Page 14 of Dirty Big Sins

I had to admit she’d piqued my interest. I’d been curious about the woman she called Nova. And with my best friend all the way across the country in New York, I’d missed having someone to connect with. Which reminded me that I hadn’t returned any of Harper’s phone calls in a few days. If I didn’t get back to her soon, I wouldn’t put it past her to drop everything and show up on my doorstep.

As nice as that sounded, I didn’t have the mental space for a breakdown right now and guaranteed Harper would push me to open up about my feelings. Something I was NOT ready to deal with.

On the other hand, these women I didn’t know as well, nor they me. Their ability to get under my skin would be nothing compared to what Harper was capable of.

“I still don’t think it’s the best idea and you should know that if I say yes, it’s under duress. You being my boss and all.”

Nina’s grin grew wider. “I can live with that. Let’s say seven pm in our suite. Then we’ll go from there.” She strode back to the couch and began gathering her belongings. Everyone had gotten entirely too comfortable using my suite as a makeshift office this week.

“I’m going to go make all the arrangements so you don’t have to do anything but bring your cute butt to my place, wearing something appropriate for going out to a club.”

I groaned again. “I was hoping we could just do the private dinner thing.”

She shook her head. “Nope. You are not getting off the hook that easy. Dinner, drinks and then dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. People, remember. It’s time to mingle with this town.”

“Fine,” I responded in a huff. I could see I wasn’t going to win this argument, no matter what I said. “But I want good drinks. Nothing boring like plain old wine.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. I’ve got you. No one understands liquid courage more than I do. If you get a few cocktails in me, I might even be willing to tell you about me and a bottle of tequila and a storeroom with Gabe...”

My eyebrows rose and lips pursed. I had a feeling that story was going to be a juicy one. And despite my dread at leaving the suite, I was kind of looking forward to tonight’s dinner and getting to know Nina and her friends better.

It wasn’t like me to hide from my problems. In fact, this whole situation made me so uncomfortable it was no wonder my anxiety had begun to resurface. I had done nothing wrong, and the idea that I could lose my job and maybe my restaurant, too, over a few stolen pictures seriously pissed me off.

“Thank you, Nina,” I said at barely a whisper, but if I thought she wouldn’t hear me, I was wrong because she stopped in her tracks and turned back.

“Don’t thank me yet. You don’t know it yet, but I’ve got a plan. We’re going to find a way through this—together.”

I blinked at her words.

What did they even mean? Was this strictly about the restaurant?

“I know you and Gabe have a lot riding on the success of Zia’s Kitchen. I’m doing my best not to let you down. I guess that’s why I wanted to lay low for now. I’ve put everyone at risk enough. If anyone finds out…”

She shook her head. “This isn’t just about the restaurant, and you are not a risk, dammit. I’ve come to think of you as a friend now. Even a part of our Las Vegas family. Trust me when I say that Gabe and I have your back no matter what happens. Besides, this town is nothing if not a lover of a good scandal.”

Well, fuck.

I tried to fight the burn of tears at the back of my eyes, but feared I wouldn’t be able to control it. It had been a long time since I’d truly felt like part of a family.

Mine had fractured with my grandmother’s death and broken completely at my father’s. Whether she fully meant what she said or not, it meant a lot to me.

“I like the sound of that.”

A quick grin flashed across Nina’s face. “Good, it’s settled then. I’ll see you at seven.” Before I could say anything else, she strode to the door and quietly slipped from the suite, leaving me with a myriad of thoughts to muddle through and Julie staring at me across the room with a simpering look in her eyes.

“Don’t you dare,” I said, cutting her off before she could say something that would elicit more of an emotional response than I could handle right now. “I know what you’re thinking and even if you are right, keep it to yourself.”

A small grin pulled at her lips as she shook her head and turned back to her laptop, obviously smug in the fact she was right about me getting out of this suite and we both knew it.

The walls I kept wrapped around my heart like the world’s toughest shield were cracked and crumbling and I could do nothing to stop it. My only shot left at sanity came with a huge caveat. If I wanted to keep myself from losing what was happening here, then I needed to find a way out of this mess.

The mess created in Italy and exacerbated by my mistaken belief that Vincent’s intentions weren’t nefarious.

In fact...

This was still all his fucking fault.

Chapter Seven

---