Page 65 of Sins and Secrets

Hands wrap around my biceps at the same time Paolo grabs my hair and yanks my head back. He grins as he looms over me, swapping his gun for a knife. The scent of cheap cologne invades my senses as someone else holds a gun to my head.

“I know that this looks bad,” Paolo says, his tone sympathetic despite his grin. “It really is sad to see you caught in the middle of this, but the other two over there aren’t worth my time. I want to rile Alessio up. Show him what happens if he continues to underestimate me.”

I glare at him, imagining ripping his head from the body and drop-kicking it into the ocean. Paolo smirks as he drags the blade lightly along my neck, breaking the skin.

“I thought about my name, but that would be taking it too far, don’t you think?” Paolo asks, tucking his knife back in his pocket as he steps back from me. “Have a good afternoon, Billie. From what I hear, Alessio is in meetings all day and won’t be able to see you until tonight.”

“As if I’m going to tell him about this,” I say, getting to my feet and holding a hand to the cut. “If this is the best you can do, I think he’s right to underestimate you.”

Paolo glances over my shoulder, his eyes narrowing. “If your little friends weren’t coming back, I would stay to teach you a lesson. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like dying today.”

He winks at me before taking off down the beach, disappearing between the crowds starting to make their way onto the beach. I turn and make my way to the coffee stand, still holding a hand to my throat. Warm blood coats my skin as I approach Shane and the other man.

“I need some napkins and to go spend the rest of the day out until this closes over.” I pull my hand away from my throat long enough to show Shane what’s been done. “We both know Alessio will kill you if he finds out you left me alone for even a few minutes. Help me spend the day away from the house and I’ll make sure he won’t come after you.”

Shane nods and grabs napkins from the counter, passing them to me. “We should take you to see a doctor. You might need stitches.”

“It isn’t that deep.” I take the napkins and hold them against my neck. “I need some things to wear. Let’s go to the mall and kill some time there.”

“You want to go to the mall with a bloody neck?” Shane shakes his head and stuffs more napkins in his pocket. “Billie, that’s not a good idea. Who did this to you?”

“I need one of those damn crop tops with a turtleneck, unless you don’t want me to hide this?” I ignore his question, looking at him expectantly. I don’t like holding this over his head — it was nothing he did wrong — but I’m not ready for Alessio to find out about this yet.

I just want to enjoy my last day in Miami.

Shane sighs and leads the way back to the car. He looks at the other man and jerks his chin toward the beach. “Sweep the area for whoever might have done this.”

The other man takes off as we get in the car. I lean back in the seat, pulling away the napkins and looking in the mirror to check the damage. It isn’t a deep cut, but it’s going to take some time to heal.

I better buy a lot of turtlenecks.

“Did you have a good day out?” Alessio asks when I walk into the kitchen later that evening. He looks up from the document he’s reading, his eyes narrowing. “What the hell are you wearing? That’s not what you wore when you left this morning.”

“You pay attention to what I’m wearing?” I ask, my tone teasing as I open the fridge and grab a bottle of white wine. “I didn’t know you cared that much, Alessio.”

He scoffs. “And now I know you’re trying to hide something from me. Are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of Shane.”

I glare at him as I grab a glass down and pour myself some wine. “You’re seriously going to beat a man because I might not tell you about my day?”

“I have never seen you wear a turtleneck before today, Billie. Either you have one hell of a hickey that I didn’t give you, which violates our contract, or you got into some trouble.”

Knowing that there is no other choice, I sigh and pull down the collar of my shirt. Alessio’s hands clench into fists as he gets up and comes over to me. He swallows hard before gently taking my chin in his hand and tilting my head up.

“Who the fuck did this to you?” he asks, his tone deadly as he takes a step back. “I’m going to fucking kill whoever it was.”

“Well, funnily enough, killing him is what you’ve been meeting with Jovan and Christian about all week,” I say, though my tone is dry. “Alessio, it’s nothing. Paolo did this as a game to piss you off. He wants you to be angry and make stupid decisions.”

“Killing him is the best decision I’m ever going to make,” Alessio says as he walks out of the kitchen.

The front door slams a few seconds later, leaving me alone with my glass of wine. I sigh and take it to the courtyard outside my room, needing some time to relax.

This day has been more than I bargained for.

The stars are hanging high in the sky, glittering above the courtyard by the time I finish the bottle of wine and head inside. I drop my book on my bed before taking my glass to the sink. My stomach growls as I open the fridge and look for the leftovers the cook put in there earlier.

Alessio walks into the room as I shovel cold chicken parmesan into my mouth. Blood trickles down the side of his face from a cut on his forehead.

“What the hell did you do?” I ask, abandoning my food to grab a clean cloth from the drawer. I soak it and wring it out while Alessio sits down in the living room. “Damn it, Alessio.”

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