Page 39 of Dirty Little Sins

"I love my job," I mumbled as he unfastened my skirt and pulled it down my legs. I tried to open my eyes to watch, but my lids were too heavy and I didn't have the energy to fight it. "I just wish it didn't all feel so precarious."

"Don't worry about it anymore tonight. Tonight you need to sleep. Then tomorrow we'll figure it all out. I've got your back."

"Mmhmm," I mumbled as he settled into the bed next to me and I curled into his warm skin. God, he smelled so good. A sweet and spicy cross between leather, whatever spicy sweet cologne he wore and the delicious man underneath. It filled my sleepy mind with all sorts of images.

Rich dark chocolate sliding across my breast with his tongue licking it from my skin, herb infused hot wax being dropped onto my skin, soft lips at my core and fingers like hot flames curling around my neck...

Oh hell, I was going to sin again.

The Destroyer was back and I'd let him in.

Unfortunately, this time I might not survive.

Chapter Sixteen

VINCENT

As the music from my air pods thrummed through my entire body and sweat dripped ruthlessly from every pore, I picked up speed. My arms were on fire and every muscle in my body now ached and yet nothing wiped the memory of Zia's soft body pressed against mine as she slept.

Despite the hours that had passed since we'd parted this morning, I could still feel her imprint burned into my skin. And everything in me itched to get her back in my bed as soon as possible.

I should have fucked her again and gotten this insane need out of my system. As much as I enjoyed the cat and mouse game going on between us, I really couldn't afford the distraction from my training.

Fuck this.

I slammed my fist into the speed bag one last time and turned away. It was time to take this session to the next level. There was only way right now to get some of this built up tension out of me once and for all. Glove to glove.

"Bennie, I'm ready." I didn't need to elaborate. My long time trainer knew what I needed.

"Yeah, agreed. Let me go see who's available. Just promise me that even with whatever the hell is mucking up your brain you'll remember this is a sparring partner. Save the knock outs for the real fight."

I glared at Bennie, letting a low growl loose in response. I wasn't in the mood for his shit and to insinuate I couldn't be a professional no matter what happened was fucking insulting.

I dug through my bag I'd thrown in the corner when I started and pulled out a fresh set of hand wraps and my sparring gloves along with a water bottle. As soon as this day ended I was going to wrangle my little chef into another evening at my place. I'd just have to find a way around those cameras that were going to be trailing her twenty-four seven.

A shudder worked down my spine. I don't know how she could agree to something like that. The scrutiny of the paps following me around all the time was already beyond my limits. It's why I spent so much goddamned money on security. But all the BS that came with celebrity was something to live with when you could and avoid when it became necessary.

Tonight I needed some time alone with Zia. Not so we could discuss that fucking blackmail crap either.

"Hello, Vincentius."

My muscles stiffened at the unfamiliar voice from behind me. No one ever called me by my full first name. Especially someone I didn't know.

I turned slowly to find three men standing just feet away and looking so out of place I couldn't fathom how they got past that security I paid so much money for.

I did, however, know who these men were. At least one of them. And I wasn't surprised they'd shown up out of the blue. I'd been expecting them since my return from Italy. I'd sensed the trouble headed my way since I stepped onto the Rossi estate.

If I hadn't recognized the man, the trademark scar on his cheek was a dead giveaway. The ongoing feud between the Las Vegas Italian mafia and the Scottish crime gangs that continued to encroach on casino operations here was fairly well known to anyone with a pulse and money in this town.

Las Vegas might be considered an open territory for criminal organizations, but that didn't mean interpersonal conflicts weren't always happening. These continuing fights had resulted in Anthony Cullotta getting jumped outside one of his casinos several years back and getting cut from ear to ear with what is infamously known as the Glasgow grin.

"Anthony." If he was going to pull some sort of familiarity bullshit with me then I would give it back to him in spades. They didn't belong here and we both knew it.

"I hear you had an intense trip to Italy and that maybe congratulations are in order or maybe condolences depending on your perspective."

I narrowed my eyes and remained silent. I didn't yet know what Anthony's game was here, but I was damned sure I wasn't going to like it.

"Should I call you Vincentius or Romeo? I've heard quite the story about you lately."

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