Page 77 of Sins and Secrets

“Billie, has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” Christian asks, though the corner of his mouth tips up.

“Christian, has anyone ever told you that you’re as moody as a teenager?” Billie sticks her tongue out at him like they are just two friends trying to get under each other’s skin.

Even if he sounds annoyed with her, he finds her amusing. I look over at Billie and she is smiling with her eyes closed. Christian starts talking to her about some Colombian food while I listen for anyone approaching the warehouse.

She could be the woman I spend the rest of my life with. I could sit Arturo down and try to make him understand how much I’m falling for his daughter. I could give her the world.

The thought comes out of nowhere and it hits me like a runaway train. I haven't considered a life with anyone, yet here I am, looking at a woman on the hood of my car, joking around with the leader of a cartel, and thinking that I could spend the rest of my life with her.

As I watch her, I can see our entire lives laid out together. I can see the children racing around the yard with Billie. I can see her cutting the red ribbon at her resort before I take her out to dinner to celebrate all that she’s accomplished.

This is so much more than casual for me.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Billie says, breaking me away from my thoughts as she leans in the window. “There is no way that you did that on a plane.”

Christian chuckles and shrugs. “There was nothing else to do and it was a long flight.”

“How is that even possible?” She shakes her head, and I feel like I’ve missed something completely. Billie grins and fully reclines on the car. “You’re going to have to tell me how that works, sometime.”

“Tell you what,” Christian says as he points the glowing end of the cigarette at Billie. “If we survive whatever this shit is with Paolo, I’ll tell you that story one day.”

I look between the two of them and note their matching grins. “Do I even want to know what’s going on?”

Christian chuckles and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. When are your cleaners going to be here? I could use some food and a nap.”

“Should be here soon. Davide was sending them in a helicopter.” I glance at my phone and hop down from the crates. “If you want to head out, me and Billie can wait.”

Christian nods and pulls out his own phone. His smile drops as he sees something on the screen he doesn’t like. He tosses the phone onto the seat beside him. “I’m going to take you up on that. It seems like I have a few calls to make.”

“To the woman you’re seeing?” Billie says, still teasing him as she slides down from the car. “It’s okay, Christian. You can keep your secrets for now. Sooner or later, you’re going to spill your guts about the girl you like.”

“And then maybe we can braid our hair,” he says, his tone dry as he shakes his head. Christian glances over at me. “Good luck with that one.”

Billie opens the doors for him, waiting until he disappears before shutting them. I lean back against the crates as she makes her way back over to me.

“The two of you have some weird relationship going on. One day you’re at each other’s throats and then next you’re going to braid each other’s hair. What’s up with that?”

Billie shrugs and leans beside me, crossing her arms. “He thinks that I’m hiding things. He’s not wrong, in a sense. I do keep a lot to myself. Nothing important that anyone else needs to know about, but it makes him suspicious of me.”

I don’t know what to say for a moment. I had been expecting her to play it off as a joke. “Oh? I didn’t know about this.”

She shrugs. “I didn’t see any reason to tell you. Having him here is important to the famiglia. He may drive me insane, but there is an entertaining side to him.”

I hum, not knowing what to feel about the entire situation. Christian told me that he has his doubts about her, but he didn’t tell me that he had spoken to her. Hell, I didn’t think that was something he would do without speaking to me first.

“You’ve got that I’m going to kill someone look on your face.” Billie reaches up to smooth her finger along the wrinkles on my forehead. “I’m not upset by it. The man clearly has trust issues.”

“I guess.” I look down at her, still seeing that future in front of me. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately.”

Billie smiles. “That sounds dangerous. Should I be scared?”

“I was thinking about us.” I clear my throat, my pulse pounding. I don’t know how to start this conversation or what I’m going to say to her. Technically, she is still under contract with me, but I don’t want her to think that my only interest in her is due to a piece of paper.

“There’s an us, is there?” The corner of her mouth tips upward and her eyes shine. “I thought that this was just something casual and that’s all that it could be.”

“Yeah, well, I think I was wrong about that. About a lot of things when it comes to you, actually. I want to try to be something more.”

Her smile wavers slightly. “I like you, Alessio, I really do. Hell, it could be more than that in the future, but right now I don’t know if I can dive into something that deep.”

---