His Secret Sin

Opening each door in turn, he checked to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.

Nothing stood out. The apartment looked like it wasn’t lived in. He moved from the sitting room, to the kitchen. He checked in the fridge to see the milk had spoiled. Closing it up, he looked in each bedroom.

When that didn’t show anything, as a final straw, he opened the last door, which was supposed to be a closet.

He couldn’t make anything out, and he grabbed the switch on the light, flicking it on.

“Bingo.” The closet was covered in pictures, notes, and plans. He saw images of himself leaving the club, his home, and even Belle’s apartment. There were pictures of her, and of the capos.

They never stuck to a strict schedule as it helped them stop the chance of getting hurt. Seeing all the evidence before him, he dialed The Boss.

“You need to get the hell out of there now. They’re coming for you.”

“Diego?”

“Get the fuck out now. There’s going to be an attack.” Closing his cell phone, he rushed out of the apartment. “We’ve got to go. The Boss needs us.”

Angelo’s real target had been The Boss. Once he took him out, the entire outfit would spin out of control, and there wouldn’t be able to fend off every single attack. He’d underestimated Angelo. He only hoped he could fucking fix this before it got worse.

****

For fun and boredom, Belle put her head on the floor and began to lift her body up, flinging her legs back until they rested on the bed. She lifted up, and rolled over, falling over the other side of the bed. She turned, and did this again.

She couldn’t recall a time in her life when she’d ever been so bored. If she wanted to, she could try to explore the house, but she’d already killed Diego’s other lamp, and well, she didn’t want to bump into his father.

The older man … unnerved her.

She didn’t know what he wanted from her exactly, but it always left her with a twisting in the pit of her stomach. He was a man of few words, but his presence always made her want to be elsewhere.

When there was a knock at the door, she frowned. Diego always entered letting her know it was him. His father entered, and rarely spoke. Richard never did.

“Who is it?”

“It’s, erm, it’s Charlotte Durante.”

This made Belle tense up.

The woman who was supposed to marry Diego.

“I don’t think you should be here,” she said.

“I think we should talk.”

“I don’t think we should.” There was no way she could sit with the other woman. She was going to be married to Diego, while she was the other woman. The mistress. Even thinking it pissed her off.

The door still opened.

Charlotte didn’t respect boundaries. Why wasn’t she surprised by that?

Belle waited for the other woman to speak.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you.”

“I don’t think we should meet. I don’t think it’s what Diego would want.”

“I, erm, my dad told me what happened. You’re Belle Johnson.”

“I am. You’re Charlotte Durante.”

“Yes.”

“You’re engaged to be married to Diego.” It didn’t stop hurting no matter how many times she kept on saying it.

“The wedding has been postponed for a couple of weeks.”

“I’m sorry.” Inside she was jumping for joy. Why are you happy? He lied, and he was more than willing to cheat. Asshole.

“Can I approach? I know you can’t see. I don’t want to scare you.”

“Have you come here to kill me?”

“No. I just wanted to see you. Maybe talk to you. I don’t think having all this information dumped in your lap is fun.”

“No, it really isn’t. I’m still waiting to find out what happened with my dad.” She clasped her hands together, feeling the bed dip close beside her.

This isn’t weird.

Just a fiancée checking in with her fiancé’s girlfriend.

Belle tried not to wince at her own thoughts. “I didn’t know he was engaged. He doesn’t wear a ring. I would have checked.”

“How would you have checked? You’re blind.”

“My hands. I’d have felt a ring or at least an indentation of where a ring lies. He wouldn’t have been able to lie about that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Our engagement has been rather sudden. It was arranged. What they think is best for the capo.”

“Do you want to get married to him?” Belle asked. This conversation would be a lot easier if Charlotte was a bitch.

“I can’t answer that.”

“There’s only two of us here. It’s not like I can run to the cops.”

“That’s not funny,” Charlotte said.

“I’m not laughing. I’m just being honest with you. You’re here. How crazy is this? The fiancée coming to see the girlfriend. I didn’t want this.”

“I don’t want to get married,” Charlotte said. “I wanted to continue my education. I’d love to be a teacher one day.”

“Why can’t you do that? Pursue what you want?”