Page 204 of Dark Night of the Soul

One of them—who looked like Ludwig’s flirty twin—decided to press his luck. Dark hair. Black eyes. Nice smile. Dimples.

He was still holding a shirt like it was personally offensive to cover his torso.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said.

Kincade stepped between me and him so fast it was funny.

Gosh, he was possessive.

I liked it.

“Shirt,” Kincade said.

The man’s mouth twitched. “She looked like she was enjoying the show.”

Kincade glared back at me over his shoulder.

I shrugged. Innocent. Because, dammit, my expressions never lied.

“I can be furious and appreciative at the same time.”

“Apparently.” His mouth flattened into a straight line.

I expected to have a discussion about this later.

“All right,” I said, clapping the moment shut. “This needs to be fixed immediately. If they’re going to live here, they’re going to have a decent place to stay. And tell Silas I want the bill this time.”

I snapped into business mode, pretending there weren’t seven hot men standing around staring at me.

“Is someone taking notes?” I asked, looking back at Ulrich and Ludwig.

Ludwig’s hand lifted like he was in class. “Do you want bullet points or a spreadsheet, boss?”

Ulrich didn’t speak. He pulled a small notebook from his coat like he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment.

“We can start with bullet points,” I snapped.

And then introductions were made. Honestly, I doubted I’d remember their names by the time we left. Night shift—sleep-deprived, suspicious, and quickly recalibrating when they realized who I was. Not a girl with a smart mouth.

The person who owned the place.

And Kincade wasn’t some towering menace—he was in charge of them.

I loved that we’d crashed their morning unannounced.

Rather than get back in the car, I walked the estate. He already knew the routes of the two perimeter guards and fell in step next to me. Behind us, Ludwig and Ulrich.

“You really should have announced yourself first,” he said.

“I like the element of surprise. Keeps them on their toes.”

He gave me a sideways glance.

“They weren’t naked,” I said, trying to make it sound better.

“Good thing.”

“It’s not my fault your men are all eye candy.”