Chapter 4
Chapter Four
" G et up. You gotta go," a deep, gravelly voice breaks through my sleep-fogged brain.
"Huh?" I slowly blink my eyes open.
"Your time here has expired. I got shit to do, and you're not it. Sorry, sweetheart, but you have to leave."
I glance at the guy sprawled out next to me in bed and want to rip that smirk off his too-pretty face.
"You're a fucking asshole," I hiss at him. "And you fuck like a preteen getting pussy for the first time." I jump out of bed, suddenly wide awake, as I snatch last night's dress and bra from the floor.
I can feel his eyes on me. I'm completely naked, but I remember everything. I wasn't that drunk. And even though he's an asshole, he's a safe asshole. He's not going to hurt me. Not physically anyway. Just with his sharp words it seems. I don't know how I know that. But I do.
"That's not what you were saying last night when you were screaming my name," Marcel says.
I turn a seething glare on him. "Don't flatter yourself. I was just giving you what you wanted to hear. I'm a people pleaser." I smile, pivot on my heel, and walk into the adjoining bathroom. Slamming the door shut before locking it. If he wants me to leave, I will. But not until after I shower.
I take my time too. The water pressure is next level. Besides, knowing that Marcel wants me to get out of his room, well, that only makes me more defiant.
Then a thought hits me. I did it. I went out. I went home with someone, well, to a hotel anyway. And I had a one-night stand. I actually did it. And the sex. I'll take it to my grave, certainly never admit it out loud, but the sex was mind-blowing.
After I've had my fill of his hot water, I towel dry my hair and throw my clothes back on, sans underwear. Thanks to the asshole who destroyed them. Although, at the time, I have to admit it was kind of hot. I find a comb in his toiletries bag and use it to rake through my damp hair. I refuse to walk out of this hotel looking like shit.
"The water pressure's good, by the way," I hum as I walk out of the bathroom, reach down, and pick up my discarded bag from the floor. Then I slide my feet into my heels, turn, and walk out of the bedroom.
"Wait," Marcel yells out after me.
"What?" My palm is already wrapped around the handle. Ready to yank the door open and get the hell out of here.
"I, uh, I didn't catch your name," he says, raking a hand through his hair.
Yes, he did. He just doesn't remember it. Which is probably for the best.
"No, you didn't," I lie, instead of correcting him. Guess he was drunker than I thought. Though he didn't seem to be. "See you around, Marcello. Or not." I've spent enough time around Izzy's side of the family to know his full name and how to use it. Then I tug open the door. Only to have my worlds colliding.
"Zoe, what the fuck?"
Shit. God, no. This cannot be happening to me. Now, of all times.
"Dom? What the fuck are you doing here?" Marcel asks from behind me.
Dominic McKinley, Lucy's fiancée. The same Lucy who happens to be my boss and friend. Oh, and there's also the fact that Dom is like a cousin to me. It's complicated, but his family tree is tied to the Valentinos. Specifically, he's related to Izzy's cousins. Which means me being here. In this hotel room. With Marcel. Could very well get back to Mikhail.
My one-night stand might be an asshole but I don't want the guy dead. Hurt, maybe. But dead? No.
"Marcello, really? Fuck, it was nice knowing you, bro." Dom laughs while shaking his head.
"You didn't see me here. You don't know me. I'm out." I point to Dom, quickly pushing past him before making my way out of the room and down the hall. I'm not sticking around to be interrogated. And I really don't wanna know how those two know each other.
As if on cue, just as I disconnect my call with Izzy, the doorbell rings out. My adoptive mom literally stayed up just to hear how my night went. I told her that I met Marcel, not in as much detail as she wanted, and purposely left out his name.
Dropping my phone onto the coffee table, I get up and walk to the front door, which is already swinging open before I can reach it. Lucy steps inside with a look that says "I know what you did last night" written all over her face.
I'm honestly surprised it took her this long to turn up. I thought for sure I would have heard from her within thirty minutes of leaving the hotel this morning.
I hold up my hands, stopping her when she opens her mouth. "Before you start, I just want to say one thing."
"Fine. What?" she asks while turning to close my front door.
"I…" Shit, what do I say? "I don't want to talk about it." I pivot on my heel and stalk back into the living room, throwing myself far too dramatically onto the sofa.
"Too bad. This is way too juicy not to talk about." Lucy sits next to me, a hundred times more ladylike than I just did. Placing her bag on the coffee table, she shifts her body towards me. "You had sex!" she squeals in an ungodly high-pitched tone. "And with a De Bellis at that," she adds.
"A what now?" I narrow my eyes at her.
