Page 14 of Daddies of the Underworld

His expression shifted to one of exasperation. “We have a theory about how the information was passed. It does not point to the general staff. There are pieces missing, and the investigation will take time.”

“How much time?”

His eyes didn’t move from mine, but the tension between us thickened. “I don’t know.” I might not know much about him, but I knew those words probably made him angry. He wasn’t the kind of man who would be okay with not knowing. He took a step forward, bringing his body in line with the doorframe. “I would like to have dinner with you. Tomorrow. Privately.”

My heart kicked into double time. “Is this about the investigation?” Did he need me to go somewhere else to talk about it? That didn’t make any sense after Dante’s multiple reassurances that I was safe here.

“No.” A slight tick in the muscle in his jaw gave way to a slow exhale. “No it is not.”

Okay then. I must have nodded or said yes or something, even though I’d lost all ability to feel my body, because he gave me that crisp nod and turned away, walking down the hallway without looking back.

I closed the door, turned, and pressed my back into it.

Three men in this villa had each found a different key to a different part of me.

And I had no idea what to do with that any more than I did Matteo’s invitation to dinner.

5

NINA

Once again, I did not sleep. It was past the point where it was starting to establish a pattern, which was deeply unfair considering the bed was the sort of luxury item people wrote poems about. Silk sheets.

Pillows soft enough to make my cheap suitcase look even sadder where it sat on the floor by the dresser.

And the mattress! I understood why people waxed poetic about that now that I’d lain in this one, which probably cost more than every apartment I’d ever rented added together.

Maybe that was the problem. Could be that my lack of luxury throughout my life made me suspicious.

That and Matteo’s dinner invitation. The private dinner he’d requested.

Did he mean just me and him? No Luca with his infectious grin or Dante with his silent watching?

I rolled onto my side and pressed my face into the pillow, my groan coming out muffled and pathetic.

A man asked me to dinner…a powerful man. That was all. Men asked women to dinner every day, so why was I overreacting?

Because I was the staff and he probably owned the villa. We did not belong in the same room unless I was serving him.

My chest squeezed at the thought of even trying to be on his level. “Stop it.” I punched the pillow with both fists. “Having money and status doesn’t make him any better than me.”

I did my best to believe that, to take the statement and turn it into an ember that burned bright in my chest.

I could not think of Matteo as an ordinary man. Ordinary men did not have guards posted outside their homes.

They didn’t look at me like I mattered, either, but all three of them did.

I tried not to think about that too much, but it was mostly what had kept me up last night.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Three impossible men, each one dangerous enough on his own to ruin my common sense. Together, they were something else entirely. They created a storm unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

A knock came at the door as sunlight spilled across the floor, turning the carpet golden.

I sat up too fast, making my head spin as my hair fell around my face in a wild tangle. “Yes?” Despite being fully clothed, I pulled the covers up to my chin when the door opened.

A breath of relief rushed out when Rosa stepped inside carrying a garment bag over one arm.

She gave me a look that took a minute to decipher. It wasn’t anger, but it almost looked like worry. I didn’t know her well enough to figure it out without context.