Page 27 of Once Upon a Curse for True Love
In the lobby, the receptionist barely blinked when Donatello flashed his badge, but her gaze snagged on the beanie, reminding him why he should keep Swan at arm’s length.
The receptionist led them through a maze of glass offices until they reached a corner suite with sweeping harbor views.A man was already inside, standing by the window like he owned the vista.He introduced himself as XavierThornfield, head of cybersecurity, and they got to the reason for their visit fast.Thornfield admitted HexaCore had an ugly history with Arcanet.A manager who was later fired had approached the hacker off the books to embed a secret tracking code in one of their apps.When the CEO found out, he pulled the plug.Arcanet wasn’t compensated and retaliated by locking down their servers and demanding ransom.The company paid it and washed their hands of him.
Donatello asked a few follow-up questions, but Thornfield had little else to offer.His story seemed consistent—the corporate version of ‘bygones.’Nothing that would suggest a motive for murder more than a year later.
Another dead end.
Just as they were getting back to the car, Donatello’s phone rang.He checked the display—the station calling—and answered.
“Malatesta.”
He listened for a minute, his pulse quickening as the lab tech described their findings.“We’ll be right there.”He ended the call.
“What is it?”Andromeda asked.
“They may have identified our cursed object.”Donatello couldn’t keep the excitement from his voice as he unlocked the car.“A simple hard drive—they say it’s emitting residual dark magic matching the signature from Arcanet’s body.”
“Today wasn’t a total bust at least,” she said, settling into the passenger seat.
“Mmm.”Before he started the engine, he glanced at her sideways.“Could you do me the courtesy of fixing my hair?”
The smile that bloomed across her face was radiant—not mocking or smug, but genuinely delighted.It transformed her features, softening the sharp edges and lighting up her whiskey-colored eyes in a way that made his chest tighten.
“I’ve told you, detective.I didn’t give you the makeover, so I can’t make it go away.”
Such a beautiful liar.
Donatello shook his head while smiling.Hex it all, it could be worth keeping his hair that ridiculous shade of purple just to see that smile again.
Chapter Twelve
Hard Drives and Soft Spots
ANDROMEDA
Andromeda stole another glance at Donatello, her gaze drawn to him like a pixie to witchlight.The soft black sweater he was wearing made her fingers itch to touch it, to test if it felt as cozy as it appeared.She wouldn’t mind nuzzling her cheek over the fabric, snuggling into the detective’s muscular arms.
Oh, gargoyles, she was losing the plot.But hard men in soft clothes were irresistible.Malatesta in a cop uniform was toe-curlingly gorgeous, but the casual outfit was worse—less intimidating, more human, and infinitely more dangerous to her peace of mind.
Damn Mr.Law and Order for looking this good in civilian clothes, even with lilac hair tucked beneath a beanie.And he wasn’t acting like a total troll despite the hair.
Famous last words.
“Ever thought about doing something less shady with your talents?”Donatello’s question cut through her thoughts, his deep voice filling the confined space of the car.
Andromeda snorted—still a troll then.Good, she could deal better with him when he was being a jerk.“I considered opening a bar, but then I remembered I mostly hate people.”
He shot her a side look.“No, seriously.”
“Who says I was joking?”She raised an eyebrow.
“Mmm.Call it an intuition.”He slowed the car as traffic thickened ahead of them.“What was your first illegal spell?”
“Define illegal.”
“Anything that involved property damage or changing someone’s anatomy.”
Andromeda tapped her chin mock-pensively.“Oh, then sixth grade.Science lab.”
