Page 1 of Dirty Little Sins

Chapter One

ZIA

Oh my God, it was really happening.

All of my dreams were coming true, despite all the nightmares.

Zia's Kitchen.

I stood in the middle of the large and mostly vacant room, my eyes gritty, jet lag already weighing me down and not even caring that it was three in the morning and I should be sleeping. There was too much going on in my mind for me to settle and sleep any time soon.

The culmination of everything I'd worked so damned hard for stood before me, waiting for me to reach out and grab it.

I'd arrived in Vegas only a few hours before and I couldn't wait to get started. After a detailed meeting with hotel management, I had a decent idea on the scope of work left to get my restaurant ready for opening day.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The checklist had filled half my notebook and I had less than a month to get it ready. Four weeks to be exact. Twenty-eight days from today to perfect every last detail.

I can do this.

Of course there had been delays that caused the current back up, but not getting done on time was no longer an option. Invitations for opening night had already been delivered and I wasn't about to kick this venture off by cancelling my first event. I had too much at stake for that.

I rubbed my hands over my face and stifled the yawn working my jaw. There would be no rest for the weary any time soon. Not that I cared. A smile split my face. I hadn't expected an unpainted, unfinished room with nothing more than a view of the strip going for it to bring me such joy. But there it was. Hope soaring into the glittery neon lit sky.

This place represented the dream. It was everything I had wanted since I was a little girl sitting in my grandmother's kitchen in Italy absorbing everything she did in her small kitchen. The memory of which was now bittersweet because she couldn't be here to see this place. I hoped if she were she would be proud.

I wandered over to the wall of windows that overlooked the strip. The view from here was nothing short of spectacular. Light in every color imaginable was visible from every direction for as far as I could see.

The Sinclair hotel may be a smaller, boutique style hotel compared to the behemoths that surrounded it, but what it lacked in size it more than made up in location. As in smack dab in the middle of every glitzy and glam thing that this town had to offer.

And soon my name would adorn the building just above these windows. When the network came to me with the pitch from the hotel owner, Mason Sinclair, I'd initially been hesitant. Yes, outside New York City, Vegas was one of the premiere spots for fine dining, but I'd worried that Sin City had become too commercial. No, not the right word I was looking for. My business was essentially all about selling. Between the New York Dessert Bar and the fledgling show on the Foodie Channel, there was no doubt I had a strong foothold in commercial.

But this...

I stared down at the large balcony outside the doors that would house several exclusive and expensive tables that would be reserved only for specific high profile guests.

I didn't want to be crass and call them rich. But in this town a spade was a spade was a spade. They could dress it up however they liked, but Vegas was still a destination that appealed to the highest echelon of the wealthy. Mr. Sinclair and his manager, Mr. Michaels, had assured me of that.

We were not opening a restaurant for the masses to come and eat. We were creating an experience that guests would not soon forget.

I sighed and looked up at all the gorgeous hotels spread out in front of me. Their understanding of my desire to not simply feed people initially sold me on this idea, but when they presented the architectural representations of the hotel and the changes they were making to accommodate my restaurant and included that I could have almost free rein to make my own changes to the interior, well, that sealed the deal for me.

The network also wanted in on it. Our next season, if it was ever given the final green light by the studio, would focus on the behind the scenes action of opening up Vegas's hottest new restaurant. Which, in reality meant I needed to buckle up and hold on because the network loved drama and they were not above creating it if they had to.

In fact, I'd be willing to bet money they had something to do with the work schedule changes that were going to make it harder for the work to get done on time. Which meant a tight, regimented schedule with no messing around would be necessary to keep my temperament in control.

Running a kitchen was expected to be stressful and I did actually thrive on it. But every once in a while...

Before I could finish my thought my gaze landed on the scrolling billboard underneath The Sinclair logo that announced upcoming events or other hotel goings on.

This one caught my eye because it featured boxing gloves. Something I hadn't even considered before coming to The Sinclair. Which in hindsight now seemed incredibly stupid. Did they even have an arena big enough for that kind of thing? As my mind tried to reason through this complication, the words continued to scroll across the screen.

Heavy Weight Championship Event.

My heart stuttered.

Premiere Level.

I could feel my throat closing.

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