Page 119 of Sinner's Vows

“Make a list of things we’re going to need to disguise ourselves,” he says as he pulls me to his side. “All the make-up products and props, whatever you think best. I’ll get one of the guys to go shopping. We can’t walk around as ourselves when we go for this hit.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to use my phone, or shall I get one of the guys to hand over a laptop?”

“I can do it on your phone. I’ll find a location for them to go source what we need. Luckily, it is still early in the day.”

He nods, and we work together, side by side, setting things up for the ultimate takedown of Pietro Garlini.

As Dominic calls both Benedict and Stephano, he doesn’t shy away from letting me in on their conversations as he sets up a team to gokeep an eyeon the convent in Potenza. Benedict is front and central to arranging many things. Stephano will bring their mom’s journals over, and anything else that could be used to pinpoint Gabriella as their sister. Even Arturo and Portia are being called in to find some photos of her as a child and might come along to help Gabriella recognize an aged, if familiar, face.

I get swept up in making arrangements, giving input around my apartment, my neighbors, the area, and seeing how he goes about putting things in place has me in awe. What the DIA won’t give for this information. These brothers are a real team. No wonder we are always five steps behind the Mafia. Never mind the bad apples in the DIA, the Scaleras are on top of the latest technology where we’re always waiting for tested products, approvals, budgets. We’ll never win.

It hits me that the only way to probably stop Randazzo’s trafficking ring is from the inside out, and not from the outside in. I’ll have time to think that over once we’re done here.

At some point, Dominic gets food delivered through one of the bodyguards, and once my list of items arrives, and I’ve gone through our disguises, exhaustion hits me. It’s early to go to bed, but I feel like I can sleep for days.

When I stifle yet another yawn, Dominic puts his hand on my thigh where I’m sitting next to him.

“We should get an early night. We have an hour’s drive to Rome in the morning, and it would be best if we get going while it’s still dark. Go to bed, sweetheart.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m almost done here. Just need to double-check a few things.”

I nod and get up, really taking in the room for the first time. We’ve been working non-stop for hours, and my shoulders are stiff with sitting. The room isn’t big, furnished with wooden antiques and faded printed landscapes on the wall, and a crocheted bedspread right out of the seventies. There’s something nostalgic about this place, stuck in time.

I take my suitcase and go to the bathroom, not sure what the arrangement is. I’ve just been following Dominic’s lead, and here we’re sharing a bedroom like a couple. I don’t want anything else, but my future hangs in the balance, and we haven’t spoken about anything.

I’d hate for him to break my heart, especially now I’ve found I actually have one…and it already belongs to him. I take a long time to shower, letting the water run course with my tears, still trying to come to grips with the reality of what Pietro has done. If all goes as planned, I’ll have the chance to ask him some questions, but maybe the moment might be too big for me.

By the time I’m in my pajamas and slip between the covers, Dominic is still at the table, still on his phone, his back towards me. Outside, the sun is setting in warm, golden hues, and now I’m awake again, my mind racing, my body anticipating, longing for him to come, hold me close and take my mind off things.

Last night on the plane, I was bold and asked for what I wanted, because I still had options. Now I’m shy, insecure, because the coin’s sides are both the same—whichever way it falls, it falls to this man. I don’t know how he feels about me, orthe fact I’ve basically flooded his life with my problems, my mere existence.

“I’ll be there in a minute, sweetheart,” he says as he closes his laptop, shutting off the last of the artificial light in the room. “I’ll just take a quick shower.”

As he stands and turns to the bed, his full magnificent height towers over me, and my heart skips a beat. He knows exactly what I want, what I need.

“Please be quick,” I say, heat already gathering between my thighs at the way he looks at me.

He bends over and brushes my lips with his thumb. “In the shower, yes, but with you, I’ll take my time.”

I lie there, praying for him to hurry up, listening as he brushes his teeth and gets in the shower. I burn with the need to watch him, and one day, I’ll walk in on him, just as he walked in on me that night that feels like ages ago. I’m still contemplating doing so now when the faucet turns off. When he steps back into the bedroom, he’s drying himself, no towel around his body to hide his budding erection.

I blush as he stares at me, towel-drying his hair as he pads closer, his cock hardening with each step, the room seeming to shrink.

“Having a hard time falling asleep?” he asks as he hooks the towel over the back of the chair and drops some condoms onto the nightstand.

“So much has happened, but now I can’t think about anything else…but this. You. Me.”

He gets under the light summer covers, and the scent of him, shower-fresh with the guesthouse’s lemon-scented soap, makes my heart skip a beat. He is so close, I feel the moisture of his shower still radiating off him as he finds my hip, glides his hand over my stomach to the other hip, and nudges me closer.

“I hope they’re only pleasant thoughts.”

“Very pleasant…” I murmur as I cup his jaw, my leg hooking over his hip, his cock nestling against my sex. “If a bit uncertain.”

“Uncertain?” he murmurs as he nuzzles my ear and nibbles at my lobe, sending shivers down my body that harden my nipples and draw a moan from me.

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