Sienna POV
I looked at him.
In my years under Victor I’d seen far uglier setups than this one.
“Sir, you hit me from behind. I’d only just started the car. You’re the one who should be using his eyes.”
That stopped him for a beat.
Then he pulled a wad of cash out of his wallet and threw it at me.
“It’s about money, isn’t it? Take it and get lost. Don’t waste my boss’s time.”
The bills scattered across the wet pavement.
I didn’t even look at them.
“What I want is a reasonable repair bill,” I said.
“And your apology.”
”An apology?” He acted as though he’d heard a joke, and jerked his chin toward the back seat.
“Do you know whose car this is? Take the money and go while you still can.”
I followed the gesture.
The SUV’s windows were blacked out; I could only just make out a shape in the back.
The instant I looked, the window came down halfway.
A hand came out holding a cigarette and tapped ash against the sill.
The driver was still riding high.
“See? Our boss is in the car. Make him angry and you won’t survive in this town.”
The rain came down harder, soaking my clothes until they clung to me.
I wiped the water off my face and laughed once, coldly.
“I don’t care who he is. You hit my car, so we do this by the rules.”
The half-open window came all the way down.
I finally saw who was inside.
It was the man who had looked at me through the gap in the door.
Adrian Moretti.
The driver said quickly, “Sir, this woman doesn’t know any better. I’ll deal with it right away.”
Adrian wasn’t looking at him.
His eyes were still on my face.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“My man was careless.”
He took a checkbook and a pen from his inside pocket, signed a string of figures in the dim light inside the car, and held the check out the window.
“A little compensation. I hope I haven’t wasted your time.”
Rain soaked the edge of the paper.
There were enough zeros on it to buy ten cars like mine.
I looked at it and didn’t take it.
“Mr. Moretti.” I raised my head, and my voice was steady.
“Thank you. But all I need is a reasonable repair bill.”
I paused and let my gaze pass over the driver, whose face had gone white.
“And an apology.”
Only the rain.
Adrian took the check back and got out of the car.
He jerked his chin at the driver.
“Come here.”
The driver ran over.
“Mr. Moretti–”
Adrian didn’t look at him.
He pressed what was left of his cigarette out against the driver’s suit collar.
The man went rigid.
Adrian reached out, took hold of his tie, dragged him up to the window, and backhanded him across the face.
“Apologize to this lady.”
The driver’s head snapped to one side, and blood came at the corner of his mouth.
He turned to me at once and bent at a full ninety degrees.
“Miss, I’m sorry. I was blind. I can’t drive. Please forgive me.”
I looked at Adrian.
There was nothing on his face at all, as though the whole sequence had been an errand he happened to run on his way past.
“That’s enough,” I said.
“Thank you, Mr. Moretti.”
Adrian let go of the tie and settled back into his seat.
He lit a fresh cigarette and looked at me through the smoke.
“What do I call you?”
”Sienna Hart.”
”Sienna.” He repeated it slowly, as though he were rolling it around on his tongue.
“Nice name.”
He took out his phone and handed it over, a new contact already open on the screen.
“Leave me your number. Send me the bill for the repairs.”
I took the phone and typed it in.
Refusing would only have made things more difficult.
Victor had taught me that when I was seventeen.
Adrian watched me hand the phone back.
His gaze moved down from my face and stopped on my soaked blouse.
“Sienna, you’ve got a good figure on you.”
I looked down at clothes the rain had rendered useless as clothing.
My face burned.
“About today, I’m sorry,” he said.
He picked a black suit jacket off the back seat and held it out.
“Put it on. Unless you want everyone else to keep staring at you.”
I took the jacket and put it on. Get faster updates on g.com.
It was very loose, and it smelled of him — tobacco, leather, and something cold I couldn’t put a name to.
“No problem.”
He took his eyes off me and said to the driver, “Drive.”
The window went up.
The black SUV disappeared into the rain.
The next day Luca told me to go with him to Los Angeles to handle business.
I had a rough idea that this trip was about the Los Angeles ports.
Before every job I gathered as much information as I could.
It was a habit of mine.
I found Luca in the airport’s VIP lounge.
He sat on a sofa reading a briefing.
I walked up and stopped in front of him.
When the third page turned he finally looked up.
I was wearing a black suit today, jacket and skirt, cut close, the hem two inches above the knee.
Luca’s eyes traveled from my face down to the hem.
“Today’s meeting is serious,” he said, closing the briefing.
“What are you trying to do, dressed like that?”
”You don’t like it?”
”Would you not do something just because I don’t like it?”
That was a trap.
Yes was a lie.
No would be suicide.
“I don’t do things that bring you no benefit.” I looked at him and tried to leave no seam in the answer.
“I got it wrong once, five years ago. There won’t be a second time.”
Luca looked at me for two seconds.
“Is that so.”
”Right now I only want to stay quietly at your side.” I took the opening and sat down beside him.
He smiled a little.
“Remember what you said today.”
Once we were on board we walked into first class.
Theo traded seats with me so that I was next to Luca.
He leaned back with his eyes closed, his lashes casting a faint shadow across his face.
His shirt was buttoned to the very top.
“Luca.”
”Mm.”
”I heard kissing at altitude feels different.” I flipped through my tablet and let my arm lean toward his until my sleeve brushed his cuff.
“Weightless. Dizzy. Like the whole world is only two people.”
He didn’t open his eyes.
I moved in closer and let my breath land against his ear.
“If I were your lover, could we try it right now?”