Page 58 of The Proposal

“Right now?”

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?”

“You have your new phone on you, right?”

“I do,” he replies, tapping the breast pocket of his suit jacket.

I can only hope his other phone isn’t on his person, which is why I needed to spring this trip on him without any notice. I can’t risk him going home to get it if it’s not.

“How long will I be down there?”

“A couple of days, tops.”

“I’ll need to go home and pack some clothes.”

“There’s no time for that. I’ve organised a penthouse suite close to the dockyards,” I tell him as I open the top drawer of my desk and collect the envelope inside. After placing it down and sliding it towards him, my eyes lock with his. “There’s five grand in there … that should be more than enough to cover your costs. If everything goes well, I’ll have a bonus waiting for you when you return.”

“If this was pre-planned, how come I’m only finding out about it now? You could’ve given me a heads-up when you summoned me here.”

He may think he’s backed me into a corner, but I was already prepared for him to ask that question.

“Initially, I called you here for a different reason. As you know, Arabella’s sister is staying with us for a week. The women have asked me to take them out, and I was going to have you come along, but Lucia specifically requested I bring Romeo. You’ll be going to Sydney in his place.”

“So I’m an afterthought?”

I clear my throat as fury pumps through my veins. “I have two things planned today, and correct me if I’m wrong, you were initially part of them both … that’s hardly an afterthought.”

“It’s unfair that Romeo gets to spend the day with your wife’s beautiful sister, and I have to go to Sydney and deal with a bunch of feral wharfies.”

I exhale slowly, the frustration bubbling up in my chest,but I force myself to keep calm by silently counting to ten in my head. “An order is an order. If you don’t want to play by the rules, you’re welcome to return your ring and leave theFamiglia.”

He knows as well as I do that there are two ways out of the Cosa Nostra. Life behind bars or wrapped in a fucking tarp.

“Understood,” he says, reaching for the envelope.

“To be clear, my father may have tolerated your insolence, but I assure you I am not him.”

He stands, sliding the envelope into the inner pocket of his jacket with deliberate ease. “If I offended you, I apologise. I was only trying to say I’d rather spend the day with someone … a little more appealing. Lucia Rossi is a beauty.”

“She’s eighteen years old, Edoardo,” I reply, my voice steady. “She’s a bit young for you, don’t you think?”

He shrugs nonchalantly as a sly grin tugs at his slimy lips. “She’s of age.”

I clear my throat, standing up to match his height. My fingers tighten around the button on my suit jacket as I slip it through the buttonhole. My patience has reached its limit with this man.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“What do you mean you found nothing?” I ask Romeo, seething.

“We ripped the place apart, boss. Pulled up floorboards, kicked in gyprock to look between the wall cavities … we found nothing incriminating. No phones … no burner phones or computers. We didn’t even find a safe.”

“Fuck,” I mumble under my breath.

“I’m going to do some more digging in the morning. Hemight have another place … somewhere he stashes his stuff. A mistress, maybe?”

“He’s too untrusting to leave evidence with someone else.”

“I’ve put a tracker on his car … that might lead somewhere.”

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