Page 34 of Sins of Bliss

“Last fall I fell in love,” I start, taking a deep, shuddering breath as I look up at my brother. “We were together in secret until August’s proposal shifted us off our axis. He asked me to run away with him, or to come clean about our relationship, and the afternoon I was supposed to meet him with my decision, August showed up at my apartment with a file of photographs. He’d been having us tailed for weeks.”

I purposely omit that August had slapped me and knocked me unconscious. That’s a detail I plan on keeping to myself.

“By the time he left, I was too late. Sl—the man I love thought I didn’t want to be with him, that I was choosing August. And he left town.”

My brother narrows his eyes and takes a slow bite of his quiche, listening to my every word. I can see the wheels in his head turning. “Yet there’s a reason why you haven’t tracked him down to tell him otherwise. What hold does August have over you, V?”

Tears line my eyes, and I grow so exasperated it all begins to bubble to the surface. I amnotthis woman. August shouldn’t have this power over me, but fear for Sly’s life holds me so tightly, I can’t break free. Logically, I know in my heart if I told Sly, this could all be over, yet there’s that small part—the two percent of me—that screams, ‘but what if August kills him first?’

And that’s the part that keeps me rooted in my decision.

Telling my brother won’t change anything, still I hear myself whisper, “August is threatening to kill him if I don’t comply with his demand to marry him.”

I hear my brother chuckle and I glare at him from beneath my lashes. “Oh, sweet, naïve sister. You’re aPaladino. Do you truly think that the St. Jeans hold more weight than the Paladinos in this city? Your little lover boy’s life isn’t truly at risk, August has just manipulated you into believing it is. Who is he, anyway?”

“You don’t know August like I unfortunately have come to, Luciano. Trust me on this one. I wouldn’t be putting myself through hell if I wasn’t one-hundred percent positive his life would be in danger if I were to back out.”

“What reason would August have to threaten this man’s life? You still haven’t told me who he is.”

“And I won’t,” I tell him, shaking my head. “It’s not important anymore. What is important is that his life is safe—protected—because tomorrow as of five p.m., August will get what he wants.”

My brother’s lips purse and he leans back in his chair, relaxing into it as he looks at me skeptically.

Wanting a distraction from the conversation, I let my eyes wander out the window, and I watch the cars as they pass by. The air constricts in my lungs when I see an all black Ducati amongst them. I stare at the driver, scrutinizing his build, his posture, his everything, wondering if it’s Sly.

I only breathe again once he passes.

“Tell me, Vinnie. I can help you if you tell me who he is.” My brother breaks through the fog in my mind. Slowly, I turn back to look at him.

“Ican’t,” my voice cracks.I won’t.

Luciano doesn’t press me further, and slowly our conversation drifts into mundane chit-chat. We don’t speak of tonight’s rehearsal dinner, or the pre-wedding Paladino brunch, but I can tell there’s more he’d like to say.

By the time we stand to part ways, my heart feels heavy, and I dread going back to the office for two more hours.

I’m looking down at my phone as I breeze through the lobby of my office building, when I hear a voice call to me, the melodic echo bouncing through the space. “Miss Paladino!”

Stopping, I turn toward the reception desk and smile at the woman standing behind it, her arm in midair. She’s new, and I can’t recall her name, but her smile is vibrant as she tucks a lock of her platinum blonde hair behind her ear.

“Sorry to interrupt you!” she says as I walk toward her. “You had a gentleman stop by while you were gone. I told him you had left for the day. I apologize—I hadn’t realized you’d be back.”

My heart plummets into my stomach, my entire body freezing in place. Salvia lodges in my throat as I try to swallow through the clash of panic and excitement that runs through me, my thoughts immediately jolting back to Sly.

“That’s okay. Did he leave his name?”

She doesn’t need to say it. Not really. My instinct is already screaming his name, wondering if he’s still around, or went elsewhere to find me.

“I’m sorry, he didn’t. Once I said you’d left, he didn’t stick around. For what it’s worth, he was strikingly handsome. Looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I'd seen him before. Well-groomed beard. Accent.”

Probably the newspapers. His face has been plastered across since news broke of his injuries.

Headlines reading, “Son of Renowned Manhattan Surgeon shot in California Drive-by.”

I can feel my body begin to tremble. “How long ago was that?”

“About thirty minutes or so, maybe forty.” My head bobs as she speaks.

“Thank you so much,” I reply with shaky breath, and before she can answer, I’m walking away. My heels click against the tile flooring as I rush toward the revolving door, desperate for fresh air.

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