Page 101 of Knot Baked Out For This

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"Industrial ventilation system," Levi adds. "No more sweating through summer."

"Basement storage with proper shelving," Luca continues. "Temperature controlled."

"A walk-in freezer?" I stare at the plans. "That's?—"

"Necessary for your volume," Luca says. "You're doing three times the business your current setup can handle."

"New ovens here." Rowan indicates the back wall. "Commercial grade. Double capacity."

"This is thousands of dollars?—"

"Seventy-three thousand, actually," Luca says, because of course he knows exactly.

"SEVENTY-THREE—" I stand up so fast I get dizzy. "Absolutely not. No. That's insane."

"That's investment," Rowan corrects. "Split three ways, plus some favors called in for labor."

"You can't just drop twenty-five thousand dollars each on MY bakery!"

"Twenty-four thousand three hundred and thirty-three," Luca corrects. "And thirty-three cents, technically."

"I'm going to murder you."

"Murder me after you see the espresso machine," Levi says excitedly. "It's Italian. Does that fancy milk foam art."

"LEVI."

"What? You deserve fancy foam!"

I sink back onto the couch, overwhelmed. "I can't accept this."

"Then don't," Rowan says. "Consider it a loan."

"With interest?—"

"No interest."

"That's not how loans work."

"It's how this one works."

"I'll feed you," I blurt out. "During construction. All of you. The whole crew. Breakfast and lunch."

They exchange glances.

"That's actually more expensive than—" Luca starts.

"Deal," Rowan interrupts. "You feed us, we build you a dream kitchen."

"And I still pay you back."

"We'll discuss it later."

"We'll discuss it never," I correct.

"Stubborn," Levi mutters.

"Pot, kettle," I shoot back.

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