Page 100 of Hidden Ties

Sage was tempted but tried to find another excuse to convince April it wouldn’t work. “He would notice the difference in our voices.”

“Matthias never talks to me.” April wasn’t giving up. The woman should have been a realtor or a car sale’s person. “I haven’t said one word to him since I’ve started working for him. Most of the time, I only see him when I clean his office, which usually takes me about thirty minutes. I clean that room last. When I clean his desk, his eyes are on my tits, not my face.” April gave a sultry laugh. “You don’t even have to touch him to take the tip. He leaves it on the entry table while I’m putting the cleaning supplies away.”

Thinking over every single way it could go bad—and she definitely wasn’t going to do it—she still found herself asking another question.

“Which outfit does he pick for you to wear?”

“Either the French maid or just a plain oversized T-shirt. Thong bottom,” April was quick to answer.

“I’ll think it over.” Buying time, she went back to her locker to close and lock it.

“Don’t take too long.”

“I won’t know until Friday if I’m off probation.”

“What would it matter, anyway? Even if you do, you should still take the clients I’m offering you. The money will give you breathing room to get ahead before some other shit lands on your plate,” April advised. “With your freaking luck, a meteorwill land on your car, or you’ll break a leg tripping over one of the girls’ toys.”

Sage made a face at her. “My luck isn’t that bad.”

“Yeah?” April raised her eyes skyward. “You’ve had four flat tires in the last two months. Before that, your transmission went out, about the same time you caught a virus from the girls and had to miss work to stay home with them so Glory wouldn’t catch it. Before that—”

“Never mind,” Sage stopped her. She didn’t need to relive the nightmare of her life.

“Face it, chickadee, you wouldn’t have any luck at all unless it was bad.”

NINE

His head was splitting open. He needed some Ibuprofen and a change of careers. Maybe not taking clients who were only one degree short of being classified as crazy would be the wiser choice.

As he ruminated over his career choice, he tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, waiting for Matthias Luciano to explain why he had been summoned. Several minutes passed before Matthias took his gaze off the computer monitor, which had been holding his rapt attention.

“I want you to act as an emissary for me.”

Surprise kept him from responding immediately. He had done a few jobs for the Luciano family after working some for the Carusos. None of those had been for Matthias, nor had they involved being an emissary. He should suggest to Dante and Lucca not to give out his number again.

“Would I be acting as a representative for the Luciano family or only you personally?”

“Just me.” Matthias looked back to the computer screen.

“Suppose you’ll tell me the purpose of being your emissary and when?”

“Now would be good.”

Kent rubbed his fingertips on the side of his temple. He should have done a double major in college. Psychology would have come in useful. It would have explained why Matthias was acting so shady when he had arrived by waiting until he texted him before coming inside rather than opening the door for him, and why he had given him the directions to come upstairs to the second bedroom on the right. The huge run-down manor was owned by his brother Dominic, who had bought the manor for his wife, Maria Caruso, who was still in the process of fixing it up.

Matthias’ gaze swung in his direction. “Every week, I get the house cleaned by the same cleaner. Same day, same cleaner. Except today, the woman cleaning isn’t the same one.”

“You’re watching her on your computer?”

“Yes.”

He hadn’t been around Matthias often when he worked with his older brother. He came off as less deadly and obnoxious than Dominic, so he sure as fuck didn’t expect him to be unable to have a conversation with another person, male or female.

“Why don’t you just go and ask her?” he asked curiously.

“I prefer to keep any interactions through her employer.”

“You could call and ask them,” he suggested.

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