Chapter 1 - A TRESPASSER IN THE RAIN
Nobody entered my private bedroom without permission. Men who had worked for me for twenty years knew better, so when I arrived home at 3:15 a.m., soaked and exhausted after thirty-six waking hours, the sight of women’s shoes by my front entrance made my hand drop straight to my holster.
The harbor meeting had collapsed into violence, ten thousand dollars had vanished from my safe, and the chill of betrayal clung to me like the harbor fog. Yet seeing my bedroom door cracked open, spilling warm amber light into the corridor, drove all tiredness away.
I swept the suite with my gun raised, checking every corner until my eyes found my bed.
Someone was asleep on the sheets.
It was Khloe Evans. My secretary.
She was curled beneath the cold air, damp brown hair pressed to her cheek, wearing the same modest office clothes she wore every day. Khloe had spent two years handling my paperwork without asking a single question about the cash deposits, the armed visitors, or the shadow side of Costa Logistics. She was gentle, terrified of direct eye contact, and drowning in student loans from an unused art degree.
Seeing her in my bed was almost surreal.
A glance at my desk revealed the zoning documents I needed for the city council before dawn. Paulie must have sent her to drop them off, telling her to wait in the upstairs study without explaining which room it was. Caught in the freezing rain, she had wandered into my sanctuary, delivered the folder, and sat down only to collapse from sheer exhaustion.
I couldn't punish her for that. I reached into my wardrobe, took out a heavy cashmere blanket, and draped it over her trembling shoulders.
I settled into the armchair by the bay window to wait out the night. But as my eyes began to close, Khloe stirred against the pillows.
May you like
Her lips parted. She whispered my name in the dark.
And the words that followed made my pulse stop cold.
