39. Michael
Michael
I’ve been up for hours dealing with the fallout from Donnelly’s death. Calls, cleanup, people asking questions they don’t need answers to. It doesn’t stop. It never does.
I left Katie in bed, tangled in the blankets. She held onto me all night as if letting go wasn’t an option. I didn’t sleep much. I laid there with her pressed against me, listening to her breathe, and letting myself have it for a few hours.
It’s becoming a pattern—her reaching for me and me staying. I don’t know how the hell that’s supposed to work when she lives here and my estate’s thirty miles out. I can’t stay here every night, and it’s too soon to tell her to move in. That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it.
She gave herself to me last night, and finding out I’m the only one who’s ever been inside her. That fucking does something to me.
She’s an angel. Feral as hell, but still an angel. And she’s mine.
“Hey.”
I look up from where I’m leaning back against her kitchen counter.
“Morning, Doll.”
She walks straight into me, pressing in without a word. I huff a quiet laugh and set my coffee down so I can hold her. I lift her easily, and she tucks her face against my neck.
I move to put her back on her feet, but she tightens her hold. “No. Don’t. Take me to the couch.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Apparently, I’ve spoiled her.
“Sit down,” she says.
“You’re bossy.”
But I do it anyway, and she stays tucked into me.
“You’re cozy,” she says, ignoring me.
“Am I?”
“Mmm-hmm,” she mumbles.
“Doll, can we talk while you lie on me like an overgrown toddler?”
She sits up for a second and smacks me in the chest. Then she folds right back in, so I start stroking her hair.
“I have to go to work.”
“No.”
“Yes. I know you want to kidnap and keep me here forever, but I can’t.”
“I don’t like you.”
“Well, you’re a liar, but do you work tonight?”
“Yes. Five to close.”
“I’ve got a deal for you,” I murmur.
She straightens, interest written all over her face. “Go on.”
I push her hair back, fingertips grazing her skin, resting my hand at the side of her neck.
“Luca drives you to work. I pick you up after.”
Her mouth parts, but I shake my head once.
“Not finished.”
Her lips press together, but she nods.
“You come back with me. You stay the night. No arguments.”
That spark lights in her eyes. “At your giant compound?”
“At my house, smartass.”
She smiles. “Deal.”
Then she kisses me.
My phone goes off, vibrating hard enough that I feel it through her. I pull back just enough to look—Marco.
I exhale through my nose. “I’ve got to take this.”
She doesn’t like it. It’s all over her face, but I kiss her again anyway, slower this time, and ease her off my lap.
“Stay right here.”
I step into the guest room and close the door.
“Yeah.”
“Boss, we’ve got a problem.”
I sit down, leaning forward, forearm braced on my thigh. “Start talking.”
“We got Donnelly’s phone. Ran everything. There’s a number he’s been texting for days. We pulled the thread.”
“And?”
Marco hesitates. That’s never a good sign.
“It’s in house.”
Silence stretches for a beat.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“The information he was giving, it’s not something an outsider would have. Not unless it came from someone in your circle.”
I rub at my jaw. “You’re telling me I’ve got a rat.”
“I’m telling you it’s someone close enough to know how you move.”
My grip tightens around the phone. I can deal with rivals. I can deal with cops, politicians, and anyone else stupid enough to come after me. But somebody inside my circle talked to Donnelly, and now I’ve got to figure out who the fuck I can still trust.
“Meet me at the estate in an hour.”
“Yes, Boss.”
I end the call and dial Luca. He picks up on the first ring.
“Where are you?”
“Ten minutes out.”
“I’ll meet you out front.”
I hang up.
“Fuck.” The word comes out too loud. I close my eyes for a second, sucking in a breath, forcing it back under control.
There’s a knock, quiet, and the door cracks open. Katie leans in, hesitant.
“Hey, you okay?”
She doesn’t step inside, and I know she heard it.
“Yeah. Come here.” I tilt my head, holding her gaze, and letting some of the edge fall off.
She hesitates for a beat, but she comes to me, stopping close and looking up.
“You yelled fuck,” she says.
“Yeah.”
“You gonna tell me why?” Her arms slide around my neck.
“There’s an issue at work.” My thumb presses lightly into her hip. “I’m going to handle it.”
Her mouth pulls down. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “Not your problem. You pack. Do whatever you want before your shift. That’s it.”
She studies me for a second and smiles.
“I like you.”
A small breath leaves me. I tip my head closer to hers.
“I like you too.”
We go back out to the kitchen. She starts picking up my coffee cup, but I take it from her.
“I’ve got it.”
“I can wash it for you,” she says.
“You don’t have to do my dishes.”
“I don’t have to, but I want to.”
I take the cup from her and move to the sink, ending the conversation before she can push it further.
Something pulls my attention. There’s a painting above the counter I hadn’t noticed before.
A narrow walkway framed by white stone buildings, their windows thrown open to the sea.
Flowers drape overhead in thick clusters, bright pink and lavender, spilling down.
At the end of the path, the water glows under the sun, sailboats drifting along the water.
It feels like an escape. I glance over my shoulder at her.
