Page 260 of Lorenzo

“We did.”

“So technically, walking away would have been poor customer service.”

That earns me another flicker of amusement, but it fades quickly.

“I think you know what I mean.”

I do.

I glance toward the family room, where I can hear Alessio laughing at something.

“I'm pretty good at reading people,” Mario says. “I have a feeling about you.”

I wait for him to continue, but he doesn't.

“Considering the fact that I'm in your home, I'm guessing it's a good feeling?”

“I'm not sure ‘good’ is the right word, but I wouldn't use ‘bad’ either.”

I lift a brow. “That clears things up.”

“You bend rules when you think the rules are getting in the way of the right outcome,” he says. “Sometimes you ignore them entirely. But you don’t do it for convenience, and you don’t do it carelessly.”

I study him.

Mario’s expression remains steady. “You decide what matters, then you do what you think is necessary to reach the desired outcome.”

I lift a brow. “You make me sound like a very selective criminal.”

He smiles. “I think that's the perfect way to word it.”

“Well, I guess becoming a PI was the perfect choice then, huh?”

His amusement disappears at that. “You belittle your morality to a paycheck. I don't think that's accurate. My feeling about you is that you were already looking into who hired Rachel before we hired you for it.”

I stare at him for a beat. “You really are good at reading people.”

“Yes,” he says simply.

I look toward the family room again. “I don’t like loose ends. Rachel didn’t have the resources to do everything she did on her own, and once I knew that, I wasn’t going to pretend the case was finished.”

Mario nods slowly. “Exactly.”

“That still sounds a lot like doing my job,” I say.

“No,” he says. “It sounds like you needed the truth, whether anyone was paying you for it or not.”

“I guess,” I admit.

Mario’s gaze stays on mine. “That is why I’m thanking you.”

I frown slightly.

“For putting yourself at risk for my family,” he explains.

I wave that off. “Someone broke into my office and house. At this point, I have plenty of personal motivation.”

“You are doing it again.” His tone is that same infuriating calm.