Page 32 of A Sinner's Virtue

Gabe nods before exiting the room with Vin and me close on his tail. “What the fuck was that?” he asks as soon as the door clicks closed.

“That was our brother finally losing any sense of reality he had left,” Vin says.

“We need to find a way to help him. We can’t let him continue to spiral,” I chime in.

“We need to get him to pull back on the drinking. Let’s start with that,” Gabe suggests. “When we get home, we need to find more shit for him to do. Give him shit to occupy his time.”

“Might be a good start.” I nod.

“What if it doesn’t work? What if he’s lost and we can’t get him back?” Vin asks.

“We don’t give up on each other. Ever. If he can’t fight for himself, then we fight for him. We will find a way to get him back,” Gabe says.

“You two go. I’ll stay and make sure he falls asleep,” Vin replies.

As soon as I get back to my room, I take a quick shower and then message Zoe. She’s probably asleep, but I need to talk to her.

Me:

Hey.

The little dots pop up and then her name flashes across the screen. I immediately answer the call before pressing the phone to my ear.

“Why are you up so early?” she asks.

“Why are you?” I counter.

“I had a little body in my bed kicking at me all night,” she says.

Yesterday, she mentioned that her family came to town. She’s told me a bit about them. I know that Mikhail and Izzy, the people who took Zoe in, have three little kids that she adores. What I don’t know is how she came to live with them. That’s a question for another time, though.

“Yeah? Should I be jealous someone other than me is in your bed?”

“Probably.” She laughs. “Why are you awake, Marcel?”

“I’ve been up all night with Santo. He, uh, he didn’t handle the whole wedding thing all that well.”

“What happened?” she asks.

“He started talking to his fiancée as if she’d come back from the dead,” I say. “He was drunk, obviously, but still.”

“I’m sorry. That must be hard,” she replies without the hint of judgement in her voice. “On you as well as on him.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy. Tell me something good.”

“You’re coming home today. You still coming over tonight?” she asks.

“Try to keep me away,” I tell her. “Is your family still going to be in town?”

“No, they’re leaving around noon.”

“Pity, I would have loved to meet them,” I admit.

“Yeah, let’s not do that yet,” she says. “Lucy wants to do a double date this week. But it’s okay if that’s not your thing. I can tell her no.”

“A double date with Lucy and Dom? Why not? Should be fun,” I say while thinking a date with Dominic McKinley will be anything but fun.

“Are you sure?” Zoe asks.