Sinning in Vegas (Vegas Morellis 2)

Virginia texts back a brief, “Got it.”

I alternate between screens until Cassandra makes her first stop. I zoom in to get the location, then open up the browser app on my phone to type in the address and see where she’s at. Just a gas station. She’s only there long enough to fill up, so that’s nothing to worry about.

I shoot Virginia another text. “Hey, why don’t you bring me out a snack?”

A few minutes pass before she sends back, “Seriously? Do you know how busy it is in here?”

“The better question is, do I care?”

“Give me a few minutes,” she tells me.

A short time later, Virginia shows up outside my window with a to-go container and a sealed bottle of water. After handing them over, she leans in and frowns at the screen. “Who are you watching?”

“Nobody important.”

Frowning, she asks, “Carla?”

I frown right back. “What? No. Who cares about Carla?”

Virginia shrugs. “Well, it’s her address in the bottom corner there; forgive me for drawing a logical conclusion.”

What the fuck is she talking about? I point to Cassandra’s home address in the corner. “This address, right here? This is not Carla’s address.”

“Yes, it is. I had to give Gio a ride home one night when he was too drunk to drive—well, not his home, he wanted to go bang his girlfriend first. I didn’t stick around for all that, but that’s where I dropped him off.”

No. No, no, no. Please no. That crafty fucking whore could not have done this to him again. Leaning my head back against the headrest, I ask a pointless question. “You sure?”

Virginia nods once. “You know I don’t forget addresses.”

She doesn’t forget anything, that’s why I like to have her keep an ear to the ground for me, see if there are any signs of trouble. She’s not an effective all-around informant though. She’s completely loyal to Rafe; if she caught wind of him turning on me, she’d stop talking to me, but since she doesn’t know about that yet…

I need her to be wrong. She has never been wrong before, but I need this to be the first time. “You’re positive this is the address you took him to?”

“You can keep asking if the world is round, Sin; the answer won’t change.”

“God-fucking-dammit.”

Cringing, she says, “Why is this such bad news?”

Because if Gio is fucking Cassandra Carmichael, that changes everything. There’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell I’m going to find myself working for Cassandra Carmichael, and if she’s the one behind this, if she’s grooming for Gio to take over, it’s not so she can be his side dish. Does Gio not realize how ambitious she is, or does he not care? What about Lydia? What about Skylar?

All that aside, Rafe would be fucking crushed. Seeing as he tried to have my ass killed, I probably shouldn’t care, but loyalty doesn’t just drain out of you in a couple hours. I’m mad as hell on his behalf. If someone is going to take him down, Cassandra Carmichael shouldn’t have a hand in it. That’s not right.

Maybe she’s not a dealbreaker. Maybe Gio hasn’t been caught up in her web the way Rafe was. Maybe he only likes fucking her and the takeover has nothing to do with her. Maybe I can push her out of the picture. If I’m going to work for Gio, I have to have to make sure she doesn’t come bundled together in that deal, because fuck no. I’d rather be hungry than work for a snake like her, and if she’s involved, no matter how much Gio thinks he’s the one in charge, I’ll know differently.

“Sin?”

I look over at Virginia and she’s frowning at me again. “I don’t know yet. I’m gonna have to look into it.”

“This is not a commensurate response. If that’s not Carla’s house, who is Gio sleeping with that it would bother you?”

“Don’t do that. Don’t try to puzzle it out. You know too much already. Go give people breadsticks and keep an ear out for anything Gio says about anything.”

“It’s not Laurel,” she says, ignoring me. “She’s staying with Rafe. I did notice Gio giving Marlena looks. Is it Marlena’s address? I’m going to check her employee file,” she says, more to herself than me as she pushes off the car.

“Wait, back up. When was he giving Marlena looks?”

“The other night they were eye-fucking on the sly. Well, on the sly for normal people, obviously I noticed. I hope you didn’t bang her, and if you did, I hope you wrapped it up. She’s not very discriminating. I’m gonna fish and see if I can get an admission out of her.”