“Really?”
He walks backward away from me, washing his hands before returning to the task of preparing breakfast. “You have no idea the noises I heard coming out of Valentine's office. And I’ve always liked the volume up when I watch porn, so yeah, eavesdropping on the sounds coming out of that room was enough for me to come in my fist.”
I hum in agreement. “I have to say, I’m like that too. Hearing people having sex is almost as good as watching, but neither beats actually being involved.”
Our conversation falls away as I watch him get to work. Admittedly, I spend a fair bit of time watching him. Matteo is all sorts of hot.
Valentine joins us, and he walks past me, brushing a hand over my shoulders as he takes over the coffee machine.
“Did you get anything from Jana?” he asks at the same time the steamer hisses to life.
Instead of answering him, because I would literally be yelling, I hop off the stool and race back to my room, looking for my phone. I wait until I’m back in the kitchen with them before I even turn the screen on. I’m not sure why, but it feels right.
And there is a message that only arrived an hour ago. I shoot Jana a quick thanks and wish her a good day. I also type up another message but stop partway through. “Can Jana and her pack meet you guys?”
Before anyone can answer, the elevator doors open, and Dante enters, wearing a dark suit to match the dark expression on his face. He looks at me and softens. Dropping his jacket over the chair, he prowls toward me with his shoulder holster on and yanks off his tie. Without another word, he’s behind me, towering over me before he twists me toward him and kisses me with a desperation that feels like we’ve been apart for days. It’s over before it starts, but he packs a lot into his kiss.
“Good morning.” I grin against his lips.
Dante stands behind me, not moving too far, accepting a coffee from his brother.
“What’s happened?” Valentine asks.
“Give me a sec. I need this.” He drags his chair behind mine, so he can hug me while he drinks his coffee. The other two get back to what they were doing, giving Dante the break he asked for before the interrogation starts.
“I didn’t know you left,” I admit. I feel sad I missed him.
“Don’t worry. I totally felt you up while you were sleeping when I came to say goodbye. Did you go back on your medication?”
I scrunch my nose up in answer. Of course, Dante is both perceptive and endearingly sweet, but apparently, he’s only getting started this morning.
“Not for long, though,” he insists. “There’s nothing we want more than to make you ours properly and spend time with you in your nest. Which we also need to fix, so it feels more like you.”
“You don’t! I love it.”
“You’ll love it more when we’re done. It needs your special touch on it. You ready to talk about how fucked up shit just got?”
“Are you?”
He drops his head against my shoulder, and I reach over and run my fingernails through his hair. He purrs and pushes against my fingers, twisting this way and that before moving away. Standing, he kind of shakes himself, and when he looks at me, I can see his work persona shining through. The focus and determination in his eyes make him look colder. He’s still undeniably stunning, but my sweet Dante is all business. When he looks at Valentine, Dante gets a small nod to go ahead, which gives me the heads-up that the pack already knows more than I do.
“Did you get an image from Jana?” Dante refuses to sit down, and when Matteo turns the pans down to low, I get another confirmation that something not great has happened.
I nod my answer while reaching for my phone to pull up the text Jana sent. Valentine and Dante come close enough to see the grainy image of Rocco filling the screen.
While Dante gets the coffee his brother was preparing and finishes with the food, Valentine takes over the discussion.
“Do you remember who Legos is?”
It takes me a moment, but I do. “Carlos and Gina’s son. I didn’t meet him, and Matteo only referred to him as one of your people.”
Valentine nods. “That’s right. Unrelated, but tomorrow night, we’re going out. I’ve asked our most loyal to come, so they can meet you properly. It’s important you know who we trust, because they will protect you with their lives if we can’t.”
“Okay.”
“Back to Legos. Last night, he received a tip and called Dante to let him know. They both went to investigate because it was clearly a set up aimed at us.”
“And it was Rocco?” I ask, jumping to where this conversation is obviously heading.
