Vito kisses the top of my head before announcing to everyone that we’re heading to bed. That set off a chain reaction, and before I know it, everyone is passing out hugs and going to bed. I grab Vito’s hand, leading him to my room when he scoops me up in his arms bridal style.
“You know I can walk, right?” I playfully slap him on the shoulder.
“I do! But if you’re right here, then I know you are safe, and I did exactly what I promised you that night so many years ago,” he says honestly.
I’m so taken aback by his words that I need time to think before I can respond. We get to the top of the stairs, and he turns, going the wrong way.
“Hey, my room is that way,” I point in the opposite direction.
Vito turns, following my directions to the room. He pushes the door open with his foot, eyes going wide when he sees all the bags around the room.
“We may have gotten a little carried away,” I say, burying my face in his chest.
“It looks like I might owe Mason some money,” Vito chuckles, letting me slide down his body.
“Lawson and Mia said they won’t even notice the tiny dent we made. So don’t stress about it,” I sass, going over to a bag that has something special in it for tonight.
I feel him come up behind me, and I smile when I bend over reaching for a bag further away, and Vito groans, rubbing his hands over my ass and around my front standing me up straight so he can bury his face in my neck. He peppers small kisses along my shoulder and up my neck, whispering in my ear, “You are so fucking gorgeous.”
I smile to myself, laying my head back against his chest for just a moment before stepping away. “I’m going to use the restroom and get ready for bed. Get comfortable and I’ll be right back.”
Sixteen
Vito
I watch as the woman who owns me body and soul sashays into the bathroom. Giving me the sweetest smile before closing the door. Walking over to the closet, I open the door and find all of my clothes hanging in the closet along with several new outfits she must have gotten on her shopping trip today. Stripping down, I throw my clothes in the hamper before I pull on clean underwear and make my way to the bed. I slide into it, leaning back against the headboard with my phone, checking emails and messages as we didn’t have time for that while in the meeting.
Several messages from Bryce and my contact catch my attention:
Bryce: Party favor was lost, so we’ll have to find a new one for the nurse
Well, it appears our little nurse has some secrets she’s been keeping. I shoot a message to my contact to dig into her.
Bryce: the bird has flown away and gotten lost among the others.
Fuck, that means Alan is missing and no one knows where he is. I send out high-alert messages to everyone in case he shows up around Nashville.
Unknown: Call me as soon as you get this!
Unknown: This is important. Call me ASAP
This can’t be good. I press the phone symbol on the screen and call the number he was texting me from. The phone rings exactly two times before he answers.
“Damn it, Vito, what took you so fucking long?” he demands.
“Well, considering I’ve been in closed-door meetings all day and traveling with outsiders, I called as soon as I could,” I return his terse tone. “Now what’s going on that has you losing your shit?”
“Alan fucking Davis! He is a serial killer and has his sights set on your girl,” he says quickly.
I sit straight up in bed needing to put eyes on my Blood Rose, so I know she’s safe. “How do you know it’s him?”
“I told you I had a hunch, so I followed it and started digging. What I found is that anywhere Alan has stayed for more than two weeks, the body of either a hooker or stripper would turn up dead. With each of them, it looked like overdoses. It didn’t make sense because they all had very similar features as well as each having a bruise that looks like a family crest of some kind.”
“Why hasn’t anyone else connected the dots?” I question him just to make sure this man isn’t jumping to conclusions where someone has already been there and closed the case.
“No one cares about a dead whore, Vito, you know that,” my contact deadpans like I’m an idiot. “You need to be careful and keep a close eye on Loretta. His family has money, and they will cover everything up for him.”
“What’re you going to do about your hunch?” I ask as Loretta comes out of the bathroom looking absolutely breath-taking.
