Dino by Jaime Lewis
Chapter Twenty
As soon as Arianna opened the door to her dad’s office, she knew she was in for one hell of a day. Why in the hell was Victoria sitting at her dad’s desk rummaging through the desk drawers?
When she looked up surprised to see Arianna in the doorway, Arianna knew Victoria wasn’t just there to look for a simple bill.
“What are you doing here?” Victoria snapped and immediately started straightening everything back on the desk. Could she have looked any more suspicious?
Arianna set her bags down on the small sofa and stood in front of the desk.
“I think the question is, what are you doing here? You have no business at this place.”
She huffed. “Being that I do help Paul from time to time, I think that I am entitled to be here.”
Arianna couldn’t stand people who thought they were entitled.
“I beg to differ. According to my dad, you haven’t been involved in the business in over six months.”
“Well, newsflash honey, your daddy ain’t here right now.”
Arianna stepped into Victoria’s space, making her take a step backward towards the door.
“I’ve had enough of your shit. I don’t know what is going on between you and my father, but while he’s out, I’m running the show here now, and I don’t want you here.”
There was a knock at the door, and when Arianna turned, Bruno stood there with a concerned expression.
“Is everything okay in here?” He asked, looking between the two women.
Arianna turned her gaze back to the witch standing across from her.
“Everything is fine. Victoria was just leaving.”
Victoria picked up her designer bag then did the typical dramatic flip of her hair with her hand.
“You’re making a big mistake, little girl,” she snarled at Arianna.
“Is that a threat Victoria? Because if it is, and something happens, I’ve got a witness.” She pointed to Bruno.
With another huff, she walked out the door.
“What was that all about?” Bruno asked, coming in and taking a seat.
“I found her going through my dad’s desk.”
Bruno raised his eyebrow in question. “What was she hoping to find?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied. She bent down to pick up a few papers that Victoria must have pushed off the desk, and when she went to stand, her head became fuzzy, and her stomach felt funny. She got lightheaded, and Bruno must have seen what was happening because he rushed to her side and held her around the waist.
“Whoa. Easy there,” he said as he guided her to the chair.
She fell into the chair and closed her eyes, wishing the sensation would go away. But it only made it worse. She felt like she was going to be sick. She bent over in the chair, holding her stomach, willing away the nausea feeling.
Bruno quickly went to the bathroom and returned with a wet cloth.
“Here, put this on your head. I’m going to run out to the bar and grab you something to drink.” He was back within seconds and handed her an orange juice.
She took a sip and leaned her head back against the chair.
“Okay?” He asked.
She stared at Bruno. Bruno was a great guy and a really good friend of her dad’s. They had served together, and during their last deployment, Bruno suffered a career-ending injury to his leg. He was lucky to be alive, let alone still have a leg.
“I’ll be fine.” She half shrugged her shoulders. “I have to be. My dad needs me; this place needs me.”
“Arianna, I’ve always admired you, but let me ask you something. If you’re so busy taking care of everyone and everything, who’s taking care of you?”
“What do you mean? I’m taking care of me.”
Well, didn’t he hit the nail on the head” After her mom died, she always looked after her dad. Even though he was a brilliant man, mom always teased him that he didn’t have common sense. The truth was nobody looked after her—especially in the last three years. Sure, she was usually around many people unless she was sleeping, but she felt it was just her. She wasn’t friends with those people. Hell, most of them would stick the knife in your back, and soon as you turned from them. It was a dog-eat-dog world—a place she never wanted to return to.
“Sweetie, you need to slow down and let others around you help you. Don’t see asking for help as a sign of weakness.”
“I need to be busy. I can’t just sit around, or I’ll go crazy.”
“I understand, but there has to come a time where you need to recharge your body. Getting burned out isn’t going to help your dad or this place if you’re not around, because you’re in the hospital because you got sick.”
“I know, but I can’t help it. It’s who I am.”
“How about this. Why don’t you take tonight off?”
“But I was off last night,” she argued.
“No, you weren’t. The place may not have been open, but you were still working, and don’t even try to deny it because the video cameras don’t lie.”
“Fine! You win,” she told him as she threw her hands up in the air. “Let me at least get the payroll sent over to the company so they can cut the checks.”
“That’s fine. But I’m going to sit here and make sure that’s all you do,” he smiled at her. She hated that he was right. If she didn’t slow down, she would run herself into the ground, and it wouldn’t be good for either her or her dad.
