Page 35 of A Dangerous Kind of Love

“Did you forget that I’m a billionaire?” I say in a mock voice shaking my head.

He continues smiling.

The driveway curves through the trees for an unreasonable amount of time, winding deeper and deeper until I start wondering if we’re driving into the middle of a national forest. Then the trees suddenly break, and my brain stops working because sitting in the middle of a massive stone courtyard is a house so enormous it takes a second for me to process what I’m actually looking at.

Columns rise two stories high across the front. Balconies wrap around the upper floors, and massive black double doors sit at the top of a wide staircase. There are fountains—actual fountains. Flower beds explode with bright red blooms. Perfectly trimmed hedges curl into spirals.

Michael doesn’t say anything. He just drives the car forward, rolling into the massive stone courtyard and stopping at the base of the wide front steps.

Men stand along the steps in suits. I count them in my head. Eight. There are eight of them.

“Are you in the CIA?”

He laughs.

“No, Doll. And even if I were, I couldn’t tell you.”

My hand moves for the door handle, but Michael reaches across and shakes his head once.

I pause.

One of the men is already walking toward the car. He opens Michael’s door, and he steps out without a word, handing him the keys.

“Boss,” the man says, nodding respectfully.

Michael doesn’t respond. Instead, he walks around the front of the car and opens my door himself. He leans down, offering his hand. I stare at it before taking it. He helps me out of the car. We pass the men on the stairs. None of them speak, and Michael ignores them.

What the actual hell?

He’s still holding my hand when we reach the top of the steps, and the massive front doors swing open before he even touches them. What is he, some kind of goddamn king?

A man steps forward from inside, and behind him is Luca.

“Luca!” I say, relieved. “Hi.”

“Miss Katie,” he says. “Nice to see you.”

The other man’s eyes flick between Luca, me, and Michael.

“Boss,” he says.

“Marco,” Michael says calmly. “This is Katie.”

“Hi!”

Marco gives me a single, polite nod. He looks down at our hands. Michael notices, and the look he gives him is lethal. Marco looks away.

We continue inside, and once again I’m assaulted by opulence. The foyer stretches two stories high. Marble gleams under a chandelier the size of a small car. A sweeping staircase splits in two directions.

People line the walls in immaculate uniforms. Apparently, he has maids and butlers. They stand perfectly still with their hands folded in front of them.

I lean into Michael.

“Dude, who the hell are you?”

He smiles at that and pulls me against his side, his arm settling around my waist. I catch Luca and Marco exchanging a quick look before their attention shifts back to Michael.

An older maid steps forward.