fact that I don’t hate being around her just makes it a hell of a lot easier.

With Aria’s hand gripped firmly in mine, I push open the door and am immediately ambushed by Eloise, who shoves my crying nephew into my arms. “Good. You’re here. He’s in a mood, and it’s your fault. Take Aurelio with you. It’ll make him less grouchy,” she tells me before turning to Aria. “Hi! I’m El, his sister-in-law, and I guess yours now too. Welcome to the family and don’t pay attention to my husband’s mood. I swear he has better moments.”

“Thank you. It’s good to meet you.” Aria smiles politely at Eloise and then glances at me with a strange expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her while bouncing my nephew up and down. He stops crying and snuggles into me.

“Nothing. Are you in trouble?” she whispers, as if she doesn’t want anyone to hear.

“No.” I clasp Aria’s hand in mine again as I turn back to my sister-in-law. “El, you go first. He won’t shoot if you’re in front of me.” Aria’s face pales again. I squeeze her hand. “I’m kidding. My brother has never shot me, on purpose,” I assure her.

“But he’s shot you… not on purpose?” she asks me.

“It was an accident, when we were kids. Long story.” I smile, trying to ease some of her apprehension. It’s gotta be daunting coming here.

“I didn’t know that,” Eloise says.

“There’s a lot you don’t know. Gio was a slutty teenager.” I laugh.

Eloise glares at me, and right now, I think she might be more intimidating than my brother. “Take that back,” she growls.

“Whoa, calm your farm. I take it back.” I look at Aria, nodding my head as soon as Eloise isn’t looking, and earn myself a little giggle.

The moment we step foot into Gio’s office, I realise he’s not alone. No, all of my brothers are in here. Great way to throw Aria right into the wolves’ den. I was hoping to soften the blow by introducing her to each of them individually, spread out over a couple of days.

“Did I miss the memo? This a family reunion?” I ask.

“Oh shit, kid has jokes.” Gabe laughs. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“Fuck off. Everyone, this is Aria, my wife. Aria, this is Gio, Gabe, Marcel, and Vin—my dipshit brothers.” I point each of them out as I go.

Gabe is the first to step forward and wrap his arms around Aria. She, however, doesn’t drop my hand. She returns his hug with one arm while squeezing my fingers so fucking tight I think they might fall off.

“You’re too pretty for his ugly mug,” Gabe says.

“You do realise you look alike, like really alike,” Aria replies, glancing from me to my brother and back to me again.

“Yeah, but I’m prettier.” Gabe smirks.

I shove at his shoulder. “Get the fuck away from her,” I grunt.

Marcel comes up and hugs Aria next. When he walks back over to the sofa, Aria turns to me and whispers, “Are they all huggers?”

“Not those two.” I point to Gio, who is leaning against his desk. Then to Vin, who is sprawled out on the sofa, his arms spread across the back and an ankle resting on a knee.

“Welcome to the fam,” Vin says.

“Thank you.”

“Aria Swan, right?” Gio asks.

Aria looks at me. “Aria De Bellis, actually,” she corrects him.

I smile. Smart girl. Gio’s lips tip up at one corner. He almost grins. “Welcome to the family. Let me know if there is anything you need.”

“Thank you,” Aria says.

“I’m going to go show her around,” I tell everyone.

Gio nods but he gives me that look. The one that says we’re going to talk. I know this isn’t over just yet. He comes and takes Aurelio from me. “We’ll talk soon,” he says, in case his look wasn’t enough.

“Sure thing, boss.” I pivot on my heel with Aria’s hand still clutched in mine. I need to get her out of this room before she decides this was a mistake and runs for the hills.

Why the fuck do I even care if she does? I’m doing this to help her. The fact it gets my family off my back about moving on is a plus. But I don’t need it. I don’t need her.

I take Aria straight upstairs to my room. It’s odd having her in this space. I haven’t had anyone else in here. There’s framed pictures of Shelli and me on the dresser, pictures that immediately catch Aria’s eye. She picks one up and sets it down without asking any questions.

“Her name was Shelli. You’ll probably hear about her, so you should know,” I start, and quickly realise I can’t do this conversation sober. I walk over to the wet bar, remove the lid from a bottle of Cinque, and tip the open top into my mouth. After a few chugs of the amber liquid, I turn back to Aria. “She was my fiancée.”

“Was?” Aria repeats.

“She was murdered the night before our wedding,” I explain, and watch her eyes widen.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeah, everyone is fucking sorry.

