Page 117 of Sweet Dominion

Monique spoke, “Nice to meet you, Rose.”

She gave Monique and me a small, polite smile. “Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a little about you all.”

"You heard about me?” I forced myself to keep a smile. “I would hate for Diamond Syndicate news to make it to the papers. That would beverydangerous.”

Rose flinched.

Dima scowled. “It would be more dangerous to threatenher.”

Interesting. He’s willing to protect her from me. Hmmm.

Rose fixed her expression. “I’m off duty.”

“But you arestilla reporter hoping to dismantle the evil elements in Paradise City?”

Rose stood her ground. “Thankfully for the Diamond Syndicate, there are much more evil elements than you all in Paradise City.”

“Thankfully.” I found her intriguing so far.

To stand next to Dima, she must have been beyond fascinating and willing to deal with all of his odd quirks.

While I liked that for him, I wasn’t going to easily trust her just yet.

Whether he understood how much I cared for him or not. . .I would not let justanyonehave his heart.

I’ll have to make sure Chen gets a team of people to check her out. Last I knew, he was supposed to kill her.

Earlier, I’d watched Rose closely, noting the way she seemed to be taking everything in—the dynamics between us, the unspoken rules, the tension that crackled in the air like static.

Something about her made me uneasy. She was too calm, too composed.

Was she playing a part?

Or truly trying to understand our world for the greater good of being with Dima?

Hmmm.

Dima recovered the moment for all of us. “Well. . .I have a question. . .about a week or so ago, Lei drove back to Paradise City with a woman on the back of his motorcycle. Were you that woman?”

Moni looked at me. “What?”

Rose whispered, “Dima.”

“Oh. That wasn’t you?” Dima took out a different notebook. This one wasn’t yellow, it was white.

Meanwhile, I glanced at Duck. “What is he talking about?”

Duck shrugged. “I gave someone a ride on your bike. Her tire was flat. I thought it would turn into something, but I forgot to get her number.”

Dima flipped through the notebook and put several lines through some old notes.

And Moni continued to watch me.

I kept my voice low. “It wasn’t me.”

“My apologies. Wrong information.” Dima put that notebook away and pulled out the yellow one again. “Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this introduction.”

Moni turned back to him. “Me too. When I wasFriend of the Four Aces, I had chosen you as my advisor.”

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