Page 35 of Beauty and the Daddy

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Just then, the front door opens, and footsteps approach.

My security chief whispers, "Boss, there's a messenger here. Says it's urgent."

I nod, and a young man in a crisp suit enters, carrying a sealed envelope.

The seal is black wax, impressed with a symbol I know too well.

The Council.

The messenger's barely twenty, sweating through his Armani like he drew the short straw. Which he did.

Nobody wants to deliver bad news to the Beast.

"The Council requires your presence in Rome." His voice cracks on 'requires.' Smart boy. He knows it's not a request. "Regarding the matter of your... unexpected engagement."

The temperature in the room drops ten degrees.

'Unexpected.' That's Council speak for 'what the fuck were you thinking.'

Belle chooses that moment to laugh at something Sal says, the sound bright as champagne bubbles.

Every man in the room turns to look. She's wearing my ring like it weighs nothing, like she doesn't know it just painted a target on her spine.

"When?" I ask the messenger.

"Tomorrow, Don Moretti."

Of course. The Council loves their power plays.

Making me drop everything, fly across the Atlantic, prostrate myself before five fossils who think tradition matters more than survival.

7

BELLE

Imust be dreaming, for I wake up to a delighted, bubblegum kind of laughter that bounces down the hallway and crawls under my door.

I wonder if I died and went to heaven, 'cause there's no way happiness like this exists in a mob mansion.

For a second, I lie there confused, brain still booting, sheets warm, and the ring still heavy like a smug little asteroid.

The giggle happens again, higher this time, conspiratorial, and something scrapes along wood.

A soft whuff follows. Dog? Child? Demon with a cold?

I wonder what the hell kind of alternate universe I've woken up in.

I sit up. "Hello?"

A small voice outside the door: "Shhh, Bruno, you're blowing our cover."

Okay. Not a demon.

A kid with an accomplice.

I know the dog already. But… a kid?

I grab the robe off the chair and crack the door open.

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