Page 139 of Mafia King’s Dangerous Vow

33

A QUIET COUP. (TAMARA)

He is justifying himself.

I read Aleksander’s message twice in the back of the SUV before I understand why it frightens me more than a threat would have.

Across from me, Mikhail lowers his sunglasses just enough to look at the device, then at me. “That’s either excellent news or a declaration of war.”

I shrug and turn my attention to the material boards stacked between us. Revised limestone. Updated casing profile. Lighting placement for the Healy salon. Maya texted twenty minutes ago that the crew had started roughing in the foyer opening and Malcolm was being Malcolm, which tells me almost everything I need to know.

Normal problems.

Expensive problems.

Problems that can be solved with measurements, signed scopes, and the correct tone of voice.

I have never been so grateful for a difficult client in my life.

Mikhail taps the edge of the folder with one finger. “Same wall?”

“Same wall.”

“He’s trying to widen the opening.”

“He is probably calling it optimizing circulation.”

Mikhail smiles faintly, but his gaze stays on my face a moment longer than the joke requires. He has been doing that all morning. Not watching me like I might break. Watching me like Aleksander gave him an assignment with more than one meaning.

I look out the window. “Amelia referred the Whitmores to me.”

“The beige people?”

“You remembered that?”

“I remember everything that supports my request for a company expense account.”

That gets a laugh out of me. “The consultation is next week. Same building. Apartment downstairs.”

“Convenient.”

“You don’t have to come.”

Mikhail’s expression becomes almost pitying. “Tamara.”

“What?”

“Has my brother given you the impression he intends to let you enter a building without security because the elevator ride is short?”

I exhale. “Fine.”

The SUV slows outside Amelia Healy’s building. Maya waits beneath the awning with her tablet tucked under one arm and a roll of drawings under the other. Her coat is buttoned wrong, which means she left the office annoyed.

“Your assistant looks murderous.”

“She’s my senior designer.”

“She looks murderous at the senior level, then.”