Page 2 of Filthy Little Regrets (Princes of NYC #2)

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CASSIA

Secrets can kill. Deceit has a way of festering, stress compounding until eventually the lies come spilling out or the body gives up.

I hate lies. It makes sense that one of the only jobs I’m good at revolves around picking them apart, breaking down deception brick by brick so the sun can shine on the truth.

It’s always better to know than not. No matter how much it might break the client’s heart.

Today is no exception.

Mei’s gaze flits between me and Orion, my boss.

He’s oblivious to her thoughts, but her blatant curiosity isn’t lost on me.

Her silky black hair hangs in a long bob, the strands brushing over her shoulder as she tips her head.

“So...how long have you two been dating?” she asks.

Anything to avoid focusing on why she invited us here.

Sometimes people call, thinking they’re ready, but when we show up, they stall. Delaying their inevitable dip into the morally gray .

“We’re not,” I say a little too harshly.

Orion gives me the look over his thick-rimmed glasses. Relax, Cassia and my eyes instantly roll. He should be annoyed, too, since everyone assumes he’s the type to boink his assistant.

“Oh, I just assumed.” Mei chuckles and takes a drink of her tea.

“Orion is my boss,” I tell her, grabbing my own cup and tilting my head. “We’re here to talk about your husband, though, right?”

She stiffens, and I instantly feel bad for my attitude. It was a harmless question. I’m tired of having to explain to every new client that I am, in fact, NOT sleeping with my boss—or any other man, for that matter.

“How long have you suspected Larry’s been cheating on you?

” I take a sip of the jasmine tea. Floral notes burst across my tongue, but they taste bitter.

Love is meant to be sacred, but too many people get married on the promise of lust, and once the rose-colored glasses are removed, they realize they’re trapped. That’s when bad decisions are made.

“For a few years now.” Mei frowns and glances out of her living room window, focusing on the children shouting and playing in the yard across the street.

Larry is a financial advisor, and from the size of their house, he must be good at what he does.

Not many people can afford a house in New York City, let alone a three-thousand-square-foot one with marble floors.

A stab of envy runs through me. Usually, I’m content with my loft apartment, but occasionally, I wish I could afford a place like this.

Investigative work only makes so much, and I’ve stopped taking the high-paying hacking jobs.

Too much risk of being caught by the FBI, now that they’ve been targeting smaller hacks.

Working with Orion Investigations isn’t my first choice of work, but it’s all that made sense. I won’t work for a corporation—not that they’d hire me—and Orion pays well enough. It helps that he has a lawyer on retainer just in case.

“If you’ve known he’s been cheating for years, why are you hiring a PI?” Orion asks.

Sighing, Mei pulls her focus back to us. “Have you ever been in love?”

Orion and I both shake our heads. Outside of work, I don’t know much about my boss, but I do know that he’s a workaholic, and that doesn’t leave time for romance.

As for me, once upon a time I had a boyfriend, but it didn’t work out.

I thought I was in love. One day he left, and I never heard from him again.

After a string of failed dating attempts, I’m starting to think love isn’t for me.

I rub my chest. It does nothing to ease the pang of loneliness reverberating through me.

“I thought he’d stop,” Mei admits, gaze dropping to her lap. “But he didn’t. Then I told myself I could live with it as long as he always put our marriage first.” She digs her mauve-painted nails into her pants. “But then he met her.”

“What’s her name?” I set my tea down and pull out my laptop to take notes.

“Who cares? She’s a cunt!” Mei practically snarls. She covers her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Orion gives her a second to collect herself.

“Her name…” Mei’s tone is carefully controlled now. “Is Vanessa Lewis.”

“What do you know about her?” Orion asks .

“She has a studio apartment in Manhattan. She’s a model. A pretty country bumpkin from Iowa.” Mei presses her lips together to keep from saying more. She’s gorgeous herself, but one thing I’ve learned about men is that, most of the time, they don’t give a fuck.

There are a few good ones, like my best friend’s husband or my late father, but a lot of them let their dick lead them around.

I type the woman’s name and where she’s from. It’s not much to go on. “And what are we looking for?”

“Evidence of him with her?” Orion supplies.

“Yes, but I also know he’s been stealing from his clients.” Mei’s brown irises are alight with vengeance. “I want his company destroyed.”