“You planning on running off somewhere like that?” I ask, watching her instead of the painting now.
“My mom used to describe a place she went when she was little. It was an island off of Greece called Symi that her grandparents took her one summer. She had a picture. It looked like that. I painted it in high school.”
I look back at it.
“Wow. And you were afraid you wouldn’t hit it big,” I say.
“Stop it,” she says, already trying to dismiss it.
“Right. Because clearly this is terrible. You should probably quit now.”
She glares at me.
“What? I mean, it’s awful. Horrible. Just throw it out.”
She comes over and slaps my arm. I grab her waist and pull her in to me.
“You’re incredible, Katie. Just take the compliment.”
“Fine,” she huffs, and I let out a laugh.
“You’re also extremely stubborn.”
She shrugs and then rises up on her toes a little.
“You wanting something?” I say.
She tries to push away from me.
“I’m just kidding,” I say, and I kiss her. She melts into me, and every part of me wishes I could stay here for the rest of the day.
Luca is already in the driveway when I step out of Katie’s house, leaning against the SUV with his attention fixed on the front door.
He straightens when he sees me and comes around to open the back door without saying anything.
I adjust my jacket as I walk down the steps, smoothing the front and settling the cuffs at my wrists before I get in.
The door closes behind me, and he’s back in the driver’s seat a second later.
A half hour later, the estate gates open as we approach.
Luca comes around to open my door. I step out, buttoning my jacket as I move toward the house.
The shift happens the moment I walk inside.
Conversations drop. Movement changes. People step out of the way without needing to be told.
Marco is waiting in my office. He’s standing near my desk, phone in his hand, already focused when we walk in.
“Boss.”
I close the door behind us and move further into the room.
“We’re bringing them in,” I say.
Marco doesn’t hesitate. “How many.”
“Anyone who’s been close enough to know anything Donnelly had access to,” I say. “If there’s even a chance, they’re in the room.”
Luca shifts beside me, already working through the logistics. “You want them all together, or do you want to separate them and deal with them one at a time.”
“I want them together,” I say. “I want to see them before they have time to think.”
Marco nods once. “The dock warehouse gives us control over the space. We can manage entry and keep it contained.”
“That’s where we do it,” I say. “And we do it now.”
Luca glances at his watch, already calculating. “I can have them there in thirty minutes if I stagger the calls. No one gets enough time to compare anything before they walk in.”
“Do it that way,” I say. “No one speaks on the way. No calls between them. No stops.”
Marco pulls his phone back out. “Who am I calling first.”
“Start with Sal, then Enzo, then Adam,” I say. “After that, Nico, Matteo, and Christian. Anyone else who’s been near anything Donnelly had access to. If there’s even a chance, they’re there.”
“And if someone asks what this is about,” Luca says.
“They won’t,” I answer.
He nods once. “Understood.”
Marco is already dialing as he heads for the door. Luca follows him out, pulling his phone out as he goes.
The dock warehouse is already open when I walk in, the space wide and quiet, the air carrying the presence of the water outside. Luca is inside, standing near the entrance, watching the door as the first of the men start to arrive.
“They’re coming in spaced out,” he says as I step further into the room. “No one’s had time to talk.”
“Good.”
Sal walks in first, his attention sweeping the room before it lands on me.
His posture tightens as he steps further inside, but he doesn’t say anything.
Enzo follows, quieter, watching everything with a focus that tells me he’s already trying to understand what this is before it’s said.
Adam comes in next, tension already set in his jaw, his eyes moving from Sal to Enzo before settling on me. Then Nico, Christian, and Gio.
No one speaks. I let the silence build. Long enough for it to settle into them, long enough for whatever they’re thinking to start turning over in their heads.
Then, I step forward.
“One of you made a decision,” I say, my voice even. “And it’s a decision you don’t get to walk back from.”
No one moves.
“If you’re standing here, you work for me. You operate under my name. You get paid because of what I built, and you move the way I tell you to move.”
My gaze slides down the line again.
“And one of you decided to fuck with that.”
I pause.
“You didn’t slip. You didn’t make a mistake. You made a choice,” I continue. “You decided you knew better. You decided you could take something that belongs to me and hand it off like it wouldn’t come back on you.”
Silence tightens.
“I’m not standing here to ask who it is,” I say. “I’m not interested in hearing excuses, and I’m not giving anyone the chance to lie to my face.”
I let that sit, watching them, letting the pressure build without pushing it.
“I’m going to find out,” I say. “That’s not a threat. That’s a fact.”
No one looks away.
“If there’s something I need to know, you bring it to me before I come looking for it,” I continue. “You come to me, you say it straight, and we deal with it that way.”
A beat.
“But if I have to find it myself…”
I let that hang for a second and finish it clean.
“It’s over for you. Not just you. Anyone you thought was going to stand next to you when this comes down.”
The weight of that settles across every single one of them. I take a step back.
“Now get the fuck back to work.”
The space empties, leaving just the three of us.
Luca steps closer. “You think they’ll come forward.”
“No,” I say.
Marco comes up beside me, his gaze still fixed on the door. “Then we pull it apart.”
“Yes.”