Page 49 of Dirty Little Sins

"How important is this fight coming up? There's a lot of speculation that you are planning to retire and that this might finally be the one you lose."

I immediately regretted the words when I said them. I was feeding into the media hype that was probably all bullshit anyways. I knew better than this.

He shrugged. "It likely is the last. Although you didn't hear that from me." He traced a path along the inside of my arm as he talked and I fought to concentrate on his words not his actions. "Everyone thought the last one was the last and the one before that. It's the constant speculation as the undefeated champ for so long. Thirty-six is still prime time in boxing years, but the older I get the more chances there are for serious injuries and there's more important things I'd rather do than recover."

"Like what?" I asked, although I was still more focused on his fingers igniting heat as they traveled over my flushed skin.

"Continue to build my empire of course. Try new things on for size. Right now I'm considering an offer from Hollywood."

My eyes widened. "Really? That sounds awesome."

"Try not to sound so surprised. I may be a fighter, but there's a lot more to me than that. I'm not the thug everyone likes to label me as."

"I didn't get that at all when I was researching you. People seem to be divided on whether they like you or not, but most sound impressed with what you've accomplished in your career."

His hand stilled. "Google told you all that?"

"I can read between the lines. Plus I know what it’s like to have the media blow things out of proportion. Their desire to scandalize my personal life nearly cost me my job with the network. It's why they are still sitting on the fence about our season two renewal. Bastards are still worried I'm not good enough for their family network."

"They're idiots. You are perfect for television. Beautiful, creative, talented with a touch of both sweet and sassy to keep things interesting."

I pushed against the bed and lifted onto my elbows so I could look him in the face. "You've watched my show?"

His lips tipped again towards a smile, but was tempered by a flare of something darker in his eyes. "You're not the only one capable of research. I have to be careful about who I let in my life."

I didn't know what to say. I was equal parts charmed and horrified. It had been a good long time since I'd Googled myself. But Julie kept me in the know to a degree and I knew that a lot of what was said about me wasn't exactly flattering. Divorce may be more common than ever in today's world, but that didn't mean celebrities could go through it without being dragged out into the spotlight and picked apart one nasty rumor at a time.

"What about you? It seems in light of your recent divorce, that family would be the last you'd want to be around. Weren't you worried about running into your dickwad ex?"

I snort laughed at his colorful description. That it was true only made it better. "Life is complicated."

"It doesn't have to be."

Not true, but now didn't seem the time to argue that point. I rolled onto my back and smoothed out the t-shirt I had borrowed from him. "I was there to talk to Romeo."

"Why? I assume most people would want to keep their distance from him.“

My head turned to look at Vincent at the sound of his tight tone. That didn't sound good. Nor did it look good based on the sudden rigidity of his muscles flexing in his arms and hands.

"What's wrong?" I was suddenly nervous again and I wasn't sure how to handle this Vincent.

"Tell me, Zia. What business did you have with Romeo?"

"He's my godfather. I was there to explain what had happened between me and Dante."

Vincent's expression twisted, but I didn't fully understand why. I hadn’t even told him yet that Romeo had arranged the marriage in the first place. Clearly talking about my ex with the man I was currently sleeping with was a big mistake.

"How in the hell isthat manyour godfather?"

Vincent's graveled tone vibrated along my skin and set the hair at the back of my neck on edge. "He's been a friend of our family forever. Romeo and my parents grew up together. My father even worked for him."

"Your father worked directly for Romeo Rossi? Are you kidding me?"

I didn't get what was going on. Why he sounded so alarmed didn't make sense. It wasn't as if there was any blood relation or anything weird like that. I'd married a family friend not my brother.

"Yes. He was his accountant."

"Zia."

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