◆◆◆
Okay, so Arianna hadn’t been entirely straight with Bruno. After she finished the payroll, she left like she said she would. However, instead of going home to rest, she headed for the hospital.
When she got off the elevator, she noticed a police officer posted at the nurses’ station, and she wondered if it was because of the new developments in her dad’s case. The officer looked up and smiled at her. He was a very handsome man. The nurses probably loved his company. She introduced herself as she signed into the visitor's log. Her suspicions were right on. He told her that the Chief specifically assigned him to this post. Four officers would rotate. It made her feel a little better knowing he had some protection when she wasn’t around.
When she got to her dad’s room, she set her bag down and walked over to his bed. She kissed his cheek like she always did and talked with him a little bit. His coloring had looked a little better today, which hopefully was a good sign that the treatment was working.
She went to her bag and pulled out a blanket she brought from his house. His favorite one was with the Marine Corps logo that she had gotten him for his birthday one year. She placed it over him and straightened it out.
She also brought a couple of pairs of his PJ bottoms. When Arianna was talking with Brianna the other day, she told her that if her father knew he was lying around in a hospital gown with his butt hanging out, he would be so mad. Brianna had laughed but then told her that she could bring in loose bottoms if she wanted to, and they could put them on him.
Besides the pj’s and blanket, she brought in a picture of her and him taken a week before she left for Europe. He had taken her out to dinner.
“I thought I saw you sneak in here,” a female voice said from behind her.
Arianna turned toward the door and saw Brianna standing there holding a caddy full of medical supplies. She smiled. Arianna really liked Brianna. Brianna seemed to have also taken a real liking to her dad as well. A few times, Arianna had to step out and would come back and find Brianna sitting with her dad and talking to him. Even though her dad was asleep, it touched Arianna seeing Brianna’s compassion toward him. Now, that was someone with who she would love to see her dad with. She was a real sweetheart—caring, compassionate.
“Hi, Brianna. How’s our guy doing today?”
Arianna hid her grin when Brianna’s cheeks pinkened at the comment. Arianna had no clue why she said that. Okay, that was a lie. She wanted to see if there was an inkling that the woman was interested in her dad.
Brianna walked to Paul’s bedside and gently brushed his hair off his forehead. The sight warmed Arianna’s heart.
“His vitals are steady, and he has more coloring today. That’s positive to see. The nurses from the night shift said he had a little movement in his fingers.”
“Really? That’s great news.”
Brianna smiled. “It’s progress. He’s a fighter. I will say that about him.”
Arianna smirked. “That he is and stubborn, but he’s my world.”
Brianna looked at Arianna. “If he is anything like you, I’m sure he is a wonderful man. He raised a good daughter.” Now it was Arianna’s turn to blush.
Changing the subject, Arianna asked, “Do you know if Victoria has been by to see him yet?”
Brianna’s smile faded. “No, I didn’t see her name in the visitor's log.”
It made Arianna happy to know that he had an angel watching over him.
“Now, there was a gentleman who came by early this morning. I wasn’t here, but one of the other nurses said something.”
“Hmmm…I’m not sure who it could’ve been. My dad knows so many people that it’s hard to tell who it could’ve been.”
“Courtney said that this particular guy gave off a bad vibe. Of course, since he wasn’t on the approved list, she didn’t let him go back.”
Arianna thought that did seem strange and wondered who it was.
She and Brianna talked for a few minutes until Arianna’s phone vibrated. Arianna retrieved it from her purse and saw it was Alex.
Arianna answered, “Hey, you!”
“Hi. How’s your dad doing?” Alex said.
Arianna looked at Paul in the bed and smiled. “His coloring is a little better today, and the nurse told me that he moved his finger last night.”
“Arianna, that’s great news.”
“It’s a start.”
“Yes, it certainly is. Umm...there was another reason I called. Since I heard you got booted from Bayside for the night, I wondered if you wanted to come over for dinner. I’m making pork chops with macaroni and cheese and southern-style green beans.”
Arianna’s mouth was already watering. That sounded delicious.
“Sure. What time?”
“You can come whenever you want. I’m not working in the office today.”
“Okay. Let me finish up here at the hospital, then run home to let Nigel out, and then I’ll be over. Can I bring anything?”
“Nope. I’ve got it all covered.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye.”
Maybe a little normalcy and a night away from Dino was what she needed. Once again, their dinner last night turned into another impromptu sex romp. Not that she was knocking it because it was damn good. It was just the awkwardness when he’d leave to go back to his place.
