Page 37 of Sins and Secrets

The truth is that I don’t know why I bid on her. Part of it was to keep her away from Paolo, but that was only part of my reason.

Maybe curiosity pushed me to do it, though that doesn’t seem quite right either.

“I don’t know,” I say as I get up and climb the porch steps. “I’m going to grab some leftovers. Tomorrow’s your night to make dinner. The chef is going to be taking a few days off.”

Billie nods and opens her sketchbook, pulling the pencil out of her hair.

For a moment, I stand in the doorway, watching the way the tendrils of her blonde hair brush the back of her neck. I consider going to sit with her longer and talking about anything. It was nice to feel like I was a normal person for once and not the person that everyone feared.

Instead, I did the smart thing and left her alone before I fucked my life up even more.

13

BILLIE

I sit cross-legged on the floor beside the sliding glass door, running through the list of ingredients I need to get for dinner for the next few days. With the cook off, there’s going to be nobody around to act as a buffer between me and Alessio.

Things have been weird between us since he fucked me on my desk, but I thought that last night things were going to go back to normal.

Instead, he left me confused.

He doesn’t know why he bid on me.

There is no denying that something in me sparks to life whenever he’s around. It’s a dangerous spark. One that starts off small and ignites to the point of a wildfire within seconds. The kind of spark that soon consumes you in a fiery inferno.

The way Alessio makes me feel is like diving headfirst in hell and hoping to dance in the flames instead of burning to a crisp.

I have to put some distance between us. As much as I hate the awkwardness, it’s better this way. It’s easier to avoid each other and not spend time together. If we do, I might beg him to bend me over a desk again.

It might not have been my finest moment, but it was fun.

“You know, we have a perfectly good couch to sit on,” Alessio says as he walks through the kitchen. “You don’t have to sit there like some orphan waiting for a nice lady to take pity on them and put money in their cup.”

“You really are a stellar human being, aren’t you?” I ask as I mentally debate between roast chicken or ham. “I look like an orphan. Great.”

He shrugs and pours himself a cup of coffee. “I’ll be staying on the compound today but I’ll be at the office here. If you need anything, that’s where you can find me. Take the day off from the casino. There’s some things going on there that I would rather not have you around for.”

“Like what?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

“None of your fucking business,” Alessio says as he takes the cup and heads back toward his room. “I mean it, Billie, stay away from the casino.”

“Okay. I have some shopping to get done today anyway. Ham or chicken?”

“Chicken.”

I nod and make a note of it on my grocery list. The door shuts down the hall as I finish the grocery list before getting off the floor. The pool is glistening outside and calling my name.

I could do with a swim before going to the store. I have a few hours to kill now that I don’t have to work.

Though I want to know what’s going on at the casino, I know better than to push my luck. Alessio has been more open with me than I would have expected.

It only makes me feel worse for deceiving him, but I have to keep reminding myself why I’m doing this.

I stretch and head outside to sit by the pool, watching the sun climb higher in the sky. As much as I want to get into the pool, I should get the shopping done. Life is easy right now, but it’s only going to stay that way if I meet the terms of the contract.

Still, the sun is calling to me. I can’t remember the last time I was able to fully relax.

My phone starts ringing the moment I close my eyes. With a groan, I pull the phone out of my pocket and glance at the screen. My heart plummets to my stomach as the hospital’s phone number flashes up at me.

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