Shades of Sins (New York Sinner Series Book 2)

19| Ghosts

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Ghosts

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Chapter 19: Ghosts (Anastasia's POV)

Chairs rumbled around us as the guests stood up, exchanging goodbyes before swarming to the exit, eager to get home. An hour or two had passed, the auction had finally ended, and as expected, we got nothing. No leads, not one. Zip. Nada. 

It was blatantly obvious that we had to strategize more efficiently because showing up to events where hundreds if not thousands of guests were invited, was only making it impossibly harder to narrow down to a list of suspects. 

We had nothing to go off of. We couldn't just expect our intuition to point us to the killer, but so far, that was all we had done. 

Perhaps it was a nobody, someone without access to parties and events like tonight's. Or perhaps it was somebody we all knew and never suspected. There was no certain way to know, and if we continued like this, we would never get anywhere. 

Dante's hand was the first thing I threw off of me as I rose out of my seat and smoothed out my dress, staring down at him. "Have you had enough for tonight?" I asked. 

His touch was pure heat scorching my skin throughout the night. He kept his hand firmly planted on my thigh, with his fingers continuously tracing lazy shapes and patterns on my inner thigh throughout the auction.

I wasn't stupid, I knew what he was doing. It thrilled him to see that he still impacted me. All this was to him was a fucking game. He just wanted a reaction out of me. I wouldn't give it to him, I wouldn't give in. 

But I couldn't help it, goddamn it. I wanted to hate it, I wanted to fucking despise him, and everything he ignited in me, but his touch seemed to have the opposite effect on me. An agonizing ache stirred between my legs every time his fingers inched a little higher between my legs, closer to my core. 

Yet, for some wickedly cruel reason, I didn't throw it off. I threatened to, but my words were blank bullets tonight. No matter how much I wanted to, my body was in full disagreement. The desire to kiss him was forbidden. Absolutely not, I wouldn't allow myself to feel it. But the desire to kill him was certainly hitting me harder than ever. 

Dante Rossi had... fucking ruined my life. He'd ruined my life by not being mine, by walking out of it, by leaving me with this insatiable desire burning within me. 

Rising to his feet, he turned to face me completely but remained silent, his eyes boring into mine. "Never enough of you, it seems," he said, arching a brow at me. 

"Are you flirting with me?" I mused, my lip twitching, threatening to morph into a prideful gleam. 

"Don't let it get to your head, Ms Vitalio. As you said, I've been there. I've done that," he smirked, brushing past me and heading to the exit, pausing briefly to allow me to catch up with him. 

Rolling my eyes, I followed and fell into step beside him. "We need to start again," I said as we trailed out. "Strategize. What we're doing now isn't enough. Our instincts can only take us so far."