Page 11 of A Dangerous Kind of Love

“I’ve already set out a suitable suit for you.”

I grin. “Beatrice, did you come in here while I was asleep?”

“You sleep like the dead, boy.”

She’s already stripping the bed without waiting for permission. As I walk past, I lean down and kiss her temple. She acts unappreciative, but a smile escapes anyway.

I step into the hallway, buttoning the cuff of my shirt. The house is already awake. Somewhere downstairs I hear dishes in the kitchen and the low murmur of voices. By the time I reach the staircase, the smell of coffee is drifting up from below. The moment my foot hits the bottom step, Luca and Marco fall in step beside me.

“Morning, Boss,” Marco says.

Luca hands me a cup of coffee without breaking stride as we move toward the front door.

“You look like hell,” he adds.

Marco snorts.

I take the coffee. “Good morning to you too.”

“Shipment from Oakland hit the warehouse around midnight,” Marco says. “Everything cleared the port, but customs held one crate for inspection.”

“Which crate?”

“Gallery shipment. Two pieces from Florence.”

I take a sip of the coffee.

“Problem?”

Marco shakes his head. “Adam handled it. Inspector suddenly remembered he had somewhere else to be.”

Good. We step into the front hall as one of the security guards opens the door.

“What about the Harbor Street development?” I ask.

“That’s the other thing,” Luca says. “City inspector flagged the foundation permit yesterday. Says the soil report needs another review.”

I stop halfway through pulling on my jacket.

“And?”

Marco smirks slightly. “The inspector suddenly bought a lake house last year. Mortgage is a little…ambitious for a city salary.”

I slide my arms into the jacket.

“Fix it.”

Luca nods.

“Yes, Boss.”

Outside, the SUV is already waiting. The morning air is already humid when I step out onto the drive, and the sky is beginning to lighten beyond the trees that line the property. The house behind me is awake now, but the front of the estate is quiet.

Luca pulls open the rear passenger door as I approach. I slide inside, still holding the coffee he handed me on the stairs. Marco climbs into the front passenger seat while Luca circles the hood and gets behind the wheel. The engine turns over with a quiet hum. The gates slide open, and the SUV rolls out onto the road, the estate disappearing behind us as the city wakes up.

Streetlights blink off one by one. A few early commuters move through intersections. Delivery trucks idle outside bakeries and cafes opening for the morning rush.

Marco shifts slightly in his seat.