Page 5 of Heart's Temptation

I unlocked my door and knew instantly that something was wrong. I had highly developed senses and my nose told me that a man had been here. A wisp of sandalwood still hung in the air. Closing and locking the door, I raced back downstairs and outside.

On the sidewalk, I pulled my cell phone from my purse and called the police. They arrived quickly and after they’d gone through my flat, they called me up and showed me the dead roses and the note attached.

Shaking, I reached out and took the note from the table.

This is only the beginning. Next time I set a trap, not only won’t you see it coming, but you won’t survive it.

I felt faint and reached out a hand to steady myself.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Swan. We’ll have this place under surveillance and will catch this guy.” The officer called me by my stage name and had been mooning over me since his arrival.

I hadn’t eaten in hours and my blood sugar levels were plummeting. I needed food and a hot shower and time to think.

“Miss Swan, do you mind?”

The cop had his phone out and wanted to snap a selfie with me. I wanted to groan aloud. This had to be karma biting me on the ass.

“It’s for my wife. She’s a huge fan.”

Seriously? Hail Mary, full of grace.

Plastering on a smile, I answered, “of course” and leaned in toward the officer, whose shoulder I didn’t reach.

Snap!

“Thank you, Miss Swan. We’ll be in touch.” He handed me his card, and they left. The silence was deafening, and I became acutely aware of the clock in my bedroom ticking in time with the beating of my heart. The birds outside twittered happily, a contradiction to how I felt. They were blissfully unaware that someone had violated my home, my peace, and security, but I wasn’t.

Food be damned. Grabbing my phone, I punched in the number for the only person I felt may come to my rescue.

CHAPTER TWO

Marko

“Come on Gio, just come out with me. We can hit the town and maybe some fine ass while we're at it.”

Gio regarded me blankly. “What’s the point, Marko? We’ve been looking for someone to be ours since… Anyway,” he continued, “I don’t think it's going to happen, my friend, and the pussy here is as good as it gets. Why should I go and support another club’s business when I can feed my own?”

He had a point. I’d never shared that my search for Nicolette was still on, or that I believed in the prophecy Luciano Vitale had shared with Gio all those years ago. I knew in my heart she would be back, and that our time with Nicolette was far from over, but Gio had given up on that dream a long time ago.

He’d gone from being the most popular guy—carefree, fun-loving, and easygoing—to a hard man and probably the most stubborn of all the Vitale brothers. And that was saying something. He’d never lost anything, except her. Nicolette’s disappearance had taken a toll on my friend, one that I feared had permanently closed his heart to ever finding love.

For me, I’d felt the loss of Niki differently. I’d taken care of her, spanked her when she got out of line, fed her when she needed it, but mostly I made the daily running of her life smooth sailing. Gio had been the enforcer in our dynamic and her Master in the bedroom. Ultimately, he’d taken responsibility for our lives. His dominant nature didn’t allow argument and once he’d made up his mind about something, it rarely, if ever, changed.

He’d had the final say in how our dynamic worked and I was okay with that. I didn’t need to have all the control like he did. Had he lived in an earlier time, I had no doubt he would have made the best general the world had ever seen. He was fearless and bold with a confidence that men twice his age envied and were terrified of.

While I was still trying to decide whether to push Gio about going out, or to let it go, a buzz from my private cell alerted me to an incoming message. I had two phones, one that was highly encrypted and used for Vitale business, and one that was private, primarily for family and a very few close friends. I hesitated before opening it. When I saw who it was from, my eyes strayed to Gio. He was lost in his thoughts, watching a few of the women gyrating on the dance floor.

“I have to take this, excuse me.” I stood.

He waved, not even glancing my way.

Stalking toward the back door, I nodded at Tano who had just entered the club, then stepped outside and reread the message. My heart hammered in my chest, adrenaline pumping through my system.

I’m in trouble.

The contact information said it was from Nicolette, but it had been (how many) years. What the fuck?

I wanted to be her slightly jaded knight in shining armor and rescue her from whatever trouble she was in but… how did I know the person reaching out was really Nicolette and it wasn’t a trap of some kind?