Maybe she’d stop at the liquor store on the way to Alex’s and pick up something that the two of them could share.
◆◆◆
“I cannot believe that Paul had traces of Cyanide in him. That is so scary,” Alex said to Arianna.
“I know.” Arianna had told Alex everything that had happened yesterday.
“So, since you’ve taken on the role of manager at Bayside, does that mean you’re sticking around?”
Arianna looked up from where she was slicing the cheese to make the macaroni and cheese.
“Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it.” And, that was true. There had been so much going on that it hadn’t crossed her mind much. She had just been living one day to the next.
The front door opened and closed, and moments later, Ace walked into the kitchen, and Arianna watched as Alex’s face instantly started to glow at seeing her man.
“Hi, honey!” Alex said to Ace. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.
Ace set his bag down and glanced at Arianna.
“Hey. Dino told us what happened with Paul.”
“I figured he would.” And she was okay with that because she knew they wouldn’t go blabbing their mouths. The Chief had told her that the fewer people who knew about the poisoning, the easier it would be for them to do their job of finding who was responsible.
“How’s he doing today?”
“Better. Slowly, but better.” She explained about him moving his finger and his coloring.
“Well, better is good.”
He turned back to Alex.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited the guys over to watch the football game,” Arianna remembered that the College National Championship was being aired.
Alex rolled her eyes, and it made Arianna laugh.
“Are the ladies coming over too? Or it is just the guys?”
“Just the guys.”
“Great.”
“What? You know you love watching football with us.”
Alex’s eyes suddenly got a sparkle in them, and she turned toward Arianna.
“Arianna, want to stay for the game after dinner?”
“Oh, I don’t want to intrude on your bonding time with the guys.”
Alex laughed. “Yeah, it’s not like when I first met them and could talk about how their day was. Instead of the details I really want to hear about, all I get is good, okay, or it sucked.” She waved her hand in the air. “You get my point?”
“I do.” And she did. Alex used to work for the NSA, and then after getting screwed over by them and almost dying, she went to work for a private security firm doing all kinds of secret stuff.
“So, will you stay and keep me company? Please?” Alex pouted with her bottom lip sticking out.
Arianna was hesitant to say yes. On the one hand, she’d love to hang out with Alex, but on the other hand, she didn’t want Dino to think she was stalking him. They agreed to be friends and only friends. But she couldn’t help it if she was friends with his friends.
She looked at Alex. “I guess I can stay. For just a little while.”
Alex grinned. “Thank you!”
◆◆◆
Dino didn’t want to be sitting around the guys when he knew Arianna was just down the hall from him. He’d been surprised to see her when he arrived at Ace and Alex’s house. That explained why she wasn’t at home. She was like a drug that he couldn’t get out of his system.
“Diego, when are you planning on replacing the roof on your house?” Frost asked as everyone sat around the game room waiting for the game to start.
“Actually, I just got a call this morning from the roofer. He thinks he can start on it next week.”
“After the roof, what’s left for you to do on the outside?”
“That’s pretty much it. Then I can start on the inside. I plan on taking the walls down to the bare bones. Corky, one of the MPs on base, his brother is an electrician and is going to come over and do some re-wiring. It’s a mess.”
Ace was flipping through the channels when Diego told him to stop.
“What is that?”
When Dino looked at the screen, it was a bunch of women parading up and down a runway in barely-there lingerie while the commentators spoke in what sounded like Italian.
Then a graphic popped up—The 14th Annual Designers Showcase, Rome, Italy.
“What in the hell is this?” Ace asked.
“I don’t know, but I don’t mind,” Irish said as his eyes were glued to the TV.
“Hey, you’re a married man now,” Potter playfully scolded him.
Irish grinned. “I am to the love of my life, and from the looks of the lingerie those women are wearing, I think I may have to do a little shopping for Bailey. Where did they say this was?”
“Rome,” Dino told him.
Dino noticed it was a taped show by the date stamp at the bottom corner of the screen. It was from back in early December.
The camera cut away from the announcers and zoomed in on the next model who stormed the stage through the glitter curtain wearing a very sexy, modest, deep purple strappy outfit. The color complemented her olive skin tone. Dino felt his jaw drop when she started her sexy strut down the runway and flipped her hair off her face. Even with all of the make-up, Dino knew that face and that body. Frost sitting next to him, must have seen what Dino saw because his mouth opened, but no words were spoken. But judging from his facial expression, he too was shocked.
