As the two men walked from the kitchen, Justin drolly said under his breath, “Is she legal?”

Kate wore sneakers, slouch pants, and a long-sleeved T-shirt, her hair unruly as usual, her green gaze luminous; the image of naïf vivid.

“Fuck you,” Dominic said, grinning.

“Just asking. She looks fifteen and virtuous.”

“Then I’ll expect you to protect her from the big bad wolves at CX Capital.”

“Jesus, that’ll be a full-time job. She’s gorgeous. Seriously, how the hell old is she?”

“Twenty-two.”

“And she’s keeping up with you?”

Dominic gave Justin a hard stare. “That’s none of your business or anyone else’s. Clear?”

Justin put up his hands. “Sorry.”

Dominic smiled. “No problem.”

Shortly after, Justin was pouring himself a drink at home and answering his wife’s questions about Dominic’s new friend. “I think Katherine Hart is more than a piece of ass for him. More than a five-mil flat. Maybe even more than Dominic knows himself. I made the mistake of kidding him about his sex life with her and he bit my head off.”

“My, my.” Amanda looked up from her chair by the fire, Adam asleep in her arms, and smiled knowingly. “Dominic’s protecting her. How lovely, and completely out of character for him.” She lifted one brow. “A wedding perhaps?”

“Don’t get carried away,” Justin cautioned, dropping into a chair opposite his wife. “I’m not sure Dominic’s the marrying kind.”

“Julia managed.”

“Exactly. Managed is the word. I think that’s why he agreed to marry her. He didn’t mind that she arranged his adventures. She didn’t manage anything else.”

“Just so long as you don’t mind me managing your entire life,” Amanda purred, blowing Justin a kiss.

“Hey, that’s what I signed up for.” He grinned. “Do your best.”

Which was exactly what Dominic had in mind as well.

With only two nights and a day before he had to leave for Rome, he wanted to make his time with Katherine the very best he could.

Which meant minimum interruptions—no staff, complete privacy.

The moment Sese left, Kate had slipped her arms around Dominic’s waist and whispered, “Thank you. I just want to be with you. Just us.” She cast a swift glance around the kitchen. “I can probably cook something for you.”

Dominic laughed. “You cook like I do—which is inedible. I’ll have something brought from my house. It’s only a few blocks away. Decide what you want.”

“Besides you?”

“You got me, baby. That decision’s been made. And you know what? My chef can cook us whatever later. Food isn’t high on my list right now. You without clothes is on my list. You without clothes in a bed somewhere—” He looked up. “Where’s the bedroom?”

She grinned. “Which one?”

“We have a choice? Maybe both. Maybe I’ll chase you all over the flat and fuck you in every room. What do you think of that?”

“You say the nicest things,” she purred.

“And you’re the reason, baby. You’re my happiness and contentment, my reminder that life’s beautiful, my everything. Oh, God, baby, don’t cry.” He gently pulled her close, held her against the warmth of his body. “Everything’s going to be good from now on. I promise.”

“You’re not going to be gone long, are you? Lie if necessary. I miss you already.”

He lightly thumbed away the tears on her cheeks. “A few days, that’s all,” he said softly. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She sniffed, swallowed, and tried to smile. “Promise?”

“Yes, promise,” he whispered and brought his mouth to hers.

TWENTY-FIVE

Dominic spent the flight to Rome in his office on the plane and when he came out prior to landing, he handed Max a sealed letter addressed to Kate. “If things go wrong,” he said, “and I don’t make it out of the restaurant. If they use some spy equivalent bullshit that goes on in that part of the world—poison, radioactive isotopes, double cross or triple cross, whatever—make sure Gora doesn’t walk out alive. Then give the letter to Katherine.”

“Don’t worry,” Max said. “You’re going to be well covered.”

Dominic put up his hand. “If I’m dead, I want him dead. Got it?”

“That goes without saying.”

Dominic nodded. “Good. I think I’m more use to them alive but God only knows. I thought we’d paid Gora enough to keep the Bucharest factory clean and you saw how that went. Everyone’s fucking greedy. As if you don’t know that. Now give me the lay of the land on the meeting site.”

“The restaurant will be closed. We’ll search the premises thoroughly before you go in. Then it’s just you and Gora. We have snipers on their snipers. We have men on their foot soldiers and enough arms and ammo at your hotel here to start World War Three. The police won’t become involved. Alessandro’s taken care of it. We found Gora’s jailbait last night at a convent up in the hills and have her under surveillance. We saw her only once, the walls are high. But she can’t come out without us knowing. And worse comes to worse, I suppose we could blast our way in. Although the political scandal might be…” He trailed off and shrugged. “Well, that’s your call. Since Gora doesn’t give a shit about his wife, we have only a couple men on her. She’s on vacation in Istanbul. And last, I expect Gora has a price you can afford.”