Page 95 of Virtuous Lies
I bite my bottom lip, working to camouflage my triumphant grin.
“Fuck,” he growls. “Pussy would be so slick right now,” he mumbles to himself.
Tucking my arm around his, I pull myself into his body, resting my head on his shoulder as westroll.Taking a large bite of my pretzel, I chew around a happy smile. My life is as close to perfect as I ever imagined it could be. At eighteen, I can deduce that most people would consider me delusional. I’m married to a mobster whose life is entwined with crimes I want no business knowing about. He hurts people; he executes people like others would file reports. Many people would look into Vincent’s life and see a felon, a sinner who deserves comeuppance. But evil deeds don’t define the inner workings of his heart. His sins haven’t and will not strip away his virtue. Wicked actions played out in defense of family and honor will be viewed as heroic by those he loves and as immoral by those who don’t understand.
We pass people as we wander, paying them no mind until a blond woman who has a small baby strapped to her chest approaches with a smile.
“Morning, Zoe,” Vincent murmurs.
“Hey.” She drops down to her haunches. “Cute dog.” She pets Panda. “Though, I think my cat could eat him.” She laughs lightly.
“You have caused irrevocable damage by that very innocent comment.” I smile at her. “Hi. I’m Bianca, Vincent’s wife, and this is Panda.”
She stands, stuffing her hands in her pocket. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zoe. Vincent comes into the coffee shop where I work most days.”
“Who is this?” I step closer, keeping my hand wrapped around the crook of Vincent’s elbow, peeking at the sleeping baby.
“This is Bodhi. Bodhi doesn’t like to sleep at night. Only during the day.”
I grin. “Lucky Bodhi is very cute.”
“Mm,” she agrees.
“I haven’t seen Tripp around lately,” Vincent comments, his voice quiet. He keeps his distance, a step back from where Zoe and I stand near Panda.
Zoe crouches back down to pat the dog. “He’s out of town for a case. He’ll be back tomorrow,” she comments absently. “Tripp is my husband.” Zoe looks up at me, including me in the conversation.
“You could’ve put a leash on your cat and joined us in walking ours,” Vincent teases.
Zoe laughs. “That’s funny. You’re funny.” She sighs, standing. “Potter is a terrible companion. He wouldn’t walk. I’d be forced to carry him the entire way, and he’d scratch me in protest for removing him from the comfort of our apartment. Plus, I’m not walking.” She gestures to the large bag held in her hand. “I was drawing for a book I’m illustrating. I needed inspiration, and Bodhi would only sleep on me. Two birds, one stone.”
“You illustrate books?”
She nods. “I make coffee a few days a week to get out of the house, but, yeah, children’s books mostly.”
“That’s really cool,” I comment.
She smiles. “I should get going. See you soon, Vincent. You should come into Caffeine Coma, Bianca. I make exceptional coffee.”
“I will,” I tell her, knowing my promise isn’t empty.
“Bye, Panda.” She scratches under his chin before walking away with a farewell smile.
“She’s nice,” I say.
Vincent watches her retreat for a beat longer. “She’s come out of her shell a lot over the past few years. When I first met her, she was a ghost.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He starts walking, taking the lead from my hand.
I follow.
“She was petrified of everything. She spoke to no one. She made coffee,goodcoffee,” he corrects. “But something awful was going on in her life.”
I glance back. “She talks to you.”
“Now she does. She slowly started opening up. I would see her in the coffee shop with a bunch of people talking about books or something, and then I started seeing her with Tripp too.”