Page 78 of Dirty Big Sins

The next morning

When Julie showed up at our suite door at eight in the damned morning, the only thing that saved her was the grande cup of coffee with white chocolate and cream she held up in her hand.

Well, that and the fact that Vincent had left not long before she arrived and he’d made sure I was awake before he’d gone. His insatiable appetite had left me with a decided ache between my thighs and a smile on my face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I said, taking the cup she offered and downing half of it before the door closed behind me.

“I’m not saying a word.”

Not like she had to with that smug grin on her face. At some point in the night, after way too many glasses of champagne on my part, Julie had found Vincent and I in a dark alcove outside the ballroom in a rather compromised position.

Clearly we hadn’t learned our lesson after the picture taking incident in Italy. But neither of us wanted to wait and at the time it had seemed mostly harmless. We had a lot to celebrate and some celebrations simply couldn’t wait.

“It’s really no big deal. I didn’t see much and I know for a fact no one else did either.”

I looked at her sharply, wondering what part of don’t say a word she’d misunderstood.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. If I had a man who looked at me the way Vincent looks at you, I wouldn’t wait for a bed either.”

I nearly spit my latest gulp of coffee. “You’re killing me. This is probably our most inappropriate conversation to date.”

“I know. Isn’t it great?”

Before I could respond, we rounded the corner to the elevator and found FBI Agent Rock Reed stabbing at the down button. My heart stopped for a moment as the thought of him coming after Vincent again raced through my mind.

I’d hoped all of that would be behind us by now.

“Agent Reed. What are you doing here?” If we were going to do this again, I might as well find out now.

He turned and stared blankly for a few long heartbeats until I thought he’d chosen not to tell me.

“Working a case,” he answered gruffly, turning back to the elevator button still lit up as we waited.

“Anything we should know about?” I wasn’t exactly subtle, but I didn’t know how else to ask other than simply by being straightforward.

“No. This has nothing to do with our previous investigation into your—Mr. Cabrini. While that case isn’t technically closed, it is on hold—for now.”

“Really?”

He nodded as the elevator arrived and we all filed on. “Apparently, the evidence against Romeo Rossi personally is not enough to prosecute. His high priced lawyers are going to bury everything under a mountain of paperwork that could take years to work through so the DA has decided to cut him loose. However, we were able to successfully get his passport revoked and he’s in the process of being deported. He won’t be allowed back into the United States any time soon either. While it’s not the outcome we were hoping for, I hope it brings you at least some peace.”

I wouldn’t say peace was the right word for what I was feeling at the moment. Learning Romeo had been behind the picture taking fiasco had hurt more than I thought possible. He had been the closest thing I had to a father figure left in my life and he was Vincent’s actual father. Getting past his betrayal was going to take some time.

However, with Vincent by my side I felt more than a little hope for the future. We would get through this together.

Plus, I didn’t want to be the one to break it to the FBI, but deportation would mean nothing to someone as powerful as Romeo. In Italy, there was no one willing to hold him accountable and he’d do as he pleased.

I shrugged. “I’ll take it. I mean, I guess it’s better than nothing. He’ll still be a thorn in our side, but at least it will be from another continent.”

Agent Reed nodded just as the doors to the elevator swooshed open on the casino floor.

“Take care, Ms. Mezzanotte. Tell Vincent to keep his nose clean from now on and with any luck, our paths won’t cross again.”

On that note, he strode away from them, disappearing into the breakfast crowd milling outside the hotel coffee shop.

“Did you see that?” Julie whispered as soon as he got out of earshot.

“See what?” I asked, not having a clue what she referred to.

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