Page 36 of Vito

I smile inwardly and finish my bourbon. I can't leave yet because I have araginghard-on.

God-fucking-dammit, I need this woman.

But she's forbidden. Plus, she's completely unaffected by me.

However, I'll stay put because, even without my raging stiff cock, I'm not ready to leave my Garden of Eden.

And I wonder if I ever will be.

Chapter 12

Eden

PuttinganassholelikeCutt in his place, while satisfying, comes with risks. It's been two weeks since that altercation, and Ash assured me he dealt with him. Cutt himself hasn't returned to Gilly's, but I'm uneasy. I can't find Aiken's killer and bring them to justice if I'm dead myself.

Which brings me back to the crucial point: I still haven't found Aiken's killer.

I'm really no closer to it than the day I waltzed my stupid ass into the barroom and shocked the Chamber leaders at the successor reveal.

Every night I collapse into bed, saying a pained apology to my brother for my failure. All the ways I've failed Aiken, make my regret, guilt, and shame grow.

Which creates a perfect, toxic storm for all this to erode my armor. The armor that blocks out the past, which I try hard to avoid and forget. And every night, when sleep finally comes, it's not just Aiken's ghost that haunts me.

It's Fenton's too. Her angelic face and sweet laugh. Her small, bruised, and broken body lying in her casket.

It's the memory of being restrained on a table, and fighting for life.

My ghosts torment me until I'm ripped awake, covered in sweat, reaching for my dead siblings, and my stomach cramping in phantom pain.

I stayed away from Aiken all these years and denied his wish to have a relationship with me to avoid these memories. Yet, here I am.

There's no denying I failed in the sister department. I failed Aiken in life, and now I'm failing him in death.

I've searchedeverywherein his home and office at Gilly's, but have found nothing. No cryptic notes, no hidden cameras, and certainly no glaring evidence of who was a threat to him.

There are surveillance cameras at Gilly's, but they're no use to me for investigating Aiken's murder. The cameras are there purely for security purposes—they don't record audio and the feeds are erased daily.

Ohith continually reminds me to watch my back. He hates that I'm putting myself through this, but knows that I need to see this through.

And by seeing this through, means being Gilly's owner-operator, and running this place, keeping the neutral-boundaries, and secretly hunting for Aiken's murderer. Gus will remind me that he and Vito are continuing to investigate as well, but they've had the same results as me.

Fuck all.

The thought of Vito Santoro brings… well,morethoughts of Vito Santoro.

The fucking cunt.

The dangerous, hot-as-hell, still-very-off-limits man who likes to push my buttons and boundaries.

The one who makes my cooch clench with every thought of him, whenever I see him, or with every low, deep word out of his stubble-framed mouth.

My head is filled with inappropriate thoughts of Vito, and inappropriate things that I want to do with him, as I come out of the storage room. I'm carrying the large, heavy box that Meg was struggling with and slam into someone in the hallway.

Dominic Jude smiles at me over the box. His smile highlights the scar that starts above his eyebrow and ends at the top of his eye. It's rumored that Vito gave him that scar when they were young and stupid.

Dominic—or Dom, as he insists I call him—is a good-looking guy and friendly. Sometimes, I wonder if he's too friendly.

That thought raises my hackles as I stare at him over the top of the box. "Wanna move? This is heavy."

---