It was Stitch who finally spoke, “Holy shit! Is that…” Before he could finish his sentence, they all heard the crashing of glass behind them. When Dino turned, there stood Arianna and Alex. Alex was in a dead stare at the TV, but Arianna’s eyes were on him with her hand over her mouth.
◆◆◆
Alex and Arianna were finishing cleaning up in the kitchen before heading to the game room to watch the game with the guys.
Alex reached for her phone when she saw Derek was calling.
“Hey, D!”
“Hey, honey. By chance, is Arianna still at your place?”
Alex glanced at Arianna, who was putting the leftovers in the refrigerator. “Yeah, what’s up?”
She heard him sigh and knew that wasn’t a good sign. “Tell her to go turn on the TV, channel 45.”
“Okay. What’s on?”
“She’ll understand when she sees it.”
“Alright. I’ll tell her right now.”
“Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“Let her know if she needs anything to call me.”
Alex’s spidey senses started to come to life. Derek was in commander and protective mode.
“Will do.”
“Talk to you later.”
Alex set the phone down. “That was strange.”
“What was?” Arianna asked as she handed Alex her drink.
“That was Derek. He told me to tell you to turn the TV onto channel 45.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but he sounded weird.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Come on, and I’ll have the guys flip to it before the game starts.”
◆◆◆
As Arianna made her way down the hall, she tried to rack her brain about what could be so interesting on television that Derek would call out of the blue like that. Did it have something to do with her dad?
She asked Alex, “What channel is 45?”
Alex shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I don’t watch much television, but I do know it isn’t one of the local channels.”
As soon as Arianna hit the doorway leading into the game room, she heard the familiar music, and she stopped dead in her tracks. There on the eighty some-inch TV screen was her walking in her last runway show.
She dropped the bottle in her hand, and it shattered when it hit the tile floor. Her throat felt like it was tightening by the second as her hand flew to her mouth. She was too stunned to speak. How had this made it on television here in the states? The better question was, how did someone even have a copy of it? She had been told that all of the copies had been confiscated.
“Arianna, is that you?” Alex whispered from beside her.
She was mortified. Oh, god! Who else had seen it? What did this mean? Did the bureau do it? What the fuck!
She began to feel dizzy; she didn’t feel good as her stomach started to churn. She didn’t feel steady as she felt her body begin to sway.
Alex grabbed her arm. “She’s going to pass out,” Alex shouted just as everything in Arianna’s vision went black.
◆◆◆
Dino had gotten to Arianna just before she smacked the side of her head against the tile floor. He hoisted her up into his arms, walked her over to the couch, and gently laid her down.
Ace hit the power button turning the TV off. The room was eerily quiet as everyone gathered around.
Dino knelt next to her head, and Alex ran over with a cold cloth that he took and placed on Arianna’s forehead. Stitch checked her pulse just to make sure everything seemed okay.
“I thought she said she worked as a Forensics Accountant,” Skittles asked.
“She was,” Frost stated.
Dino was trying to process everything when it suddenly hit him. At the New Year’s party was when he found out that Arianna had worked for the FBI. But before that, when he knew her as “Anna,” she said she worked in the fashion industry with models. Add in the fact that she’d been off somewhere that Paul called a project for over two years. Then he thought about the waitress at the Sub Shoppe who thought she recognized Arianna from a magazine cover. Son of a bitch!
Dino ran his hand down his face and exhaled. “She was working undercover,” he said out loud and then heard a few “whats” echo in the room. His eyes traveled from her face down to her arm. The arm she said she cut, but he swore was a bullet wound. She had a long-sleeved shirt on at the moment, or he’d show it to the others and see what they thought it was.
He looked up at the guys standing around them. “She was shot within a week or two before she came home.”
“What are you talking about? Did she tell you that?” Ace asked.
He shook his head. “The night we first met; her arm was bandaged. I asked her about it, and she downplayed it, saying she cut it while moving. Then a few days later, she had on a short-sleeved shirt, and the bandage was off, showing a fairly new nasty pink scar. Trust me; I know the difference between a cut and a bullet wound.”
Alex had her phone out and was looking up the Designers Showcase in Rome. When she found what she was looking for, she said, “Here it is. Anna Humphreys, a.k.a. The Black Swan of Europe’s lingerie industry. It goes on about her career. Holy shit! Our Arianna was famous. Oh no!”
“What?” Dino asked, looking over her shoulder so he could try and read whatever she was reading.