“Fuck the patriarchy.” What’s the saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

She nods, a vicious smile cutting across her face. “Something like that. I have the divorce papers ready. Once we get through that and I take half of everything, I’m going to burn the rest to the ground.”

“I’ll advise against arson,” Orion says.

“Figuratively,” Mei corrects. There’s a glint in her eyes that makes me wonder if she might actually take a torch to the place.

“What’s different about her?” I ask, unable to stop myself. “You said he’s been cheating for years...” I trail off and lift a shoulder. “What’s changed?”

“She comes to the tennis club. Sits with me and my friends. She’s taunting me, trying to rub the fact that she’s sleeping with my husband in my face.

” Mei arches an eyebrow. “Larry’s kept her around longer than any other sidepiece, and I figure if she wants him so badly, she can have him, but only once he’s lost everything she wants. ”

I can get on board with that plan. Men cheating is one thing, but being the other woman and gloating about it?

That’s another level of disgusting. Orion glances at me and shakes his head, as if he can sense the suggestion of ruining Vanessa’s life while we’re at it on the tip of my tongue. I clamp my mouth closed. Fun sucker.

Rule number one of working with Orion is don’t get emotionally involved .

Rule number two is don’t push the client down a path they might regret .

We come. We listen. We ruin the lives of those who wronged our clients, but only to the extent that they ask us to.

If Mei wants to let Vanessa off easy, that’s her prerogative.

“The pictures of them together won’t be hard,” Orion begins. “Cassia will need some time to gather the other evidence, but since you want the divorce finalized first, there’s plenty of time for that.”

“Perfect. How much is this going to cost me?”

Orion shifts in his seat. This is where we usually lose clients. “Ten thousand for the pictures, another twenty for the fraud evidence.” Six months of working with Orion and the prices still shock me.

Mei doesn’t even blink. It’s probably a drop in the bucket to her. After all, the newest Escalade model is parked in her driveway. Larry probably shits gold. “Cash or check?”

“Cash is preferred. If we’re in agreement, Cassia will fill in the contract details, and we can get started once you sign and make the first payment.”

Pulling up the file, I quickly type in the scope of services, Mei’s full legal name, mine and Orion’s, and other pertinent details. Mei goes to retrieve the papers from the printer in her husband’s office.

“The mistress is getting off easy,” I mutter. At the very least, Vanessa Lewis needs her eyebrows accidentally shaved off.

“It’s not your place,” Orion reminds me. “Mei decides the scope of work.”

I close my laptop. “I know.” That doesn’t mean I can’t picture a hundred ways Mei should make them both pay.

There are a few pictures of Mei and Larry hanging on the wall, various photos from their years of living together.

They’re both smiling from ear to ear. They look happy.

The perfect suburban couple. “Do you think relationships are ever really like that?”

Orion follows my gaze. “I think most people fool themselves into believing they’re in love because they can’t cope with being alone.”

“That’s harsh.” The ache in my chest runs a little deeper.

I’ve been on my own for so long. I’m not the type to jump into a relationship, and sometimes I’m my own worst enemy, but I don’t have to worry about my heart getting broken if I’m single.

I’ve had more than enough of that to last a lifetime.

“Harsh but true.” Orion blows out a breath, running his hand through his graying hair. “Humans are hardwired to be with others.”

My forehead wrinkles. “As far as I can tell, love is more pain than happiness.”

Sighing, Orion shakes his head. “That’s the job talking, kid.”

I side-eye him. “You realize I’m twenty-seven, right?”

“You’re still young. I’m older and wiser. We see the worst of people in this field of work, but there’s goodness out there in the world. Look at Rose and Dare.”

I scoff. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing.” Some might call it obsession. They almost broke up once, and it nearly killed Rose. If that’s what love can do to a person, I’m not sure I want it.

Back at Orion Investigations, I’m deep inside Larry’s personal emails.

It comes as no surprise that he’s a vile human being.

The scowl on my face hardens the more I shift through the messages.

Not even the lavender mist streaming out of my diffuser can soothe the tension settling between my shoulders as I catalog Larry’s wrongdoings.

Sex workers. Copious amounts of self-filmed porn with his various partners. A few threesomes. It’s not good.

Maybe Mei should burn the business down, after all. For her sake, I hope he wrapped his junk.