Page 26 of Dirty Big Sins

“I uh— ”

“What I should have said was that it’s time for me to close that chapter of my life. With my father gone, then the divorce and now Romeo, my ties to all of the Rossi’s are officially severed. All ties, if you know what I mean. And I don’t want to go back. It’s time for me to move forward, no matter what that means. If and when my identity in those pictures gets revealed, I’ll deal with it. I realize pretending the problem doesn’t exist is going to do nothing to make things better. Either way, I have to focus on my career right now. This restaurant opening is critical and it needs to go off without a hitch. The television show, however, is another matter. We’re supposed to be filming, but this thing between us is going to blow my contract out of the water. But what choice do I have for now? Contractually, I have to go along with it until they fire me.”

She’d spit out a lot of information to digest in a matter of seconds and I’d get to all of her issues in due time. For now I’d go with the most important one.

“I’m not part of the Rossi family if that is what you are trying to imply. Romeo’s blood may flow through my veins, but that’s the extent of our connection.”

She laughed and despite the flare of annoyance I felt, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Seeing her express joy, even at my expense, looked good on her. I’d have to make sure moments like that happened more often.

“Do you really believe that?” She pulled away and retreated to a sitting position in the seat next to mine. “You may think I’m clueless when it comes to the Rossi family and what my father did for them, but I’m not. Choosing to keep my distance when possible is not the same as being stupid. If I’ve learned nothing from Romeo, I know for a fact that blood means everything to them. I’m not saying unconditional love, I get that too, but a true blood connection to that family power is something not easily written off. They won’t stand back and do nothing while you move on with your life. They’ll either try to recruit you or kill you. Why do you think I made sure I never got pregnant during my marriage? I had a plan to get out from the beginning. Dante just made it easier by having a wandering dick and being even looser with his tongue.”

She was rubbing her hands up and down the fronts of her thighs, negating some of the confidence she projected. Zia didn’t want to be anyone’s fool, but she had a healthy dose of anxiety to contend with. Probably something else I could thank Romeo for. Bastard was lucky he was gone. If his role in her life had caused this, I wouldn’t have thought twice about making the man pay for it.

Dangerous thoughts for sure.

“I seriously doubt anyone is going to be thinking about the bastard of the family.” I wasn’t certain that was a lie, but so far no Rossi representative had appeared on my doorstep and other than Cullotta, I had no serious reason to believe they were concerned where it came to me. “Romeo was quite clear that I wasn’t wanted.”

She narrowed her eyes and examined me. I would have found it comical if not for the serious implications we were toying with.

“You may believe that, but I’m not sure I do. Either way, us showing up together anywhere someone could snap a picture and post it on online is downright dangerous.”

I was about to give her fifty fucking reasons why her fears were bullshit when the car glided to a stop in front of the hotel, and she grabbed for the door and popped it open.

“We should let this be a lesson. One night stands are one night stands for a reason. They have an obvious expiration date and trying to make it into something it isn’t is an exercise in futility. Goodbye, Vincent.”

Before I could get a word out, she quietly shut the door in my face and disappeared into the hotel’s rotating front door. Part of me wanted to explode and the other wanted to laugh. The balls on that woman only made me want her more.

If she thought tossing me to the curb would be that easy, well, it wasn’t.

Vincentius Romeo Cabrini never fucking lost a fight and make no mistake, this would not be the one I lost. Little Miss Celebrity Chef had so much to learn.

Chapter Twelve

VINCENT

I’d barely steppedinto my suite when a knock sounded at the door. For a moment I entertained the idea that Zia had had a change of heart and was here to apologize.

I knew better than that.

Nothing in my life came that easy and I was fine with that. If I didn’t have to fight for it, I’d be bored out of my fucking skull.

So who the hell was standing at my door at this hour? I jerked it open and cursed myself for not ignoring the intrusion when I got sight of Agent Reed standing there with a smirk crossing his face.

“It’s a little late for a friendly visit,” I said, letting my irritation press through.

“I don’t know how friendly it will be.” He lifted his hand and shoved a white piece of paper into my face. “Although if you weren’t so hard to find this evening, we might have been able to do this at a decent hour.”

“What is this?” I demanded an answer, even though logic told me exactly what it was.

“Search warrant. For this suite and your house.”

Fresh anger simmered through my blood. I didn’t have time for bullshit games with the FBI. “You have got to be kidding me? I’m just a few days away from an important fight and I don’t need this kind of ridiculous harassment.”

“I don’t do jokes.” Rock Reed took a step closer to the threshold and I moved to block him.

“Good because I don’t have much of a sense of humor. However, just because you’ve shown up with a piece of paper that could be worth less than the ink that’s printed on it, doesn’t mean I’m going to let this happen. At least not until my lawyer can verify the validity of this.”

Reed lifted his shoulders. “We’ll wait if we have to, but this is happening. If it helps, I brought only two other men with me. I figured you’d appreciate the discretion. Trust me, if I wasn’t such a fan I would not have bothered.”

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