When I say that to Rocco, his grin turns blinding. “Maybe it isn’t just you and Roxie that have a sixth sense around each other. Perhaps we have one, too?” Smith coughs to cover his chuckle when Rocco puckers up his lips for an air kiss. “Who said Mario was chasing Princess P? He might have liked hairy Italians.”
His words become as windless as Smith’s chuckles when I sock him in the stomach. I understand the reason for his riling, it’s how he handles things when he feels out of his element, but I’ve got too many theories swirling around in my head to add his antics into the mix.
“What was Theresa’s response to your question?”
Rocco rubs his stomach, feigning injury while replying, “That you’ll lose more than a couple of bricks of coke if you don’t meet with her.”
My brow cocks, shocked she had the audacity to threaten me. If my thoughts hadn’t shifted to Fien after she stole from me, she’d be lying on the bottom of the ocean with Eduardo, feeding the fish.
Rocco’s grin reveals he responded to Theresa’s threat with the same malice tracing through my veins. “My gun got real friendly with her head, but you know bitches, they don’t lay down even when they’re in heat.”
I take a moment to deliberate a response. Although it could be a waste of my time, discovering the reason Theresa met with my father last week should swallow the injustice. Theresa is like India. She only sniffs around when there’s a carcass ready to be boned. If my family is carving it up, I want to know about it.
“Set up a meeting for the AM.” Smith appears shocked about my offer, but his lips remain locked. “But warn her if she wastes my time, she’ll need to clear her schedule for the remainder of her life.”
Believing all is said and done, Smith grabs his paperwork and laptop off the desk and makes a beeline for the door. He doubles back when I add, “Also announce that Roxanne’s auction was finalized and that her winning bidder was me.” When a fretful mask slips over Rocco’s face, I do my best to shut it down. “The auction was conducted under my father’s branch of our entity. I could have been in attendance as a bidder. Furthermore, if you want the people Dr. Bates is working for to be tempted by the lure we’re considering dangling in front of them, we need to make it as appetizing as possible. If this is personal, as we believe it is, making the mark associated with me will work in our favor.” Before relief can cross Smith’s features, pleased I’m considering his tactic, I continue, “IfI go through with this, there will be no holds barred. I won’t be fucked in the ass by Rimi for another two years.”
“I agree with what you’re saying.” Rocco’s words are more at ease than his facial expression. “But by going down this road, you’ll place Roxie on your father’s radar.”
He looks torn between wanting to pat me on the back and punch me in the face when I reply, “Isn’t that the point?”
Ten
Roxanne
Istretch out lazily, loving that a solid few hours of sleep hasn’t fully unwound my tired muscles. I slept through dinner, dessert, and the midnight cap Smith forced on me every night the past three days to encourage me to sleep, but I feel refreshed. Calm, even.
It’s amazing what back-to-back orgasms can do. My hang-ups from the past week have vanished, and nothing but optimism appears on the horizon. It’s a nice feeling after years of worry.
“You better quit moaning before I come over and take care of them.”
The bedding falls away from my naked chest when I prop myself on my elbows so I can stray my eyes in the direction the voice came from. If it were twanged with anything but an Italian accent, I’d cover up, but since I want to entice my greeter into following through with his threat, I don’t bother.
“Good morning.”
My eyes shift to the only window in the room, truly unsure if it’s morning or not. I feel like I’ve been asleep for weeks but am untrusting of my delirious head.
My lips twist when not a ray of sun shines through the pleats of the drapes. It’s early enough for the slightest bit of gray to mottle the sky, but it isn’t close to the time I usually wake up.
A hunger unlike anything I’ve ever felt before smacks into me when Dimitri says, “Rosa left a club sandwich on the nightstand. You should eat. You’ll need the energy.”
His voice is as seductive as the lust roaring through my veins, however I can’t act on it. He isn’t seated behind his desk at this late hour for no reason. He’s working through the files Smith and I collated while endeavoring not to make it seem as if we were holding a candlelight vigil at his bedside.
After placing on my dressing gown Rosa must have gathered from the floor, I snatch up the sandwich Dimitri mentioned before pacing to his half of the room. I won’t lie, lust thickens my veins when I notice his inconspicuous watch. He stares at me through hooded eyelids, acting as if my frumpy dressing gown is made from the finest silk.
The indecent swing of my hips tapers when I notice which articles he’s perusing. He has 3D printouts of my grandparents’ farm spread across his desk. Smith took my knowledge of burial sites up a notch when he showed me how ground-penetrating radars and electromagnetic tests can narrow down the search area when seeking unmarked graves. It was fascinating to watch, but the circumstances for our search sucked.
Once I’ve swallowed down my unease, I say, “No significant increase in conductivity was found during electromagnetic testing, leading us to believe there were no bodies buried on-site.”
Dimitri raises his eyes to mine, either shocked at the extent of my knowledge or turned on by the lack of disgust in my voice. He should count his lucky stars he was out cold the first three days of my internship, or he would have witnessed me heaving more than once. I have a morbid curiosity for crime shows and the scientific side of hunting for murderers, but having a personal connection with the people involved was a bitter pill to swallow.
After a quick breather, I continue updating Dimitri on our findings. “Smith organized ground-penetrating searches for a handful of smaller sites that had increased conductivity. Nothing came from it. Most were stock animals or farming equipment.”
“Did they dig below the animal carcasses?”
I shake my head. I wasn’t on-site during testing, but I kept a close watch on proceedings from my station in Dimitri’s room with Smith. “Why would they dig deeper?”
I’m reasonably sure I won’t eat for a week when Dimitri asks, “When searching for a body, what’s the most obvious shape examiners seek?” Although he’s asking a question, he continues talking as if he didn’t. “If you don’t want a body found, instead of burying it horizontally, dig a vertical gravesite. It makes the disturbance to the land less noticeable and often has conductivity results overlooked by examiners.” He snickers about my whitening gills before adding, “The smart criminals might even add a dead animal on top of the corpse to ward off suspicion.”
