Page 65 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

“Now, come on. Remi and Enzo will be waiting.”

She slipped out of my lap so I could stand up. I took her hand and pulled her over to the office door, stopping just short of it. Cupping her face with my free hand, I stroked my thumb over her cheek.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?”

“Yes, sir.”

I pressed a kiss to her lips, then took her out of the office and along to the back door, where Remi and my brother were waiting. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Ari. I’d warned him not to fuck up and say something inappropriate. After introducing her to my brother, I left Ari with Remi, who I knew would take care of her.

I walked back into my office. I was just taking a seat when the door was thrown open and in strolled Penn.

“Have you heard of knocking?”

“Why would I knock when you asked me to come here?”

I almost rolled my eyes. There was no telling with Penn what kind of shit he would decide to pull. I might trust him to do his job but dealing with him was another matter.

“Where’s Remi going, and was that Bennett’s daughter I saw with her?”

I levelled my gaze on him, wondering where the fuck he got the audacity to ask me about Remi from.

“Take a seat.”

Penn shrugged and sat down in front of my desk with his legs wide open and his tattooed hand resting on his thigh. I was surprised he had any space left on his body that wasn’t covered in ink.

“You in a mood today, Z?”

“No, I’m not, but Remi and Arianna have nothing to do with you.”

He rolled his eyes.

“You sure about that?”

“I’m very sure. Now, I don’t have time for your shit today, so sit and listen, because I have a job for you.”

He sat forward and rubbed his hands together.

“Must be important if you called me in here.”

I swear to fuck if Penn wasn’t so useful, he would be in the fucking grave already many times over. Not by my hand, but by someone else he’d managed to piss off. He had more enemies than clients, but the sneaky fuck was good at what he did. He would never let anyone get the better of him.

“I need you to go view some properties for me.”

Penn’s eyebrows shot up.

“Me… look at houses… for you?”

“Not houses, Penn. Office spaces. I need you to make sure they’re suitable.”

I swear Penn was looking at me like I’d grown two heads. This couldn’t be done through my usual contacts. It had to be under the radar.

“Suitable how?”

“Well, I need somewhere that’s got lots of natural lighting, so big windows are a must. It needs to be a large, open-plan space, a bit like a studio. That would be best. And it needs to be secure. It’ll need to have the highest security installed, anyway, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

I almost smiled at the thought of it, imagining Ari making the space her own. Seeing her setting up shots, adjusting her backdrop depending on what was required, with little minions running around helping her.

“You want me to find you a studio space?”

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