Page 5 of Dangerous Devotion

Not for Vince Salvini.

Or maybe that traumatic event had just stripped the layers of my defenses and laid bare feelings that had built little by little with every interaction we’d had. Feelings I hadn’t let myself acknowledge.

I scoffed. For real now? Could my timing for this soul-searching expedition be any worse? Couldn’t I have realized my true feelings for him a little bit earlier?

Oh, fuck it. My feelings for Vince were far more complicated than I wanted them to be.

And far more dangerous.

But very much like love.

“We’re approaching the house,” Dante announced, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the helicopter.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. The house? What house?

All I saw was trees and rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

Until Dante reduced speed, the forest suddenly opened up, and we hovered above a massive property.

And that property was as far from a house as a cruise ship was from a pedal boat.

It looked like a hotel from up above. This was an estate.

My eyes darted from the terracotta roof to the pristine circular driveway and the perfect green lawn.

My mouth hung open as I struggled to take it all in.

This place was a world away from anything I’d ever seen or expected to see.

The Mediterranean-style villa sprawled before us, its creamy stonework gleaming despite the diffused light, with more wings than I could count.

It looked like something plucked straight from a Hollywood set, almost too perfect to be real. And the sheer scale of everything was overwhelming.

The sweeping driveway seemed to go on forever, and the meticulously manicured lawns, dotted with ornate fountains and vibrant flower beds—in autumn—were framed by a solid stone wall and looked too perfect to be real.

The glittering dark blue waters of the Olympic-sized rectangular pool caught my eye, and clouds of condensation hung above a whirlpool right next to it.

I’d never seen wealth displayed so openly, so lavishly.

We began our descent, and the helicopter touched down with a gentle bump, jolting me from my shock.

Goofy and Dante powered down the engine, and the sudden silence was almost deafening after the constant noise of the flight.

“Everyone okay?” Dante asked, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to face me.

There were murmurs of assent from Goofy and Hawk. But all I managed was a weak nod, not trusting my voice.

“Good,” he said, “welcome to Vince’s secret hideaway.” He winked at me, then scanned the guys before settling his gaze back on me. “Let’s move quickly. We don’t know how far behind they might be.”

I scoffed. Secret hideaway, was he joking?

Dante raised a single eyebrow as he looked at me. “What?”

I shook my head.

Dante exited the helicopter, then opened the door on my side.

“Come on, spit it out,” Dante said once I’d pulled the headset from my head and unbuckled myself.

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