Page 68 of Ruining Vanessa

I turn my head, kissing the side of Damien’s lips.

He groans and leans in to turn it into a proper kiss. I turn around and, tentatively, wrap my own arms around his neck.

I think there are tears building behind my closed eyes.

But I keep kissing him, and I try to convince myself that I don’t feel sorry for Damien. I’m only doing this for my own survival.

I pretend that I don’t want to see this room being used as it’s meant to.

I pretend, and I kiss him, and I lose myself in his arms.

17

SLAYER

Vanessa’s still lingering on my mind when Detective Tiago and I head to The Web. It’s a club run by the Mancinis, and if I remember my mob connections correctly, that means they’re tight with the Romanos.

Tiago points toward the sign that says cash only. “That’s new. Are the punters trying to pay by credit these days?”

I snort, imagining anybody attempting to swipe a card at Ntimacy. Maybe there’s a dusty, unused card reader over by the bar. “Guess The Web is attracting fancier clientele than they want to put up with. I bet the girls at Club Ruby’s have the card reader in their pussies.”

Tiago snickers in amusement, although my joke wasn’t that funny. Giulio probably would have laughed, although I can already see Vanessa’s quiet anger at the disrespect.

Fuck, I need to stop thinking about her while I’m on the job.

I walk up to the big, beefy man at the front entrance. “Good evening,” I say, holding up my badge. “Think your boss can spare a few minutes to talk to us?”

The guy grimaces and folds his arms over his chest. “He’s not in. If you want something, come back with a search warrant.”

Yeah, yeah. Like I’d submit paperwork to search the premises of a strip joint on the off chance they might know something about some missing undercover cop that I’d murdered.

“Nah, we don’t want anything official like that,” Tiago says, equally unwilling to beg a judge for the warrant. “We’re just in the market for a party venue. Our captain’s retiring soon, and we want to let him go out with a big bang. Or a little bang, if what I’ve heard about his cock is true.”

I almost tell him to fuck off on instinct, until I realize the cock joke isn’t about me. Fucking Giulio’s got me too used to it.

The bouncer gives us a once over. “Yeah? How big a party?”

“How many guys in the precinct would come?” Tiago asks me.

I pretend to think for a second. “There’s us, of course. And the captain. The three rookies. At least ten of the beat cops aren’t married, and another handful are married and give no fucks. I think Detective Clarke is a dyke, or if she’s not a dyke, she’s not a stuck-up bitch and might even want to come along.”

Tiago nods along. “At least thirty of us. And we’d be super disappointed if we couldn’t host the party here. The captain loves this place. He might get petty if he doesn’t get to do the party here after all. Who knows, we might get ordered to sweep the entire premises. All thirty to fifty of us. There’d be cops swarming in and out for days. Weeks.”

The bouncer rolls his eyes. “Right, and our business would be really harmed, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we. Is that what you were going to say?”

I grin at him. “You’re getting it! So. Is your boss in? Just so we can discuss party logistics.”

“Fine, fine.” He opens the door and yells to somebody inside. “Sophie! Come show these upstanding officers of the law to a private room.”

A pretty redhead with a fake tan approaches us with an equally fake smile. “Right this way, gentlemen!” she says cheerfully. Tiago and I follow her deeper into the club, the pounding of the music making me feel more at home even though this isn’t one of Giulio’s places, where I’d get the VIP treatment.

Of course, I’d never go to Ntimacy with Tiago. He’s not a threat, not really, but he doesn’t need to know my private business or where I like to go to get off.

He doesn’t need to know about Vanessa.

A fierce possessive wave sweeps over me. No, he doesn’t need to know about Vanessa. That would probably be too much for him, and I can’t have anyone trying to take her away from Giulio.

From us.

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