A Sinner’s Truth (De Bellis Crime Family Book 5)
A Sinner’s Truth: Chapter 25

I’ve spent the last two hours giving Aria a tour of the distillery. She seems genuinely interested in everything I’m showing her. Then again, I thought Shelli was faithful and loved me. My perception is obviously shit.

Am I just seeing what I want to see? I want Aria to embrace this role, both as our newest campaign manager and as my wife. She doesn’t know I’m putting her in charge of a campaign for Cinque Dolore. The label has taken off, but I think it has the potential to be better.

“This is so good, and I don’t even like whiskey,” Aria says after tasting my signature blend.

“Those words are blasphemy around these parts, darling,” I tell her. “I created this one myself.”

“What’s it called?” Aria asks.

“Cinque Dolore.” I hate that this blend was born from my pain and grief right after Shelli was murdered. She didn’t deserve the months I spent mourning her. I never thought anything would make me hate that woman, but one page from her journal has me wanting to bring her back from the dead just to strangle her myself.

I wouldn’t actually be able to do it, though. I know that. If Shelli had told me what she’d done, I would have helped her. I would have found a way to forgive her because I loved her. I thought she was my one.

But now, as I’m looking into Aria’s big green eyes, I’m starting to wonder if Cammi is right. Maybe there is more to life than just existing. I’m not foolish enough to allow myself to fall for it though, whatever this is with Aria. It’s temporary and that’s the best way for it to be. When it comes down to it, everything in life is temporary really.

“What does it mean? Dolore?” Aria asks.

“Pain, grief. I created it after Shelli died,” I tell her.

There’s pity in her eyes, and I hate it. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. No one should have to feel that kind of loss.”

“She cheated on me. The baby she was carrying—the one I thought was mine… wasn’t. She had an affair with a fucking cop. It’s not a loss.” I shrug. The pain in my chest rips through me. The urge to hit something is strong.

“Yeah, but you didn’t know that then, and you experienced a great loss because of it. Even if the ending wasn’t what you thought, that doesn’t take away the years of greatness that you did have with her.” Aria pours two more glasses and hands one to me. “To new beginnings and middles,” she says.

“To endings that never come,” I add before clinking my glass against hers.

Why the fuck did I say that? We have a literal timer counting down the days to our ending. It’s coming.

“So, what is it exactly that you want me to do around here?” Aria asks.

“I want you to create a new campaign for Dolore. This is the best blend we have,” I tell her.

“Okay, any ideas as to what you want?”

“You have free rein. Come up with a few different options and I’ll look at them.” I take Aria’s glass from her grip and then wrap my hand around hers, leading her out of the barrel house.

I guide her around the corner, stopping when I see my brother walking up with Logan Galaze. I didn’t know Gio had a meeting here today. If I did, I wouldn’t have brought Aria with me.

My brother’s glare falls to me, then to my wife. His jaw ticks, but other than that little tell, he keeps his poker face. Our number one rule is to keep our women as far away from the life as possible. This, having her in the same space as a member of another crime family, is too close.

“Santo, there’s some paperwork I need you to look at in the office,” Gio says, slowing down but not stopping.

Logan does stop. He holds his hand out to me. “Santo, good to see you.”

“You too.” I return the gesture.

“And who is this?” His beady eyes roam up and down the length of Aria’s body. Beady eyes that I’m going to rip out of his fucking head.

“My wife. Aria,” I grit out.

Logan laughs. “Oh, I heard you got married. Aria Swan, nice to meet you.” Logan doesn’t hold his hand out again—thank god, because I would have broken his fingers before he touched her.

“It’s Aria De Bellis now, thank you,” she says, and I smile. I’m so fucking proud of her use of my name. I think she’s going to make the most of it over the next twelve months. And I hope she does. It can open a lot of doors for her.

“Good seeing you,” I say, pulling Aria along with me as I continue walking.

“Who was that?” she asks once we’re out of earshot.

