Page 97 of Scorned Beauty

I narrowed my eyes. “Traitor.”

Dom scratched Ginger under her chin and my cat was actually purring. He angled toward me. “Now why don’t you give your momma attention? I have someplace to be.”

He handed Ginger to me, and I buried my nose in the furry ball of comfort. “She smells nice.” Her coat was shiny and soft, but there was a clean, almost soapy smell to her.

“Who gave her a bath?”

Ginger barely tolerated one. Occasionally when she’d get covered in grime and I didn’t want her licking it off and ingesting it, I’d run her a bath. The first time I did it, she nearly lacerated my wrists. But after she realized the benefit of getting clean, she’d let me do it.

“I did,” Dom muttered.

“Is he trying to take credit?” Lucy walked in. I’d only talked to Lucy over video chat, but the filter of the screen didn’t do justice to the beauty of Dom’s sister. I had seen her at the New Year’s Eve party, but with the lights and heavy makeup, I didn’t pay attention. This time it looked like she just finished working out. With the resurgent threat from the Russians, she’d been holed up again, and she’d been exercising to keep her sanity. A sheen of sweat dotted her forehead. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and it exposed her swan-like neck that only accentuated her features. Sharper features than the De Lucci side and I’d seen Carlotta enough to see the resemblance. Darker brows, darker eyes set against lashes so thick they seemed unreal. She had a warm skin tone as opposed to mine. Bianca once lamented that Lucy was the one in the family whose face was perfectly proportioned.

“You helped by calling Luca,” her brother grumbled.

“No luggage?” Lucy raised a brow.

“Didn’t I tell you to coordinate with Bianca and get Sloane’s stuff ready?”

“About that…”

I stiffened. I wasn’t attached to the things in my apartment. Bianca told me Dom had them packed up and put in storageafter the police released the crime scene. I hoped my tall boots survived, though.

The two exchanged a look.

“What?”

“Bianca said they asked Al to get it and he got into an accident. The vehicle caught fire and exploded.”

“Oh my God, is Al all right?” I’d been around Al a lot whenever I did work for the Rossis. I’d even extracted a bullet out of him one time.

“He’s fine,” Lucy said. “He got out before the SUV exploded. He couldn’t salvage any of your stuff, though.” But there was a lack of sympathy in Lucy’s tone, and the silence from her brother made me suspicious.

Of course. I glared at Dom. “Is this staged again?”

He raised his arms in a gesture of innocence. “What? No. I’ve never had dealings with Al. I left instructions with Lucy. I would never burn your things.” He said it with a straight face, but his sister snorted a laugh.

I turned my glare on her. “I don’t know what your family is up to, but I own an expensive pair of boots. Maybe they weren’t there?”

“We could check…” Lucy hedged.

“I really need to change out of these clothes.” Exhaustion caught up with me. I walked farther into Dom’s penthouse. It was already evening, but the view of the Manhattan skyline in this expansive space made me feel small again. Like I didn’t belong. Old wounds started bleeding.

I lowered Ginger to the floor. And as if she were my guide, she ran to the tall windows.

“I don’t know if I can stay here.”

Dom’s presence warmed my back before he murmured in my ear, “Give it a few days.”

“I’ll see what I can rustle up,” Lucy called, but it was obvious her objective was to give Dom and me privacy.

I turned to face him. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do. And why you’re forcing this. This is not me.”

“Why?”

“We don’t fit.”

“Because I have money.”