Page 7 of Sin & Secrets

As I walk backstage, my heels click against the floor, providing a beat for my vocal warmups. My throat snags more than I’d like it to, but it’s already two a.m., and most of our patrons will have already sailed past sobriety.

I just pray that the “Italians” are firmly on that list.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen,” Claudio’s voice booms as I wait in the wings. “I present the most darling, most talented thing to come out of Ohio in the last twenty years. Please give a round of applause for Miss Cassandra!”

I breathe before I step out onto the stage to the chorus of applause.

As usual, the lights are far too bright. I can just about see Claudio’s outline as I approach the microphone. He reaches for me, squeezing my arms as he goes to kiss me on the cheek.

“Don’t fuck this up,” he whispers.

I smile as he leaves me, the clapping trickling into expectant silence.

Showtime.

“How are we all doing here tonight?” I say into the free-standing microphone.

The question is met with a generous amount of cheering, but I have to squint to determine where it’s coming from.

“Could we turn down the lights a little? I want to see what kind of motley crew waited all this time to listen to little old me.”

Thankfully, the blinding spotlight eases, revealing a surprisingly strong turnout.

But my eyes snag on the VIP table directly below the stage. Dressed in a light gray suit and white shirt, which is unbuttoned to reveal the intricate tattoos decorating his chest, he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.

And when his icy gray eyes light up as he offers me a crooked smile, my entire world collapses around me.

3

ROCCO

“Mia. Who is that?”

The bartender looks up from her tray of perfectly aged single malt to note the angel currently gracing the main stage at theCandelabra.

Mia looks at me with narrowed eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”

I want to laugh and tell her it's far too late for that. The second the woman had walked onto the stage, I had been utterly captivated. How could someone look so lost and yet perfectly belong in the spotlight?

Her tight black dress reveals a dangerous amount of leg, which already has many of the men around me drooling a bit. Yet the vintage leather jacket advocates for her modesty, only allowing us brief glimpses of her surprisingly curvaceous figure.

But all thoughts of deciphering the enigma before more vanished the second she began to sing.

“I haven’t seen her before,” I mutter as I take my drink from Mia’s outstretched hand.

A glance at the fiery redhead makes me aware she’s about two seconds away from throwing it in my face.

“I thought you were here to see Danny,” she replies tightly.

I lean in, matching her glare. “Just because your father is a valuable asset to me doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that.”

“I’m so sorry, Your Royal Highness. Would you like me to spell it out for you? Cas is off-limits. End of story.”

Cas. My mind turns the name over and over again, trying to imagine what it would sound like on my tongue.Miss Cassandra—that’s how she’d been introduced. I wonder if that is her real name, or just a stage name.

“You must be close if you’re already on a nickname basis,” I muse.

“We were childhood friends.”

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