as lax on security as you.”
Rocco laughs before replying, “If you get anything, come back to us.”
My inclusion in Smith and Rocco’s duo is appreciated, but I just realized how foolish I’m being. Instead of discrediting India’s claims I was never pregnant, I’m feeding the hype. This won’t help me convince Dimitri I was telling the truth. It could do the exact opposite.
It dawns on me that Rocco has mindreading abilities when he says, “Although this won’t aid in smoothing things over with Dimitri, it could give us a lead on the people playing him.”
“He got the people playing him.” I speak slowly as if he is deaf. In reality, I need time to process my words since I’m so damn confused. “Rimi is dead.”
Loving the uncertainty in my voice, Rocco hits me with a frisky wink before he heads for the door. My heart is a twisted mess, but since my head is still screwed on straight, I race him for the door, slamming it before he gets close to exiting. “Tell me everything you know.”
“I don’t—”
I cut off his lie with a glare before adding words into the mix. “You asked me to jump. I sailed over the edge without fear. That makes me a part of this…” I wave my hand around my room as if Dimitri, Fien, and Smith are with us, “… and I don’t care what Dimitri says, I’m going to be a part of it until the end.”
Rocco leans so close to me, I smell what he ate for breakfast in his shallow breaths. “Some would say the curtains are already closed, Roxie. That the show is over.”
I return his lean without the slightest bit of fear knocking my knees together. “And I’d say they’re full of shit because even gangsters know the show isn’t over until the lights go out.”
I saw the light in Dimitri’s eyes when he glanced down at me partway through my story, felt it heating my skin. It isn’t close to being snuffed, so that not only means I need to keep fighting, I must do everything in my power to keep it lit.
I am, after all, the reason for its glow.
Rocco licks his lips before cracking them into a smile. “Are you sure you want to go down this road, Princess P? Your castle is mighty enticing, but everyone knows mushrooms grow in fungi.”
I’m a little lost to what he means, but I figuratively roll up my sleeves, preparing for battle. “You shouldn’t underestimate mushrooms. They’re all edible, but some you will only nip at once.”
30
Dimitri
I spot Roxanne’s race past the downstairs sitting room I’m using as an office before she pivots back around and charges into my room. Considering her foot is still a little bunged-up from her time under Rimi’s watch, she moves quickly.
I’m not surprised. Her firecracker personality suits her hair coloring. I don’t see anything slowing her down. Not even my rejection the past three days has made an indent to her fiery personality. That’s why I upped the ante today.
Unlike India’s numerous staff, Roxanne doesn’t knock and wait for permission to enter. She steamrolls into the room at the speed of sound, her steps so fast, the smell I’ve fought like hell to ignore the past three days whips up around me, tightening the front of my pants even more than her beautiful face.
“Can you please tell this lady…” She spits out her last word like she’s doubtful India’s head of housekeeping is a woman. Sofia is standing outside of the door, clutching the bag I asked her to pack for Roxanne in her hand. “That I do not have a flight to Hopeton scheduled for tonight. She’s packing my things like I’m—”
“Leaving?” She closes her mouth, pinches her brows, then nods. “You are leaving. That’s why Sofia is packing your belongings.”
My jaw tightens to the point of cracking when Roxanne steps closer to my desk. My hands itch to touch her, but I ball them at my sides instead. The past three days have been pure torture, but the threads I stupidly stopped seeking days ago are popping back up everywhere. There is almost enough of them to ruin an entire outfit, and if the person who killed my baby with Roxanne is wearing it when I hit it with my wrath, I’m all for shredding every last piece of it.
With her eyes locked on mine, seeking any deceit in them, Roxanne says, “Rocco only said this morning that we need