"Both." The honesty surprised me. "I want to be here. I also know I shouldn't want that. The two things exist simultaneously."
"Why shouldn't you want it?"
"Because you're my client. Because this is unethical. Because everyone who cares about me has warned me that getting involved with you will destroy my career." I met his eyes. "Because I know you're dangerous and I want you anyway."
He smiled. Slow and satisfied. "There it is. Honesty. I appreciate that, Emilio."
"What do you want from me?" The question came out rougher than I intended. "Really. What is this?"
"I want you. In every way that entails." He reached out and traced my jaw with his fingertips. Light touch, barely there, but it made my breath catch. "I want you in my bed. I want yourbrilliant mind working for me. I want your loyalty. Your trust. Eventually, I want all of you."
"That's not how attorney-client relationships work."
"We stopped being just attorney and client the moment you kissed me back on Saturday." His hand slid to the back of my neck. Warm and possessive. "The question is whether you're brave enough to admit it."
"This is insane. We barely know each other."
"I know you're brilliant and desperate and attracted to danger. You know I'm exactly the kind of man you should run from but can't seem to resist. That's enough to start with." He stood, pulling me up with him. "The rest we'll figure out as we go."
He kissed me before I could argue. Hard and claiming and exactly what I'd been craving since Saturday. I responded without thinking, without weighing consequences, without any of the caution I should have been exercising.
His tongue swept into my mouth and I moaned against him. He backed me against the desk, hands on my hips, holding me in place while he took exactly what he wanted. I let him. Gave him everything he was demanding and more.
When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
"We have work to do," he said, voice rougher than before. "But later—tonight—we finish this. Come to my estate after we're done here. Bring your laptop. We'll review the financial records and then..." He smiled. "We'll see where the evening goes."
"Sandro—"
"Say yes, Emilio. Stop fighting what you want and just say yes."
I should have said no. Should have maintained boundaries and professional distance and all the things my ethics demanded. Should have withdrawn from the case before this went any further.
"Yes," I said instead.
Satisfaction flared in his eyes. "Good. Now sit. We have actual case strategy to discuss before I'm too distracted to think."
I returned to my chair on shaking legs. Picked up my legal pad with hands that weren't quite steady. Tried to focus on the legal issues instead of the taste of him still on my lips.
"The financial records," I started. "In the discovery materials Sterling sent over, I reviewed the quarterly reports for Inferno and your associated businesses."
"And?" Sandro had returned to his position against the desk. Professional distance restored, though we both knew it was performance.
"There are discrepancies. Small ones, but systematic." I pulled out the copies I'd made. "Over the past three months, approximately fifty thousand dollars has moved through shell accounts that aren't listed in your primary business structure."
Something shifted in his expression. Not surprise—something else. Interest, maybe. Calculation.
"How did you notice that?" he asked.
"I'm good with numbers. And I'm thorough." I showed him the highlighted sections. "The amounts are small enough that they wouldn't trigger automatic audits. But the pattern is clear once you're looking for it. Someone's skimming."
Sandro took the documents, but I noticed he wasn't studying them the way someone would if they were seeing this information for the first time. He was studying me instead.
"You already knew," I said slowly. "You knew about the embezzlement before I found it."
"I did." He set the documents aside, a small smile playing at his lips. "My partners and I have been conducting a quiet investigation."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