"A De Bellis brother, the hot one too. Well, technically, they're all hot. But don't tell Dom I said that," she's quick to clarify. "Marcel, though? That man is fine with a capital F-I-N-E. Zoe, you had sex with Marcello De Bellis."
"Shh, the whole neighbourhood does not need to hear my business." I jump across and cover her mouth with my hand. Lucy sticks her tongue out, licking my palm. "Ew, gross." I pull my arm back and wipe my hand against her pants.
"Like I was saying, you had sex with Marcel. So?" she asks, not missing a beat.
"So what?"
"Don't play coy with me, Zoe Petrov. Was it good? Was he good?"
"Good sex is really perception based. Like what I might think is good, you might think is mediocre, right? So how do I know if it was good or I just haven't experienced really great sex yet?"
That's it, Zoe, I cheer myself on. Deflect, deflect, deflect.
"Dom is the best sex I've ever had. Ever will have. That man is… Well, it's beyond good." Lucy looks off into the distance before shaking her head and refocusing on me. I am not going to ask where her thoughts just went. "Anyway, did he make you come?"
"Yes."
"More than once?"
"Yes."
"And you're sitting here questioning if it was good?"
"No, I'm just saying what I thought was good could be different from what you think is good," I repeat. "Do you want a drink? Coffee? Tea?" As I go to stand, Lucy grabs my arm.
"Not so fast. Fine. Let's try it your way. In your opinion, was it good? Wait… Was he… Did he treat you right? Because if he didn't, I'm going to feed him to Dom's pigs myself." She grinds her teeth.
"He was plenty nice last night. But I guess sometime between last night and this morning, my prince turned back into a frog. Or rather, an ass."
"What'd he do?"
"Woke me up and told me that my time had expired or some shit like that." My jaw clenches at the memory. It's not like I wanted to stay. I don't care if I ever see him again, but he didn't have to be such an asshole about it.
"He what?" Lucy jumps up from the sofa, her arms thrown in the air. "I'm going to skin him alive. I don't even care if he's Dom's only friend."
"Wait… How friendly are we talking here? How come I've never heard of him before?"
"I've never had a reason to bring him up." She shrugs. "And, honestly, a De Bellis brother would be one of the last people on earth I'd think you'd climb into bed with."
"You keep saying that. De Bellis. What is that?"
"Marcello's last name. His family is… Well, they're kind of a big deal in Melbourne's underground."
"He's in the mob?" I groan.
"His family, yeah," Lucy confirms.
Of all the people in this city…
"Oh god! Izzy and Mikhail cannot find out about this," I tell Lucy. "Make sure Dom doesn't tell anyone else. Please."
"I've already threatened him. He won't say anything. Dom's not much of a talker anyway," she says.
"What'd you threaten him with?" I ask her.
"You really don't want to know," Lucy says. "How about that drink? You could probably use one yourself. You know, after all that hot sex last night." She winks at me.
"I didn't say it was hot sex," I groan.
"You didn't say it wasn't either. And it's Marcel. Which means it was definitely hot sex." She laughs.
"It really was," I admit while covering my face. "But it was a onetime thing. It's not happening again. I went out to see if I could do it. If I could actually have a one-night stand. And I did." I smile. I'm honestly really damn happy that I didn't crumble. I did it.
"Hell yes! You do you, girl." Lucy follows me into the kitchen.
I set the kettle on, then turn around again. Lucy's eyes are glued to her phone. Her face is pale. "What's wrong?" I ask her.
"Dom just messaged me," she says, not looking up from the screen.
"Lucy, you're scaring me. What happened?" I cross the kitchen, closing the distance between us.
"It's Shelli… She was murdered."
I frown, trying to recall if I've ever met anyone named Shelli. I don't think I have.
"She was Santo's fiancée. They were getting married today. I was meant to be meeting Dom at the church in a few hours." Lucy peers up at me. "Marcello's future sister-in-law was murdered last night."
I have this sudden urge to find Marcel and find out if he's okay, but that's stupid. He literally kicked me out of his hotel room this morning, and then there's the fact that I don't even know the guy. Why would he want some random chick he hooked up bothering him at a time when his family is in mourning?
"That's awful. Is there anything I can do? Did you know her?"
"I met her a few times. I didn't know her all that well. But she always seemed nice. What I do know is how much in love they were. This is going to destroy Santo."
"I don't even know what to say. I couldn't imagine that happening on the day you're supposed to get married."
"I know. Me either." Lucy types something into her phone.
"How… I mean… Do you think…" Crap, what am I even asking?
"Dom's with Marcel now. He's not in a good way," Lucy says, as if reading my mind.
For some reason, I don't like that he's hurting. I shouldn't care. He didn't seem to care when he was throwing me out of his room this morning. Why the hell should I care if he's hurting?
But I do, and I hate that I do.