“It says here that Anna abruptly walked away from the industry, sparking rumors of her mysterious and sudden disappearance. One source says that after Anna’s last runway show in Rome, she was killed after getting caught in the crosshairs of an organized crime attack gone bad.”
Dino glanced up at Ace, who raised his eyebrows. “That could be where that bullet wound came from.”
Arianna started to stir, and Dino leaned over her.
◆◆◆
“Arianna?”
The blackness slowly faded and gave her the drive to open her eyes slowly. When she blinked, everything seemed like a blur, but as her eyes gradually focused, she was looking into a pool of dark blue eyes.
“Dino…” She whispered.
“Can you sit up?” He asked her.
“What happened?” She asked him as he moved to help her sit upright. She still felt a little woozy.
“You passed out,” Alex told her as she handed her a glass of water.
Arianna took a sip of the cold water and leaned her head back. Well, she thought, the cat is out of the bag now.
When she raised her head, Dino was directly in front of her. She couldn’t read his expression, though the others seemed concerned.
“Was that the secret that you couldn’t tell me?” He asked, referring to the night when he questioned her about her job.
She couldn’t lie to him. She respected and loved him too much to lie. Plus, the assignment was over. She was no longer on the bureau’s payroll, at least not until they decided to renew her contract.
She licked her lips and cleared her throat. “Yes.”
His eyes seemed to darken, and he stood up but then took the seat next to her and covered her hand with his. He looked so serious.
“We all understand if you can’t discuss what you were doing.”
She shook her head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Somebody had to have leaked it. The tapes from all of the shows were always confiscated.”
“Do you know who may have leaked them?”
“I have no clue. That assignment turned into one huge clusterfuck that night. It was the same night that I went off the grid. The FBI was supposed to handle my exit from modeling.”
She saw Dino glance to the arm where she was shot. She felt so bad for lying to him, but at the time, she never thought anyone would find out what she had been doing or what had happened.
She turned towards him and placed her hand against his cheek. “I’m so sorry that I lied to you.”
“Arianna, I get it. I really do. You don’t have to apologize. We do secret stuff for a living too.”
“I know. This is just a total mess right now. I don’t even know what to think.”
Then for the first time since her ass was literally on TV, Dino cracked a smile. “I can’t believe that you were at one time Europe’s hottest lingerie model. Now I know where all those sexy sets you wear came from.”
She slapped him in the chest as she felt her cheeks start to warm. The guys laughed, and Alex shook her head at Dino.
“Well, since Dino brought it up. Do you have any connections that I can get Bailey some of those sets?” Irish asked, and Alex slapped him upside the head, and he laughed. “Hey, I said they were for Bailey.”
“Undercover or not, you were gorgeous up there,” Diego told her, making her blush again.
“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.”
As if knowing she was still a bit uncomfortable discussing this, Alex announced that the game was getting ready to start, putting an end to the talk of her assignment. For now, that was. She had a feeling that when Dino got her alone, he’d use those interrogation skills that SEALs were known to have.
◆◆◆
After things settled down, everyone appeared to enjoy the football game. A couple of the guys made sarcastic remarks during halftime, asking Arianna if she’d be the halftime show. They were just teasing, and she took it in stride.
When the game ended, Dino followed Arianna home. He got out of his car, and she exited hers. They met in the middle.
“I bet you have a million and one questions for me?” She joked, though she was serious, and it was true. He wanted to know everything.
“Everyone has questions, but some questions aren’t meant to be answered,” he replied which garnered a laugh from her.
“Come on over, I’ll make us some coffee, and you ask me whatever you’d like.”
She turned to go inside, and he grabbed her arm. She turned back to face him.
“Arianna, you don’t have to.”
She smiled. “I know I don’t have to. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
When they got inside, Nigel had to have all the attention for the first couple of minutes.
While the coffee was brewing, Arianna went into the garage and came back with a large box. She sat it on the island, then walked over and pulled two mugs down and poured each of them a cup of coffee before she joined him at the island.
She slid the box over, pulled out a couple of photo albums, and then handed them to him. He set his coffee down and opened the first one and was utterly stunned by the beauty staring back at him.
He flipped through the first couple of pages of Arianna’s portfolio. It was full of professional photos of her. He couldn’t believe these were actually her. She was beautiful and all, but the camera made the beauty pop even more.
He glanced over at Arianna next to him. She was watching him.
“These are gorgeous pictures,” he told her.
“Thanks.”