Aria doesn’t press me for more, which I’m grateful for. I need to get out of here. Being with her in here is fucking with my head, and I’m having thoughts I shouldn’t fucking be having for another woman.

“Will you be okay hanging out alone for a bit? I need to go do a few things.” I have to get away from her. She’s confusing the fuck out of me, and I need some clarity.

“Ah, sure. I can go home,” she says.

“Aria, this is your home. Help yourself to whatever,” I tell her before walking out. Leaving her alone in my bedroom.

As soon as I’m in the hallway, I breathe in a lungful of air. My hands shake as I try to get a grip on my emotions. I can’t fall apart here. It’s not the place.

Just as I think I’m going to make a clean escape, a few steps between me and the front door, I’m stopped by Gio. “What’s the deal?” he calls out after me.

“There is no deal,” I tell him.

“So, what? You just woke up one day, got over your grieving, and thought you’d marry a stranger?” He crosses his arms over his chest while pinning me with a glare.

“Pretty much.” The words taste like bile in my mouth. I will never get over the only woman I’ve ever loved, and my brother knows that.

“What about Shelli?” He lifts a questioning brow in my direction. “Last I checked, three was a crowd in a marriage.”

“Shelli’s dead, Gio. She ain’t coming back. Aria is a great girl. You just need to get to know her,” I tell him.

“You love her?”

“I don’t have to love her to want to be with her.” I can lie about almost anything. Deny all the blood that’s on my hands, claim I didn’t see shit when it happened right in front of me. Our father made sure we all knew how to lie when it mattered. I won’t say that I’m in love with someone who’s not Shelli, though. I can’t do that.

“If you say so.” He shrugs. “Her old man okay with this little union?”

“What do you know about him?” I ask.

“He’s wealthy, on the straight,” Gio says.

“I met him today. He’s not all that straight.” I threatened to take everything he owns before I killed him if he tried to interfere with my marriage to Aria. I didn’t mention the fucked arrangement he had, the one where he wanted to marry his daughter off as part of a business deal. I don’t need him to know I’m looking into that.

“What do you mean?” Gio asks.

“Just a feeling. I gotta go. People to see, things to do,” I tell him.

“You just got married and you’re going to leave your new wife here alone?”

“She’s an independent woman. She’ll be fine.” I wave a hand over my head in my brother’s direction. I need to see Shelli. I need to apologise to her.

I bring the opening to my lips and sip at the whiskey. I’m halfway through the bottle. “I’m sorry,” I mumble to the figure standing at the end of her grave in her favourite white dress. I’m leaning against the headstone.

“What are you sorry about?” Shelli asks me.

“I married someone today. She wasn’t you,” I admit before taking another chug from the bottle.

“You got married?” Her eyes flick to my left hand. “Why are you here and not with her?”

“Because I needed to see you. I hate that I did this to you.”

“You didn’t do this to me, Santo. I did,” Shelli says.

“What do you mean?” I ask before movement out of the corner of my eye has me turning my head and seeing my brother walk towards me.

“You’re spending your wedding night at your former fiancée’s grave. I don’t think that’s a healthy way to start a new marriage, Santo.” Gio walks up, snatches the bottle out of my hands, and takes a swig.

“I needed to apologise to her,” I tell him.

“You haven’t done anything wrong.”

I have though. The thoughts I’ve had about Aria are wrong. “I lied. Aria and I are faking it. This whole marriage thing.”

Shit, maybe I need to slow down on the drinking.

“Why?” Gio asks.

“I met her in a bar. She literally fell into my lap. Asked me to get her out of an arranged marriage. At first, I turned her down. But then I saw her with her father and the man she was practically sold off to, and I had to help her,” I explain.

“Oliver Densper. He’s a spoilt trust-fund brat. Why would a father want his only daughter marrying a guy like that? It’s not for the money.”

I shouldn’t be surprised that Gio knows about the arrangement. “No idea yet. But he lost his shit when he found out,” I say. “Whatever deal he had with the Denspers, we just blew a rocket through it.”

“You like her,” Gio states. “I haven’t seen you look at someone like that since Shelli.”

“I can’t like her. I can’t do that to Shelli,” I tell him.

Gio’s brows furrow. “Come on. Let’s go home,” he says. “You’ve left Aria alone in a strange place. Real or not, she’s your wife in name, and we don’t treat our women like that.”

He’s right. What was I fucking thinking leaving her alone? She’s going to be pissed. But then again, the thought of Aria all riled up gets me excited.