9
LEONE
“But boss, we didn’t mean to–”
“I don’t give a flying fuck!” I snarl. “Get out!”
My office door opens, Lenny jerking his thumb behind him. “You heard him.”
The two guards, heads down, tails between their goddamn legs, hurry out.
“Gate duty. Indefinitely. I may decide to kill them later. I haven’t made up my mind,” I grate as Lenny, my top guard, shoves them from my office.
I run a hand through my hair, forcing myself to calm down. I have to. If Zoey senses the rage I’m feeling right now, she might try to escape. But my anger isn’t aimed at her. It’s at the idiots who decided it was a good idea to threaten her cat. Bentley may be a diva, but he belongs to Zoey–which means he’s under my protection, same as she is.
A small chuckle lifts from my throat as I realize I’m fuming over a cat—indirectly, of course. Even so, my decision stands, as does my discretion to bury those guards in the trees behind my house if I change my mind later.
“Is this all right?” Zoey walks into my office, her pink sundress and white cardigan like a lure, along with some little white shoes with rainbow laces. She looks like what a fluffy cloud might have a daydream about.
“You’re gorgeous. You know that, right?” I make it to her in three steps.
She looks up at me, her eyes sparkling. “Really?”
“Are you kidding?” I run my fingers along a lock of her hair, and I’m pleased when she doesn’t recoil. If anything, she leans closer. “A knockout.”
Her cheeks flare with a flush of pink. “Oh, I don’t know. Everyone always thought Xanny was the pretty one, and I was just the–”
“You’re not ‘just’ anything.” I grip her chin and hold her steady. “Don’t ever think less of yourself. I won’t allow it.”
“You won’t?” Her lips part.
“Never.” I release her, then back up a step, needing to get my bearings. Because when she’s close to me like this, when I have my hands on her–I can’t seem to think clearly. Even now, I’m imagining peeling that dress off her and licking along her skin. “Come. Let’s have breakfast while we discuss our deal.”
“Okay.” She peeks down the hall. “Which way?”
I take her arm and lead her toward the kitchen. Madge has already been at work in here, a platter of food laid out on the kitchen table beside a bay window looking out on the side yard.
“That bacon looks so good.” Zoey’s stomach grumbles.
“Sit. I’ll serve you.” I pull a chair out for her.
She sits, and when I lean over to lay a napkin in her lap, I swear I can hear her inhaling deeply. I can’t stop my lips from curving at the thought of her enjoying my scent.
“Xanny and I aren’t much for cooking, so food like this is sort of a treasure.” She tucks her hair behind her ears as I start loading up her plate from the platter.
“Oh, look.” She points at the window as Madge toddles by, a basket at her hip as she leans down and starts clipping some sort of herb from her kitchen garden. “Madge is amazing.”
“She is. I’m lucky I found her. She used to be a housekeeper for a certain governor out west, but there was an … incident, and she had to leave his employ in a hurry and find somewhere safe.”
“A scandal?” Zoey’s eyes widen as she takes a big bite of the crispy bacon.
“Definitely.” I sit across from her and watch her eat, her enjoyment making my lips curl yet again. “She didn’t want to testify against her former employer, so she needed somewhere she could lay low. That was here, and she’s been here ever since.”
“That was kind of you, to take her in when she was in trouble.”
“Not kind at all.” I pluck a piece of bacon from the tray and chew it, the salty, crispy deliciousness perfectly cooked. “It was utterly selfish. Anyone who can cook this well is an opportunity I can’t pass up.”
“Smart.” She nods as she takes a bite of a well-buttered English muffin.