Page 24 of Sasha’s Secret

Meeting her, being with her, had changed all that, and with a speed that left him as breathless as she did. With her, he wanted more than some fun at the end of the day. She wasn’t an easy lay he could walk away from when his job was done.

Rocco didn't remember much of his early childhood in Sicily, but he did remember something Dario had told him during one of his summer visits in later years.

“When I first saw your mother, she was alone and scared. She was also the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in my life, and I vowed to God that one day, I would marry her. I loved her from the moment I met her, and I will continue to love her until the day I die.”

As a teen, he’d never understood that, but now? One thought looped through his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t rid himself of it.

Like father, like son.

Did he have more in common with Dario than he’d always thought?

The concept was unsettling. Rocco didn't want to admit he had anything at all in common with the man who’d sired him, yet he couldn’t deny his deep, spontaneous attraction to Sasha.

Or how, over the course of the evening, it had taken the first few steps toward evolving into something all-consuming and infinitely more complex than a primal urge to have sex with her.

Chapter 6

After a restless night, Rocco rose early and visited the deserted gym for a short but rigorous workout. He then left a message of apology for Geri for not making it to the kitchen to sample her amazing cooking again, and resigned himself to a substantially inferior breakfast of strong black coffee instead.

Which was how he came to be buried in his examination of personnel records when Sasha arrived in her office the morning after he blew his chance to become intimately acquainted with the taste of her lips.

“Good morning, Mr. Equizi. I hope you slept well.”

Rocco stiffened—and not in a good way. To describe Sasha’s manner as cool would be an understatement of epic proportions. Not that he could blame her. The way he’d walked away from her had been… abrupt. And insulting.

“I did, thank you,” he lied. “You?”

Her reply completely ignored his question. “I’m going to be with Linzi all day, going over her schedule for the next twelve months, so you’ll have the office to yourself for the rest of the day. If you need anything, text me.”

Without another word, she scooped up her tablet and notebook, and departed. Rocco couldn’t shake the feeling he’d been summarily dismissed, especially with the storm-force deafening silence that filled the room following the explosive slam of the door.

Rocco crossed off the last name he’d checked on the list of employees and brought the next one up on the laptop screen.

It was going to be a long day…

* * *

And at the end of a long day came an even longer evening. Rocco was used to dining alone, but tonight had been a trial. He’d prepared dinner for one, the way he had thousands of times before, but by the time it was ready, his appetite had all but vanished.

Though he’d remained focused on his work all day, Rocco had still missed Sasha’s presence in her office. True to her word, she hadn’t returned. He’d skipped lunch, so he should have been hungry, but the pasta dish had nonetheless ended up in the waste disposal.

He still hadn’t heard from Nick or Charity, and not knowing Sasha’s history—and that she was in the clear—was making him itch from the inside out. He paced the room like a caged jungle cat, to the point where he had to get outside or he’d end up punching something. He tucked the Glock into the waistband of his pants as a precaution, grabbed his jacket, and made good his escape from the suffocating apartment.

Although the stillness and quietness made a pleasant change from the hustle and bustle of the house during the daytime, it didn’t mean Rocco was any less observant. Vigilance was a way of life, had been for years, and that didn't change just because he was playing nursemaid to an overindulged brat in a glitzy mansion. His next assignment could come with a much higher level of risk, so he couldn’t afford to lower his guard for a cushy job like this one.

With no particular route in mind, Rocco wound up on the path that would take him to the studio annex. He hadn’t been down here since his introduction to Linzi. Of course, there was still a hell of a lot of the compound he hadn’t seen at all, but tonight, for a reason he couldn’t identify, he felt drawn to this place.

Trees and shrubs rustled in the light breeze, accompanied by the gentle lapping sound of the water in the pool. Thoughts of skinny-dipping with Sasha on hot nights sprang to life and kicked his libido into high gear—until he saw the light spilling from the studio block. His hand automatically retrieved the weapon nestling against his spine and, dropping low, he ran to the building. With his free hand, he punched in the access code, silently cursing the chirps as he did so.

Not only was light spilling from—if memory served—the dance studio, there was music, too. Without lowering his guard or his weapon, Rocco hugged the wall, crept to the open doorway, and peered into the room.

From his vantage point, the studio looked typical of its kind—a light-colored, presumably sprung wooden floor, with a floor-to-ceiling mirror along one wall. What was atypical was the chrome pole fixed to the floor and ceiling a few feet in front of the gigantic mirror.

Reflected movement caught his eye. He edged forward inch by inch, until he could get a line on who was to the left of the room.

Of all the people it could have been, it had to be her. He pressed his lips together. Sasha hadn’t seen him yet, and if he stepped back now, she wouldn’t. Except… he couldn’t step back. Curiosity kept him rooted to the spot. He made his weapon safe and returned it to the waist of his pants.

She was using the touch screen on some sort of control panel, but that was a minor detail—his focus was on the woman herself, and in response to the vision before him, interest spiked in every cell in his body.