A Sinner’s Truth (De Bellis Crime Family Book 5)
A Sinner’s Truth: Chapter 28

Santo drove me to my father’s house. I tried to tell him that he didn’t need to. I can do this alone. We might be married but it’s not real. I’m not going to lean on him at a time I could use someone to lean on. I can’t allow myself to get used to him being there. I just have to remind myself that this is temporary.

“Who are all these people?” I ask Santo, looking up at my father’s house. It’s crowded with men and women.

“Cops. Don’t say a fucking word to any of them. Don’t leave my side, Aria. Your father was murdered. And until we know who did this and why, I don’t want you out of my reach.” Santo’s hand grips mine. Tight, so tight. I don’t say anything, though. If he wants to hold me, I’ll let him. But I’m not going to let myself be lulled into the comfort his touch brings me. That would be stupid.

My father was murdered. Someone wanted him gone. Who would do that? I know he wasn’t the best of people, but he was just a businessman. Who on earth would want to kill him?

“What do you need to do?” Santo asks.

“I need to get some things from his office,” I reply. “Are they going to let me in?”

“I’d like to see them try to stop us,” Santo grunts out, storming towards one of the men with a badge around his neck.

Santo says something to him in Italian and they shake hands. The man nods and steps aside, letting us into the house. I show Santo into my father’s office. There are three men and two women in here, going through my father’s things.

“Everyone get the fuck out.” Santo’s voice booms through the room.

“Mr De Bellis, condolences for your loss,” one of the men says and nods at the other four before they all exit the room.

“Does everyone always do what you tell them?” I ask Santo as I walk over to the wall. I push the picture of my mother to the side and reveal the safe door.

“If they want to keep breathing, they do,” he says.

I punch in the code. It’s my mother’s birthday. I remember my father telling me when I was younger that if anything happened to him, I needed to come and empty this safe before I did anything else.

The door opens to three shelves. Two are stacked with papers, but on the top one, there’s a blue velvet box. I pick up the papers and hand them to Santo. “We need to take these,” I tell him.

“What are they?” he asks, looking down at the manilla folders.

“No idea.” I shrug as I reach inside, grab the blue box, open the lid, and gasp.

“What is it?” Santo is right behind me.

“My mother’s jewellery.” My fingers trace over her wedding band and engagement ring, and then I see the locket. The necklace I’ve been waiting so many years to get my hands on. I pick it up, pass the box to Santo, and open the locket. My mother’s beautiful face smiles back at me. The picture opposite it is my baby photo. “It’s her necklace. The one my father kept holding over my head. He told me her jewellery was in the bank’s vault,” I say. “It’s been in here all this time.”

I unclasp the ends of the necklace and place it around my neck. The heart sits just above my cleavage. This is all I wanted from my father, and it took him dying for me to get it. He used this necklace as a means to control what I did my whole life, threatening to take away my trust that included my mother’s jewellery if I didn’t do whatever he wanted.

When I turn around, Santo is staring at me with a contemplative look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I ask him.

“Nothing. Is there anything else you need to grab?”

I glance around the office. I’ve always hated being in here. “No,” I say.

“Let’s go home.”

“I need to make arrangements,” I tell him. “For the funeral.” For the first time in my life, I actually wish my father was married to someone, anyone, because then it wouldn’t be up to me to make his funeral arrangements. “I need to speak with his attorney.”

“You don’t have to do all that today, Aria. It can wait,” Santo says.

“No, I’d rather do it now.” I need to do it now. How do you plan a funeral? I’ve never had to do this before…

The moment we step outside, I spot Drew waiting by his car. I don’t think as I run right into his arms. He closes me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Aria.”

I want to cry. I want to let the tears out, but I’m not going to. There is too much to do. I pull away and Santo’s hand lands on my lower back.

“Thank you. Why are you here?” I ask Drew.

“Your father just died, Aria. Where else would I be?” he tells me.

“He didn’t die. He was murdered. I have to go talk to his attorney and then figure out how to plan a funeral.”

Drew looks behind me to Santo. Neither says a word but then Drew looks back at me. “You know that can wait until tomorrow. And you can hire someone to do all that for you. You don’t need to do it yourself.”

“Why wouldn’t I do it? I’m his only child. I should plan his funeral. Do you think I need to tell all the ex-wives?” I ask Drew. “I should call them, right?”

“Why? To let them know their gravy train has ended?” he balks.

“They might care?” I lift a shoulder.

“I’m sure they will. I can do that for you. Want me to make arrangements with a funeral home?” Drew offers.

“No, I want to do it.” Why does everyone think I can’t do this? It’s basically a party where the guest of honour isn’t actually there. How hard can it be?

“You need to eat.” Santo places a plate on the coffee table in front of me.

“I’m not hungry,” I tell him, keeping my eyes on my laptop screen. “Do you know how many types of caskets there are? How do you choose? Like it’s not as if the person can feel the comfort. They’re dead.”

“Aria.” Santo snatches the laptop from me. “Eat. You haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“I’m not hungry and I need to make decisions.” I reach for the laptop.

“You’re using this planning as a way to avoid,” Santo tells me.

“I’m planning my father’s funeral, Santo. What the hell do you think I’m avoiding?” I yell at him.

“The grief you’re feeling,” he says.

“Grief? I just lost the only parent I had, but he was a shitty father anyway. It’s really not a loss.” My fingers clutch the locket around my neck. Santo’s eyes drop to my hand.

“You can still grieve the loss of a shitty parent,” he says.

“I don’t need to waste time on grieving. I need to plan his funeral so I can move on with my life.”

“Move on with your life?” he asks. “How exactly does that look for you?”

“I don’t know,” I tell him.

“You’re going to inherit Swan Enterprises. You have your mother’s locket. You’re free from having your father control your life, so what are you going to do next, Aria?” Santo spits out, almost like he’s angry about all those things.

“I don’t know,” I repeat.

“It’s okay to be upset, Aria. It’s okay to not know what happens next and it’s okay to give yourself time to process everything that’s happened.”

He’s right, though. I am free. I have my mother’s necklace. My father can’t try to force me to marry anyone now. Which also means I don’t need to stay married to Santo. Is that what he’s getting at? Our arrangement can end?

Do I want that? I don’t think I’m ready for it to end. I was supposed to have a year with him.

“Do you want me to leave?” I ask him.

“Why the fuck would I want you to leave?” Santo growls.

“Because we don’t need to be married anymore. The reason we got married was so my father couldn’t sell me off to the highest bidder. He’s dead, Santo. He can’t do that now.”

Santo stands and starts pacing the room before he suddenly stops. “We had a deal, Aria, one year. You still owe me eleven months.”

“You want me to stay?” I’m so confused. What is he getting out of this arrangement other than sex? Which, let’s be honest, he can get from anyone he looks at.

“Yes,” Santo says. One simple word.

“Okay.” I grab the laptop and open it. “What casket do you think I should pick?” I ask, quickly changing the subject.