Page 103 of Sins of the Orchid

It was better not to elaborate on that.

“What have you been doing?” I asked her instead.

“Not much,” she answered. “I went to Genoa and the beach yesterday. I’m going to the beach again today.”

“Alone?”

“No, with a friend,” she answered. My first inclination was to think she was going with a man and a growl crept up my throat. Smothering it, I shoved the urge to demand to know the name of who she was going with down.

“Have fun,” I said instead. It sounded fake to my own ears, but if she picked up on it, she didn’t comment on it. “What did you do last week?”

It was the last week of her semester. I found out she took all her exams the week before last, earlier than planned. Her professors allowed it, marking down a family emergency. There wasn’t one. Lorenzo and her uncle Vincent flying home to help with business was hardly a family emergency.

All the Bennetti strip clubs were raided. Savio had been having issues with his suppliers. The Perèz Cartel had it out for him. For everyone in the Cosa Nostra, although Bennetti seemed to be at the top of that list. Santi had been helping him, but the two had a falling out. Not that he could help him even if they were on good terms since Santi was out of the country.

Vacation, he said. It didn’t make fucking sense. He hadn’t taken a vacation for as long as I’d known him.

“I had exams last week,” Amore replied. “So, all my focus was on that.”

Lie.

“How did you do on your exams?” I questioned her. I knew she was in Venezuela, but she just confirmed that the reason for her travel wasn’t a mere visit.

“Good,” she stated. “I have to go. You are still coming at the end of the summer, right?”

“Yes.”

“Wonderful. I can’t wait.” I heard a distant voice in the background. Definitely male. I gritted my teeth. I had no right to be jealous, especially considering I had been changing women like underwear for years. Right in front of her eyes. Except, Amore never dated or even entertained going out with anyone but me.

“Got to go. We can talk tomorrow. Love ya.”

The phone still to my ear, I was left listening to the beeping sound, signaling she was gone.

So, this was how it felt.

CHAPTER33

Santino

My phone beeped and I glanced at the message. It was from Adriano.

Venezuela with DeAngelo.

And three special ops men.

No word on why.

Official story is hiking trip.

Lifting my head, I observed Amore. She was looking through some designs on her computer, completely immersed in it. She was hiding something. I knew she didn’t do hiking; that was a bullshit excuse. And what the hell was she doing with special ops men?

Earlier, as we had headed out, she got a call and rushed to her computer. Watching her focus on her work, I saw firsthand how much she loved fashion.

The world around her was forgotten. She jotted down notes after each design, marking up the touchscreen. Her eyes shone with excitement, cheeks lightly flushed. It was a look I had come to know well. It was the expression she wore when I kissed her, and it only grew more intense when I buried myself inside her.

Jesus!I couldn’t think about her hazed green eyes when I fucked her, or about her pale, milky skin flushed with excitement. The heat ran straight to my dick. She was insatiable, just as I was. I’ve been buried inside her more than not. Yet, my fascination and need to fuck her grew each time I had her. I couldn’t afford to be distracted, but all this fucked with my head.

Her marriage contract. Whatever Amore was doing in Venezuela.