Page 33 of Dirty Big Sins

“You try to take her from me and I will kill you. Is that understood?” Rage so hot it boiled to the surface as the idea of this man doing anything to Zia tore through my chest. The pain of it took my breath away. Whatever denial I had left about my feelings for her evaporated in an instant. She wasn’t just mine. Somewhere along the way, I’d become hers.

A deep smile creased the older man’s face. “Then you are on board. Good. Now we need to get down to other business. Like the next steps in getting the FBI out of your life so we can get on with ours.”

Chapter Fifteen

ZIA

I never madeit back to the kitchen last night.

Instead I went back to my room and lost my damned mind. Three shots of tequila and four gut wrenching, self-induced orgasms later I passed out. Only to have Vincent invade my dreams as well as my fantasies.

The man was everywhere now. My head, my suite, even the sweat coating my skin. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t shake the need that still consumed me.

Taking another sip of coffee, I pondered my next steps. I didn’t like the idea that I still had to choose between a love life and my career. Had I somehow traveled back in time where it wasn’t possible to have both? This was ridiculous. I also couldn’t believe I was actually considering another relationship. Had I learned nothing from my time with Dante?

Maybe I was jumping to too many conclusions. I still wasn’t sure I could trust Vincent to be honest with me and we’d only been having sex. That wasn’t exactly a relationship per se. Still… That kind of desire was something I’d never quite experienced before and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t just forget it. It had become this living, breathing thing between us and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to let it go.

Before I could think of what to do next, a solid knock sounded from the suite door. I glanced at the clock on my phone to see it was before 6:00 am, way too early for Julie, who wouldn’t have knocked anyway and hours away from this morning’s camera call.

Curious, I headed toward the door and stood on my tip toes to look out the peep hole. My chest constricted at the sight of Vincent standing there, a sexy dark look on his face as he waited rather impatiently for me to open the door. His suite may have been right next to mine, but that didn’t explain why he was here at this hour. Any normal human would still be sleeping.

Then I remembered that Vincent wasn’t a normal human. He hit the gym long before the rest of us crawled out of our beds. And by the time someone like me sat down for my avocado toast breakfast, he’d be finishing up the first of at least three grueling workouts that were part of his daily routine.

“Open the door, Zia. I can hear you breathing.” His muffled, but still audible voice came through the door.

“No you can’t. These suites have better sound proofing than that,” I whispered.

When he didn’t respond right away, I realized that I was right and he couldn’t actually hear me that easily. He was only guessing that I was standing here.

Since I wanted to know why he was so determined to get my attention, I decided to open the door and find out. Two locks later, I eased the door open enough to see through the crack.

“Vincent, what are you doing? Do you realize what time it is?”

“Considering I’ve been up all night pacing, yeah, I do.”

From this vantage point I could see him clearly. While he looked as delicious as ever, I could see the faint signs of fatigue under his eyes and around his mouth. The telltale signs of stress I understood all too well.

I pulled the door open more and stepped back. Whatever was going on, it appeared he’d slept even less than me.

“Is something wrong?”

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

His request caught me off guard. It wasn’t at all what I’d expected. I figured if he was going to knock at my door before the sun was up, then he was going to drop another bomb.

“That’s it?”

He stepped closer and I automatically retreated, opening the door wider, which he took advantage of by entering the suite.

“For now. I need to be at the gym soon, but I didn’t want to go without seeing you again. I miss you.”

There probably wasn’t a single other thing he could have said to me that would have felt as profound as those three little words did for my battered mind. Between the lack of sleep and the sexual frustration still roiling through me, I’d needed that more than I thought possible.

“I miss you too.” The words were hoarse and barely audible, but they were enough. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. I braced my hands on his chest, but less to push him away and more to steady myself. My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest as he leaned down to kiss me.

A moment before his lips landed on mine, I pushed him away in complete panic. “No.”

“It’s just a kiss, baby.”

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