Page 51 of Dirty Little Sins

My stomach dropped and bile rose in my throat as I heard Vincent enter the room behind me.

"Zia, Houston has some answers, but do you want the good news or the—What the hell is going on?"

The girl turned away from me and with a beaming smile aimed at Vincent she laughed. "Hi, Daddy. Surprise."

Chapter Twenty-One

ZIA

What sick twisted world had I stepped into? Was everyone in this town out of their mind. Had that girl just called Vincent daddy?

I needed to be sick. Like literally any second I was going to puke my guts out. I didn't just fall down the rabbit hole. I fell, hitting my head on every rung of the ladder on the way down. What else could explain this madness?

"Lana! What the hell is wrong with you?" Gabe, the hotel manager, filled the doorway behind her. "You agreed to keep quiet and stay out of trouble if I brought you up here."

She shrugged. "What? I've always wanted to do that and watch people freak out. It's a joke. Everyone relax."

Gabe groaned. “I’m sorry. I should have insisted she stay with Nina."

I was so confused now my head spun.

"What exactly is going on?" Vincent demanded. "Because as far as I can see this isn't funny."

He pressed a hand to my back at the waist and I jerked from his touch. I wholeheartedly agreed. But that didn't mean I wanted him touching me right now either. Not until I had a crystal clear explanation.

"This is my fault." Gabe started. "This is Lana, my teenage sister.”

“Half-sister,” Lana interrupted with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.

Gabe took a breath. “My half-sister and all around pain in the neck troublemaker. She's moved in with Nina and me this week. She begged me to introduce her to you Vincent because supposedly she is a big fan. But you can just ignore her now."

A huge grin spread across the young girl's face and a snort laugh escaped her lips. "I wish I'd taken a picture of that. You should see your faces right now. Priceless."

"I don't understand. She is your sister and—" I couldn't say the words.

"No!" Both Vincent and Gabe said in unison.

"That really was Lana's idea of a joke, as sick as it was." Gabe turned to the young girl and pushed her gently through the door. "You've had your fun. Now it's time to go home." She started to protest and Gabe closed the door in her face. "I am so sorry about that. I knew she was trouble but Jesus Christ. She needs a full-time keeper." He looked up at us where we were both still standing rather speechless. "Seriously. I'll make sure she doesn't bother either of you again."

Gabe's apology finally knocked me out of my stupor. "I need to go."

"You might want to stay. I came here to talk to Vincent while Nina went looking for you. Actually, everyone in the free world is looking for the two of you."

The heat of a new blush bloomed in my chest and crawled up my neck. So much for discretion. My big plan to come to Vegas for a fresh start was quickly falling apart. If everyone in the hotel knew what was going on between Vincent and I, then it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world figured it out.

"What's going on?" Vincent's voice came out so tight I felt the air in the room vibrate with the tension.

"There's been a development. Lana found a story that just posted to the internet about twenty minutes ago and brought it to my attention. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I wanted to make sure you were both aware of it." Gabe held up his tablet and typed in his passcode to open it. "We're going to have to put our heads together and figure out how we're going to spin this one. Although right now I don't have any solid ideas. Maybe you need to tell me what exactly is going on."

I knew before he even turned the screen around. My head throbbed with it. The pictures.

Everything I had tried to hide came crashing down on me as the screen came into focus. A sob tore from my throat as panic seized my heart.

There it was on the internet for the world to see. A picture of me with my hands above my head and tied to a bed. A blindfold covered my eyes, but that didn't exactly serve as a disguise. And I wasn't alone. This picture I remembered well. Because it had captured the first moment whenVincent leaned over me, wrapped his hand around my throat and thrust inside me.

Every time I looked at this photo I felt him between my thighs all over again. It was a moment to relish and live over and over again. Until now.

I was so focused on the photo and what it meant I almost missed the headline.

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