“If you were ever offered another opportunity to go back to modeling, would you take it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Several factors, I guess.” He raised his eyebrows.
“My age for one.”
“Your age? What does that have to do with it? My god Arianna, I don’t know much about modeling or the industry, but why does age matter? You were gorgeous and confident on the runway. At least the little bit I saw.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.”
“I didn’t intend for it to be sweet.”
“Every day, new girls are entering the industry—younger and more naïve. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it in the business. I’ll admit that once I got over the shyness of modeling lingerie, I actually liked it a little. It made me feel sexy. But what I wasn’t willing to do was use my body to progress my career, not that I’d continue it after my assignment was over.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had a lot of offers from other designers. Many of them sold scanty pieces, and I wasn’t down for showing all of my goods. Plus, I was there to do a job. But I can at least say that I left the industry with my dignity intact.”
Dino covered her hand with his.
“What happened the night of your last show?”
She sighed. “Let’s see. What didn’t happen? Everything I worked for during those two and a half years came crashing down.” Arianna explained in detail everything that had gone wrong, starting with her own agency pulling the plug on an operation while she was still inside with no apparent cover. It was careless and selfish. It pissed Dino off immensely.
The more he listened to her ordeal, a knot started to form in his, and he knew it wasn’t going to end well.
“Our suspect came on to me and kept trying to get me to have a drink, but I knew from intel that was how he got women to loosen up. He’d drug them and then take advantage of them. Unfortunately, some didn’t live up to his expectations and were thrown into his prostitution ring. That was the main reason for the whole assignment—to collect evidence on human trafficking. Anyway, as things started to heat up between us, I felt disgusted, but I had to play the part to get the prize.”
Dino hated this for her. He could see how passionate she was about her job and doing the right thing, but then to ignore everything you were trained to fight against had to be difficult.
“He started getting pretty handsy with me. He wanted me to sign with his company and become his next star, which was the ultimate goal. I was there. I was moments away from signing that contract, but then Enzo, an acquaintance within the industry, barged into the room.”
“Who’s Enzo?”
Arianna smiled. “Enzo also runs businesses on the other side of the law, but not to the extreme as Demitri. However, in my defense, in the two years of knowing Enzo, I never once witnessed him breaking any laws.” She looked up at Dino, and Dino saw how her eyes became glassy.
“Enzo’s interruption probably saved me from being raped.” She looked down at her arm that had been injured. “Enzo, I later found out, was working with the FBI, mainly with my supervisor. His job was to keep an eye on me, though I didn’t find that out until after the fact. Demitri and Enzo are known enemies. We weren’t aware of another enemy of Demitri’s in attendance, and he ordered a hit on Demitri while I was in the room with him. Demitri, not knowing it was Petro who started it all, accused Enzo of setting him up. As Enzo and I were looking for the button to open the secret door, Demitri went to shoot Enzo, but my instincts kicked in.”
“You put yourself in the line of fire and took the bullet?”
She nodded her head. “I did. Thank god Enzo was there to catch me and get both of us into the tunnel before Demitri could stop us. The door seals and locks for five minutes.”
Dino smirked. “How do you know that?”
She smiled. “I went over the castle with a fine-tooth comb days before the event.”
“Smart.”
“Once we were inside the tunnels, I started to become weak, and eventually, I passed out.”
She finished the story about how someone at the bureau filed a complaint against her, which was why she came home. Dino thought that was complete bullshit. He hated when people would play that type of game. In his opinion, that just meant that the accuser was an insecure asshole who was trying to cover up something he or she had done.
Dino also wondered about the Enzo guy and if he had a thing for Arianna.
“You care about Enzo?” He asked.
“I do. Enzo taught me a lot about the industry and protected me many times from the vultures and sharks. Modeling isn’t for the weak. Many girls and women are forced or tricked into drugs, alcohol, and sex. I tried to steer clear of those, but sometimes people wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Arianna, are you saying that men forced themselves on you?” Just imagining that had Dino’s temper rising.
“Some tried, but they never succeeded.”
“Let me guess, Enzo.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes. Other times I handled it. Remember, I am a trained agent.” She grinned.
They talked until it got pretty late, and Dino could tell that Arianna was ready for bed. He knew she had a full day planned for tomorrow, so he helped her clean up the kitchen, and then he saw himself out. Knowing he was stalling and possibly running out of time to get his shit together, he launched a personal mission on the way back to his place—"Operation Capture Arianna’s Heart.”
