Page 8 of The Taste of Deceit

“She just lost her mom a few months ago. Do you understand that? Do you understand what that did to her?”

“I do.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

She starts pacing, crossing the room before turning back. Her arms fold tightly across her chest before she unfolds them again a second later. Sarah has never been good at standing still when she’s upset.

“I sat with her while she planned her mother’s funeral, Luca. I listened to her cry. I watched her try to hold herself together when she was falling apart.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” she fires back. “Because right now it feels like you’re asking me to betray her.”

Sarah stops pacing and looks at me.

“She trusts me.”

I open my mouth.

“No. Let me finish.”

I shut it again.

“She trusts me, and now you want me to sit across from her at lunch and pretend I don’t know something that could completely change the way she sees her relationship.”

She lets out a sharp laugh and shakes her head.

“I don’t even know how I’m supposed to do that.”

I drag a hand across the back of my neck.

“Sarah—“

“No, seriously. How?” She throws both hands up. “What am I supposed to do when she starts talking about Michael? What am I supposed to do when she asks me if something’s wrong? Lie? Change the subject? Excuse myself and go hide in the bathroom?”

I don’t say anything.

Sarah waits for an answer, but the longer the silence stretches between us, the more her expression changes.

“I had finally started trusting Michael. He is so good to her, Luca. Like insanely good to her.”

“I know he is, Baby Girl.”

“But if he is who you say he is, how is that even possible?”

The words linger in the air between us. I don’t need to answer. The look on my face is enough. Sarah’s gaze drops briefly before returning to mine, and I can practically see her replaying the conversation in her head. When she speaks again, her voice is quieter than before.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she says, stepping closer.

“It’s okay.” I reach for her hand before she can continue explaining herself. “I get it. We do some pretty fucked up stuff. I’m not gonna deny that, and I’m not gonna make excuses for it either.”

I wait until she meets my eyes again before continuing.

“But I know two things to be true. Mikey loves Katie, and I sure as hell love you.”

“Have you ever killed someone?” she asks.

I could lie. I could tell her there are things she doesn’t need to know. I could pretend the answer is more complicated than it is.