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Six
“You got a minute?” The wind gusted, muffling Marco’s voice.
“Sure.”
“I need you to—” and he cut out into static.
“Marco?”
The other end finally quieted down, and I could hear his voice. “Sorry, this storm is ridiculous. I need you to go see Beth. Michael called and said she’s pushing back against some of the permits we need, and Joey says the licenses are being held up too.”
“What am I supposed to do about that?” I closed my laptop and set it on the coffee table.
“Try to grease the wheels.”
“She’s never listened to me before.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I scoffed, but he continued. “Look, I’m just giving you the opportunity to play good cop before I have to play bad cop.”
The idea of Marco shaking Beth down was enticing, but I let it go. It would be wrong to sick a Moretti on her, no matter how much I’d love to see it. “Fine.”
“Great. Call me when it’s done.” And then he hung up on me.
“Ever the gentleman.”
Sighing, I trudged up to the bedroom and proceeded to get gussied up for my ex. It felt wrong, but apparently, convincing exes to bend to the family will was just one more facet of being Mrs. Moretti. Correction. Mrs. Mitchell-Moretti, but the bastards were in the habit of dropping the Mitchell.
I prayed for traffic that never manifested. I hoped parking would be impossible, but we found a spot right outside the front door. As I got out of the car, I calculated the chances of serious harm if a vehicle just clipped my hip and sent me down.
Unfortunately, we made it to the door safe and sound, all our limbs intact.
Tommy walked me into city hall, and every woman in a twenty-foot radius zeroed in on the handsome young man. The only proof he noticed was the red tip of his ears.
When we made it to the top floor, I pulled Tommy aside. “I need you to stay out here. One look at you and Beth will be itching for a fight. It’s better if she’s relaxed.”
Tommy’s eyes darted to the door of Beth’s office, then back to me. “You sure?”
“Yep. I promise not to start a brawl.”
“If you do, I’ll be right there,” Tommy said, earnest as all get out.
I patted his chest and left him to guard the hallway.
Right inside the door, a woman with salt and pepper hair and a kind face sat at a wooden desk, taking down a message. When she hung up the phone, she smiled and asked, “How may I help you?”
“I’m here to see Beth.”
She frowned and glanced at her monitor. “I don’t see an appointment.”
I let out an airy laugh. “I was in the neighborhood and decided to pop in on an old friend. Is she not here?”
Her friendly smile back at full force, she pushed up from her seat and shuffled around her desk. “Let me poke my head in and see if she has a minute. What’s your name?”
“Sasha Mitchell.”
“Be right back.”
I ran a finger over the top of the nameplate while I waited for Florence to return. There were so many other things I’d rather be doing at that moment, and a very large part of me hoped Beth would turn me away, and I could leave it to Marco to deal with her.
