Dirty Lies

A KISS IN THE LIBRARY

Federico returned, and I shifted in my seat. "So, Mr. Rossi, let's start."

"Of course. Do you mind if Luca stays and listens? He can learn how a professional lawyer handles an interview." The older man winked at me.

"Absolutely. Of course he can stay." I didn't look at Luca. I wasn't sure I wanted him around because he was too much of a distraction. He stood a few feet away, casually leaning against the counter and staring. I had to mentally erase images of us kissing in the pool, my legs wrapped around the low V of muscles that dipped below the waistband of his shorts.

I took my smartphone out of my bag so I could record the interview, and my pen tangled in the pages of the notepad. When I pulled the pad out of my tote, the pen clattered to the floor. Luca bent to pick it up. He handed it to me, and our eyes met. A zing of pure craving shot through my body.

Federico chuckled.

I steadied my shaking hands with a deep breath and asked my first question, feeling extra self-conscious.

Federico responded at length, with a touch of superiority in his voice, and I wondered if arrogance was a Rossi family trait. Five questions took an hour for him to answer, and my hand hurt from writing so much. Still, I was getting into the rhythm of the interview. Federico was so detailed and interesting, with stories about big-money trials and his thoughts on the state's medical marijuana debate, I almost forgot Luca hovered nearby.

Almost.

I got to my next question and paused. The paper's feature editor wanted me to ask Federico his opinion of the best restaurant on Palmira. It was a stupid question. I had something a little tougher in mind. In fact, I had an entire list of hard questions to ask. I didn't expect Luca's uncle to answer most of them, but I went on a fishing expedition anyway. Sometimes, the best articles came from asking the most random questions.

"Mr. Rossi, do you think you'll ever run for governor?"

He laughed, a genuine belly laugh. "It's funny you ask that, Skylar. I never say never. But governor? Not right now. All I've ever wanted is to be Florida's lawyer."

"Surely you have the money to launch a campaign. You have a net worth of one hundred million dollars by some estimates."

Federico looked amused. "I'm not hurting for money. But I'm not eager to throw cash away on politics, not yet. I don't have the time. Maybe next year. I'm about to file a big class-action lawsuit this week."

"Really? Care to tell me about the case?"

"Sure, why not. You'll have the exclusive." He leaned toward me, and as I nodded, my heart sped up at the thought of being first on a good story.

"We're suing DogMunch, the dog food company, on behalf of hundreds of pet owners whose dogs died after eating their product. Class action. We've found the company ignored complaints and evidence that the food had toxic substances probably slipped in from the factory in China. I can get you some Florida dog owners for interviews if you want. There's also evidence people became sick from e-coli after handling the food. It's a federal lawsuit, so this is a good national story."