“Thank you. I had a very traumatizing experience with my last property,” I said with my most honeyed smile and voice, “so I was fully prepared to handle it. Here, and outside.” I emphasized.
The bank had been careful not to disclose the identity of the previous owner of the lot. I had every other legal detail except anything that could have told me to watch out for the one man that had been hunting me for days now.
“That doesn’t matter, Frankie, because she wasn’t supposed to acquire this lot. There was already an intended buyer.”
I tilted my head a bit. “Really? For an auction?”
“If I may—” One of the bankers tried to speak but was interrupted by Dominic.
“You may not, Michael, shush.”
“I know, Ales, but these are genuine documents. They can’t be turned.”
I was enjoying this, this absolute win. Maybe the universe was not as bitchy as I thought, and this was her compensating me.
Alex gave his brother a look before facing me across the table again. “I’ve done it before, Frankie, I can do it again. In fact, why don’t you all go back now, I’m sure Miss Petrenko and I can handle things from here.”
The bankers, workers, and union representatives gave each other uncertain glances before shuffling outside the tent. Francesco followed with a nod to me and another for Dominic to follow.
The jeans-loving brother tossed me an unopened can of beer. It was slightly cold. “Enjoy. Alex has no sense for humor.” Then he winked and went away.
Leaving just me and Alex in the tent.
“I had somebody making an offer in that auction.”
“I do recall someone making shitty offers.”
Alex propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “This is the second time, Katya, you cannot expect me to treat it as a coincidence.”
I raised a brow at his stern face. “You have to be joking.”
He wasn’t joking.
I chuckled and opened the beer. “Dominic was right, you do have no sense of humor.”
Alex cracked a smile and pushed himself up, walking around the table toward me. I watched him over the rim of the can.
It was actually a good beer. I’d remember to look at the label.
After Alex was gone.
He perched on the table right beside me, that husky scent of his invading my space, and took the beer from my lips to empty the can. Then he placed it gently on the table and spoke in a very calm, suspiciously gentle voice.
“I have warned you, Katya, haven’t I?”
“You’ll need to be more specific.”
I hated what that smile did to my stomach. My mind.
“I told you I wasn’t somebody you should mess with. Around me, there is only danger. Always constant.”
“So, this is how you stole my building from me last time?” I asked, pushing back my chair so I could face him properly. “Still using cheap threats.”
Alessandro didn’t smirk. He just considered me in silence, giving me time to notice his long, dark lashes, and the fullness of his brows. Then he licked his lips, and my eyes followed the slow movement of his tongue.
His eyes were on mine when I looked up, searing and steady, forcing sensations in my stomach.
Then, he reached with his feet under my chair and pulled me towards him, until I was right at the table, between his legs.