Page 66 of Forging Caine

“Sounds like we’re out of time, Luce.” I gestured to her laptop. “Do you mind digging into this a little more? Antonio and I have another project to work on, and—”

“I’m all over it.” She closed the lid and stood to stuff it into her backpack.

Antonio and Lorenzo arrived, neither of them smiling. “Ready?” they said in unison, then frowned at each other.

“Good luck with the shoes,” I said to Lucy, as she and Lorenzo left.

Antonio joined me at the front window, where I was peeling off the tape which held the sheets in place. “Any discoveries?”

“Lucy’s got a lead she’s going to track down. I don’t know if it’ll amount to anything, but it’s worth a try.”

Antonio’s arm wound around my waist, and he kissed my temple. “Do you mind if we head straight home so I can get the x-ray ready in case we need it?”

“Good idea.” The more prepared we were, the faster the process would go, and the sooner Fiori would be out of our lives again. And hopefully the soonerThe Concertwould go back to Boston and the Gardner Museum. And the sooner I could win over Special Agent Kelsey Bernard—assuming she was blocking my security clearance—and get that consulting spot with the FBI.

I folded the sheets and turned toward the office. Whoever Dom hired would be lucky. Maybe until then, I’d pick up some of their jobs. That potentially looted piece from Indigo Lake’s customer might be interesting. Lots of research to do there. I could bang that out quickly.

“Bella?” Antonio was holding my hand, urging me forward. “We were leaving? Remember?”

“Yeah. I just need to let your dad know about another investigation being sent from New York. I’ll meet you at home.”

Chapter 21

Antonio

Imonitoredthesecurityfeed from my phone, watching as Samantha exited the elevator. Her conversation with Papa must have taken longer than expected. Perfetto. It had been just enough time to finish my surprise. “She’s almost here.”

“Perfect timing.” Claude, one of the security contractors my family dealt with regularly, closed the door to the library behind him. “It’ll only take a few minutes to initialize the system and she’ll be as secure as the safe upstairs.”

Marcus had let him in while Samantha and I were away to install a special lock on the library door. It should meet Elliot’s requirements, allowing her to spread her crop circles all over the floor and not have to worry about hiding them away every time she left.

I hurried to meet her at the door, opening it with a flourish.

“Are you going to keep doing that all day?” she chuckled.

“If it keeps you smiling.”

“Sorry it took so long. Your father likes to talk.” She slid out of her shoes, dropping two inches. “And Sofia cornered me with wedding venue ideas.”

“Sounds like her.” I grimaced for Samantha’s benefit, but it was for the best that someone else was nudging her along the decision path. “Good thing you escaped. I have a surprise for you.”

Her shoulders drooped. “Please tell me it’s a good one.”

“You’ll love it.” I grabbed her hand and hauled her behind me.

Her grip tensed when we arrived in the hallway. “Claude?”

The last time she’d seen him was the day of the shooting at Ferraro’s. Claude had been our detail that day, and Parker nearly ran him over.

“How are you do—” Samantha’s gaze fell to the panel next to the door, and she cut short.

“I was thinking.” I pulled her closer, so the three of us huddled in the hallway around the closed door. “You need a space to call your own, which you don’t have to tidy whenever you’re distracted.”

Claude tapped something into the tablet he carried and a yellow light at the side of the panel began flashing. “Whoever wants to start can press their finger on the panel.”

Samantha didn’t budge, just blinked in a rhythm which almost matched the security panel light.

“Bella, this is your office now. We can limit access to you, if that’s what you need, or—”

---