“No one you need to know,” I tell her. I let my own eyes roam over her body now. She’s dressed respectably. Her skirt reaches her knees and her blouse is buttoned up to cover most of her cleavage. But fuck me, does she give off the sexy secretary vibe. “Is there anything you can do to make yourself… less appealing?”

“Less appealing?”

“Yeah, like… not so fucking sexy.” I don’t like it when other men look at her.

“I’m not even showing much skin, Santo. What do you want me to do? Wear a habit?” She laughs.

I try to picture it. “Fucking hell, I just got hard to the image of you as a nun. If I wasn’t going to hell, I sure as fuck am now. I’d still fuck you if you were a nun, by the way. So that’s not going to work.”

“If I were a nun, I wouldn’t be having sex with anyone,” she tells me.

“I’d find a way to tempt you to the dark side.” I smirk at her. I’ve made it a point to learn her body as much as possible. She makes it easy, though. Every time I touch her, she responds. My fingertips trail down her collarbone. “I’d bend you over the back of the pew, lift up the tunic, and fuck you from behind. With Jesus watching us from the crucifix.”

Aria’s breath hitches.

“Then I’d lay you down right in the middle of the altar, and I’d feast on you like you were my last supper. I’d go to town eating you out.” My fingers run up her neck. Her pulse quickens. I can feel the rapid beat beneath my fingers. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d love sinning with me.”

“If you’re going to hell, maybe I want to burn along with you,” she says.

“Nah, you’re far too innocent for hell, darling. You’re heading upstairs, not down,” I tell her.

Aria’s innocence is what attracted me to her in the first place. That and her fuckable body. It’s as if she came to life from one of my fantasies.

“Teach me,” Aria says.

“Teach you what?” I lean in and press my lips right over the pulse point in her neck.

“Mmm, how to be bad, how to not be so innocent,” she moans as I nibble over the spot I just kissed.

I pull my head up and look at her, my eyes boring into hers. “No.” My voice is stern.

“No? What do you mean no?”

“I don’t want you to change. I love your innocence. I love that you’re too good for me, and the last thing I ever want to do is to bring you down with me. I’m an arsehole, but I’m not going to taint your soul, Aria. You are perfect just the way you are,” I tell her.

Her teeth bite into her bottom lip for a split second; then her arms wrap around the back of my head and she pulls me against her. “I like being bad with you. It’s the most freeing I’ve ever felt,” she says before her mouth slams onto mine.

My hands land on her ass, grabbing on to the soft flesh there and picking her up. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I walk around the building and press her back up against the wall. “It’s daylight. Anyone could see us out here.”

“I don’t care,” she moans as she grinds her core against the hardness of my cock.

“Still don’t like sex?” I ask her while reaching between us to undo my belt and then my pants.

“I like sex with you,” she says. “You know how to actually do it well.”

I like sex with you. I have an irrational need to imprint myself on her, to make sure no other man will ever satisfy her the way I can. “You’re pretty fucking good at it too.” Moving her panties to the side, I line my cock up with her entrance and push against it. She’s soaked already.

“Oh god,” she groans as I start ruthlessly thrusting in and out of her. I want to make this quick. As much as I like the risk of being caught—or rather I like that she likes it—I’d have to kill anyone who actually saw us. Saw her like this.

“I need you to come, darling. You don’t want someone popping around that corner and seeing us.”

“I don’t care. Let them watch. Oh… don’t stop.” Her legs tighten around me.

My palm closes over her throat. “This is for my eyes only. Your pleasure is mine and I’m not sharing it. Tell me it’s mine, Aria. Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours. It’s yours!” she screams.

Her pussy clamps down around my cock as her orgasm blasts through her. I thrust into her three more times before I spill myself inside her. There’s something about filling her with my cum that I can’t seem to get enough of. It’s not that I want to impregnate her. We’re temporary. But I sure as shit want to mark her as mine.