Page 13 of Beautiful Evidence

Then she screams.

The wine slips from my hand and hits the floor, the glass bouncing once before rolling under the radiator. I draw my weapon and run. Her bedroom door is cracked, and I don’t bother knocking. I shove it open, gun up, and race in.

Alessia's halfway undressed—bra, panties, nothing else—and she spins around in shock, eyes wild. Steam is curling from the adjoining bathroom, the light behind her backlit like a halo I have no business seeing.

"Jesus, Vinny!" she shouts, backing against the dresser. "What the hell are you doing with your gun?" Her eyes flick to the weapon, then back to me, her chest rising and falling like she’s ready to throw something at my head.

"You screamed," I growl, but I don’t lower the weapon until I’m sure we’re alone in the room and whatever threat was there is gone. I scan the room, then the window.

The pane is cracked. Not shattered, but fractured at the base, just along the latch where someone tried to force it. I walk past her and lean in to inspect it. The lock is bent. Tools were used recently. Whoever tried this knew what they were doing, but they look out of practice.

She grabs her robe from the bed and yanks it on, glaring at me. "You think busting into my bedroom while I’m half-naked is going to help?" She tugs her robe tighter around herself and shoots me a look that could cut glass.

I holster the gun but don’t step back. "Whoever tried this wasn’t guessing. They wanted in." I run my fingers along the bent metal, checking for fresh marks, trying to keep my focus off the way she’s glaring at me in nothing but a robe. It makes my pulse tick up a few notches and my body is responding to the bits of bare skin that are still exposed. All I can think about is watching her undress and climb into bed on that monitor the other day.

"Right," she snaps. "Or you staged it. Another scare tactic to get me to keep my mouth shut." She crosses her arms, eyes locked on mine with sharp suspicion.

I meet her glare head-on. "If I wanted you silent, you'd be gone before anyone noticed." I don’t raise my voice, but the air shifts slightly between us.

The room crackles with tension, and heat, the proximity. Her robe slips slightly from one shoulder. She doesn’t fix it. I let my eyes indulge for a moment before wresting them away to catch her glare.

"Is that what this is? You're inept at getting a woman so you stalk me? Did my father even send you?" Alessia moves around the foot of her bed and toward the door to the bathroom, and I watch her.

"Think what you want, but I'm here to help." And apparently, I'm here to get a very hard cock that will be very upset when it learns she wants nothing to do with me. She's furious as she walks into her bathroom, and I hear the water shut off.

I busy myself by inspecting the window again, which will have to be fixed or she won't be safe here. I may need to up the security too or we'll have a mess on our hands. If Emilio thinks it's bad now, wait until someone kills Gordo's daughter.

Alessia walks back into the room huffing and sighing in an overly dramatic fashion. It's like she is looking for a reason to be angry and blow off steam but she doesn't know how to be angry or take it out on me personally.

She crosses her arms. "Vinny. Seriously?" She plants a hand on her hip, the edge in her voice clashing with the curve of her mouth like she’s trying not to smile.

I arch a brow. "What?" I lift one brow, more amused than offended.

"Vinny is a stupid name." She says it flatly, but I can tell she’s baiting me.

That gets a laugh out of me. "My friends call me Enzo," I say casually, but I watch her face for a reaction anyway. It's definitely my invitation to her, but she is still being snippy.

"You don’t have friends." She steps closer, and the fire in her voice feels less like an insult, more like a challenge.

"You don't think so?" I shrug and shift my stance slightly, feeling the floor under my boots like I’m about to step into something I can’t walk back from. And maybe I want to. Everything about this situation is a giant red flag, and I'm barreling toward the cliff with no parachute.

She steps closer, now with both hands on her hips, and lifts one eyebrow at me. "You're the most infuriating man I've ever met," she snaps.

"You should get out more," I shoot back, crossing my arms just to keep from reaching for her.

"You're smug, you're evasive, and you're watching me like you're doing me a favor just by being here." Her nostrils flare, and I think it's cute.

"I'm here because someone tried to break in," I say. "Forgive me for not smiling about it."

"Forgive me for not wanting to be babysat by a guy with a superiority complex." Her eyes roll, and I snort in laughter.

"I never once said I was better than you, woman…" Her accusation pricks my ego, but I try to laugh it off. She wants to rile me for some reason, and it's beginning to work as she steps closer. Just not the way she thinks it is.

"You don’t have to. You walk around like you're God's gift to women." Alessia's hand waves in the air, almost hitting me, and I catch her wrist and grip it hard, holding her gaze.

"You walk around like you're invincible, but you're walking on glass floors." My grip is tight but not enough to even leave a mark, and she twists her wrist to get free.

She laughs—short, sharp, annoyed. "You know what, Vinny?—"

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