Page 9 of SINS & Temptation

“Why does she mean so much to you?” Dante probes.

“Because she does,” I reply flatly.

After a minute of scrutinizing me, he nods in agreement. “Okay. Then she means so much to me too,” he concedes, reaching for the folder of images. My fist slams down on the file and against the desk with such force, we both hear a crack of the fine wood. He takes a step back. “What?”

“She’s nude in these,” I confess, the words heavy and forced. It causes physical pain, saying what I’m about to say. “And too young to consent to them.”

“Then you’re too close to this to be objective,” Dante asserts with enough common sense, I stand down.

I’ve been going cross-eyed, staring at the photos as if the pieces of a ten-thousand-piece puzzle will miraculously come together. I’m missing something. Something that’s right in front of my fucking face.

“Trust your gut, lad. And trust your brother. All the clues are there.”

For fuck’s sake, not you too. It’s bad enough that the Scotsman I murdered has haunted my thoughts since I was fifteen. Now he’s siding with my brother?

Dante pauses, as if he can tell, I’m already swimming in the deep end of insanity, then takes another step, reaching out a hand in a gesture of reassurance. “Just...cover her private parts up with a ton of sticky notes and let me take a look.”

Chapter Six

ENZO

“I’m telling you, that—” Dante points to the tenth image we’ve pored over repeatedly with a fine-tooth comb—“is wrong. There’s something off about it.”

I grab a colossal vintage magnifier we had delivered from town. It magnifies the images twelve times, enough to make Sherlock and Poirot size envy, and try to refocus my eyes. “Are you pointing to the window or her face or what?”

I stare at him, wondering how my brother keeps the wheels turning at a multi-million dollar nightclub without getting lost in the bathroom.

“Hear him out.”

Argh. With the obnoxious Scottish brogue nagging persistently in one ear and Dante’s unwavering insistence in the other, I choose to ride the current and go with it.

Maybe, just maybe, if I squint hard enough, I’ll finally see it. If I don’t go blind first.

“What’s going on?” a sweet voice interrupts from the door.

“Bella,” is all I manage to say. Her sun-kissed skin glows, and I breathe in the scent of jasmine and vanilla, nearly forgetting that these are her half-naked photos Dante and I have scattered across my desk.

Thankfully, Dante doesn’t miss a beat and swiftly gathers them all into the folder, tucking it securely under his arm. He extends his hand to hers without skipping a beat. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Hi.” Kennedy doesn’t hesitate for a moment, kissing him on both cheeks like she was born Italian. It boils my blood enough that I have to clench my fists in my pockets. “It’s nice to see you when, uh...”

“You’re don’t need rescuing,” he replies smoothly.

“Yes,” she nods, embarassed. “Thank you.”

She’s thanking him? Annoyed, I check my watch. “You’re late.”

Her mouth falls open. “Late? We had no clue where to go. Gio drove me to the main house.”

“The main house is a two-minute drive from here.”

“Where I met this charming man named Sin and your secretary, Dory.”

Shit.

She pauses, fidgeting with her purse strap. “They had so much to spill about you.” Her eyes dart to mine, then back down. “Took quite a while.” My Bella beams with delight, oblivious to the rage simmering just beneath my skin like lava.

Sin and Dory.

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