Page 41 of Dirty Big Sins

“I’m afraid he is otherwise occupied. But he assured me that he would join you as soon as humanly possible.”

I started to say something and sputtered. He was seriously going to have me delivered like some sort of hooker he ordered off of a paper menu that was scattered across the sidewalks of Las Vegas every single night and he wouldn’t even be there?

The man took a step closer and grabbed my bag of food from the counter. He then swept his free hand in front of him in a silent indication that I should precede him.

Everything in me wanted to refuse. I could feel the desire to dissolve into a temper tantrum rising up. I also didn’t want to make a scene that would end up viral on YouTube or onTMZin the morning. Glancing around the room, I could see that this little exchange had already begun to gather onlookers and whether they recognized Nova or myself this situation could escalate quickly.

Nova placed her hand on my arm and leaned forward. “You don’t have to go with him if you really don’t want to.”

I flashed her a grim smile. “Oh, I know. But this guy looks tenacious and it’s not worth stirring up a commotion. I don’t need any negative publicity right now. Besides, this guy isn’t who I’m pissed at. And in order to get to the real culprit in this bullshit, I need to play along.” Vincent had another thing coming if he thought he’d get away with caveman behavior like this. I had an opinion on his little plan and I couldn’t wait to give it to him.

“Okay, honey. You’ve got my number, right?” She held up her phone. “Call me if you need anything. A shovel, an alibi…I’m your girl.”

I blinked as her words sank in and then erupted into a fit of laughter. Oh my God, she was going to make me choke. I squeezed her hand. “You are definitely my kind of people Nova. I’ll text you if I need anything. Otherwise, I’ll see you in the morning for my fitting.”

I rose from my seat, prepared to strut my way out of this bar and up to Vincent’s suite. I’d known getting involved with him wouldn’t be easy. Men like him were as dangerous as they were passionate. They didn’t ask for what they wanted—they took it. And I’d be lying if a little part of me didn’t get excited thinking about him like that. The night we’d met, he’d taken charge, making it easy for me to go along for the ride.

We’d both been in a dark place and desperate for an outlet for our frustrations, which allowed me to go to a place I’d never been before. A beautiful, quiet space where only he and I existed.

But this wasn’t Italy and I couldn’t relinquish that kind of control outside the bedroom. Not again.

So why was I being force marched across a Las Vegas hotel, where I felt like I was about to be sacrificed to the angry fighting God? He wasn’t this cruel. Dark yes, sometimes angry, yes. I’d witnessed that first-hand when he’d trashed his suite after finding out he’d been betrayed by his manager. Finding out he was Romeo’s son, though, that scared me and had given me a healthy dose of reservation. The Rossis were both entitled and dangerous.

Romeo had been largely indifferent in his attitude toward me, treating me more like a fond pet than anything else, while mostly letting me live my life.

Dante, on the other hand, had a mean, vindictive streak. Negotiating my way out of his life had been tricky, but Romeo had agreed to the deal. Now Romeo was gone. Which meant what? The deal was off?

I stopped suddenly as that thought settled in my mind.

With Romeo gone, what did that mean for me?

The Rossis technically still owned me.

Chapter Nineteen

VINCENT

“Vincent. Hold up.”

I stopped when I heard Gabe call out to me, but it wasn’t without some effort. I wanted out of the casino as quickly as possible. The time I’d been forced to spend in the gaming room had done more than put me on edge. I was fucking pissed. To fix that I needed to go to the gym and hit something or find Zia and do this another way.

Gabe didn’t look so happy either. The expression on his face probably rivaled mine.

“What the hell was that back there? Is something going on with you and Cullotta? Does it have something to do with the big news story this week?”

That was a lot of questions, none of which I wanted to answer. The less people who knew anything about my connections with the local mafia families the better. Although Gabe wasn’t just people. He was probably the closest thing I had to a friend and apparently that meant something to me. Otherwise I would have kept walking.

I cocked my head in his direction. When the hell had that happened?

I’d never been one for close interpersonal relationships. I’d learned the hard way they were too risky. Bennie might have been an exception, but he was still more business partner than anything else. Plus twenty-four years was a long time. It made sense for him to feel like the closest thing to family at this point.

Lately, though, it seemed I was on the verge of an entire collection of people.

“You too? Really?” I heaved a deep sigh. “Don’t you have anything better to do than engage in rumors?”

“Is that what you’re calling it these days? A rumor? I thought we were past the bullshit.”

I held in the sigh that almost escaped. He was right. It was difficult to call the truth a rumor and he was right to call me on it.

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