A Touch of Sin |18+|

08

ALANI

"He said that?" Silvana asked, staring at me wide-eyed from across the table.

I nodded my head, taking a sip of my coffee. "He did."

"Wow," she whispered. "I'm sorry for thinking that he'd be different outside of work. The stuck up little shit." She sounded in awe, almost as if she couldn't believe it. Me neither. But I did stop thinking about it and Silvana had requested all the details—over a nice cup of coffee.

I wasn't going to see him again, and that was that but still, I entertained her curiosity.

"Yeah," I said, leaning my elbow onto the table. "That's basically it. He walked me to my car and said things weren't going to work out," I said, grimacing as I recalled the events with Diego.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if he had put me off dates for a while.

I picked up my fork, ready to dig into my second slice of cake. The diner we were in was a cute place located on the corner of a busy street. Sixties themed—white and pale pink interior. The classic checkerboard flooring. It was our first time trying it and it was already becoming a favourite.

Silvana sighed, reaching over the table to rest her hand on mine. Her nails were painted a bright red, matching the colour of her hair. She had a concerned expression on her face when she spoke again, "You have no idea how sorry I am."

I scoffed a small chuckle. She seemed genuinely worried, but I already forgotten about it. Especially after seeing Valerio.

"Don't worry about it," I said, waving her off. "The food was good. Thankfully."

She smiled, the tension melting away from her face. "Right. The important part."

"Exactly."

Her smile quickly faltered, replaced by another solemn look that had me rolling my eyes at her.

"I'm sorry for not showing up at the club," she said apologetic. At first, I was mad at her. Possibly unreasonably mad. But she explained that her little brother fell and broke his wrist in two places and it was hard to be upset about that.

"Stop apologising before I throw this cake at you," I threatened, pointing my fork at her. Silvana chuckled, taking a bite of her own cake.

"Fine," she said playfully, looking down at her plate. "Let me make it up to you, Alani. Come out tonight with us and I promise—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"Why not?"

I looked at her incredulously. Was she really asking me that? "I think I'm going to stay at home." I said, taking a mouthful of my vanilla cream cake.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I thought about it for a moment.

Perhaps going out with friends—familiar people would do me good. Staring at Silvana, I was a second away from giving in. Until my phone vibrated. I reached for it on the table, turning it around and there was a message from an unsaved number.

I had another drink of my coffee, nearly fucking choking as I read the words.

Be my date tonight.

-V

Date? With Valerio? I gazed at my phone for a second too long, wondering where he got my number. Or if what I saw was actually not an impossible figment of my imagination. The way the statement was worded—not a question in the slightest.