The leatherman drove what hethoughtwas a hard bargain, but three hundred dollars and a complicated story about wanting to catch a cheater in action got him moving. I kept an eye on him while I skirted the crowd, slipped along the edges of it to find the easiest way in to where Finch was sitting in the VIP area.
I had to work harder than I expected to keep my face hidden from the guards; all of them were focused on the crowd, none of them distracted from their duties. Finch was sitting in his preferred lounging area, playing with his phone while the guards stood around in a semi-circle like a human wall. As my paid leatherman strolled up, he found himself pushed back with a firm hand by bodyguard number one.
Strike one for my leatherman.
But still I waited.
The leatherman started to argue, and I saw bodyguard number two glance over at the disturbance. While I’d been hiring my pick, Nick had done the same from the other side of the dance floor. And nowhisman walked up to make a simultaneous attempt. The two of them together, my leatherman and Nick’s bear, were making enough of a distraction for all three guards that I decided it was time.
I wove through the crowd, up behind the VIP area, and slid right up to the back of Finch’s seat. I threw my arms around him, my hand across his mouth, and kissed the side of his neck. He relaxed into my embrace as soon as he realized who I was.
“Come on, baby bird,” I said in his ear. “Come with me.”
We were halfway across the floor before the guards even thought to look around and check their ward. And when they did, they came face-to-face with a furious Nick Fontana.
Nick had just lost a large bet with me. And as for Vitali? He’d have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow.
But right then, I had my own plans for my husband.
Chapter Four
LUCA
“Not that I don’t love seeing you,” Finch said as we went through the staff door, up the stairs, and he unlocked his office, “but what’s the occasion?”
“Can’t a man surprise his husband?” I kicked the door shut behind us and took Finch into my arms.
“A man like you can do whatever he wants.” I smiled at his words until Finch added suspiciously, “And he frequentlydoes. So, come on. Tell me. What’s this all about?”
He allowed me to kiss him, but when I pulled away from him, his mouth set back into a straight line. Finch and I are both stubborn as hell. “I was testing your new bodyguards,” I relented.
His eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “That’s not cool, honey.”
“Notcool? They didn’t even notice you’d left the goddamn floor. Your bodily protection should be their highest priority, so whether it’scoolor not—”
Finch put a finger on my lips and gave a small smile. “Okay. Don’t blow a gasket. These guys are green, but you didn’t play fair. And,” he went on fast, knowing that I was about to point out that none of our enemies would play fair, either, “you taught them a lesson. Now they know, and it won’t happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t. They’re all off bodyguard duty, permanently. And what’s this I hear about you refusing extra protection?”
Finch closed his eyes with a small sigh. “Luca, you can’t…” He pulled out of my arms and went over to his desk. “I can’t keep living like this,” he muttered, almost to himself, but then he glanced up at me. “Wecan’t keep living like this. Anxious. Afraid. Fuckingparanoid.”
“It’s not paranoia when theyareout to get you.” There was an argument brewing between us; I could feel it gathering like one of New York’s brutal summer storms, the artificially-cool air of the office beginning to bristle and thicken.
We were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Boss?”
“Come,” I snapped, at the same time as Finch called, “What is it?”
Nick Fontana entered as gingerly as a man his size could, his eyes flicking between Finch and me. “Just checking in. The boys want to apologize.”
“Apologize?You can tell them—” I began, but Finch spoke over the top of me.
“Tell them they can stay on the floor. Make sure no one comes up here. But Luca will watch me tonight. Isn’t that right, husband?”
I didn’t want to argue in front of Nick. “That’s right.”
Nick hesitated. “And…the meeting, Boss?”
Fontana and I were supposed to attend a late-night video meeting with the board members of a multinational company. I’d been working on buying up their stock and was coming close to being a majority shareholder. But I’d run up against a few impediments in their company bylaws, and an influential Italian stakeholder—who happened to be in bed with the Clemenzas right here in New York—was trying to kneecap me. On Lou Clemenza’s personal orders, I assumed; the old man was trying to find new ways to hurt me. So it was an important meeting if I wanted to persuade the company board to my way of thinking.
