Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Tatiana clenches her jaw so hard her teeth snap together.
Noah considers me with a tilted head. “Are you calling her baby to show affection too?”
A strange sound escapes from Jasper’s lips, which she quickly disguises with a cough.
I suppress a smile. “Something like that.”
“Come on, Noah.” Tatiana ushers him toward the door. “We better get to the Pancake Stack before all the good tables are gone.” She addresses me with a cool smile. “I assume you have men downstairs?”
That goes without saying. I raise a brow, waiting for her to continue.
“I’ll tell them they can help themselves to the breakfast you ordered.” It’s just her way of getting in a jab to pay me back for kissing her in front of Noah. “It would be a pity to waste so much food, even if it’s drugged.”
Amused, I chuckle.
Reino leads them to the elevator. I see them off and wait until the door closes before installing myself in the study.
Like me, my business partner, Saverio De Luca, is an early riser. Knowing he’ll be at the office he runs from their club with his wife, Anya, I call him. With everything that’s gone down, I haven’t had the time yet to bring him up to speed with the turn of events. I was in a plane somewhere over England when my investigator finally hit the jackpot after years of following false leads and useless information.
The news didn’t reach me until I landed in Amsterdam. I was drafting the contract terms of a tricky negotiation and didn’t connect to the plane’s Wi-Fi to check my messages. But the minute I stepped onto the tarmac in the Netherlands and got the message that he’d found Tatiana, I cancelled my business meetings and got right back onto the plane. I didn’t give a fuck that my clients threatened to pull the plug on our deal. The investors’ chagrin didn’t faze me. Neither did the pilot’s refusal to take off in a storm.
I put a gun to his head and told him to fire up the engines.
Sadly, he’d been right. We had to divert to Paris or risk crashing the plane. It took hours for the thunderstorm, that led to widespread hailstorms, to pass, hours that I paced the airport building and watched the sky through the windows as if I could change the weather.
The pilot and I were back in the air the minute the control tower cleared our takeoff. Even with a private jet, it takes time to cross the Atlantic Ocean. So I put Reino in charge of watching Tatiana until I could get here.
Sav greets me with, “How’s Amsterdam?”
“I wouldn’t know. I never had a chance to do sightseeing.”
Caution sharpens his voice. “Where are you?”
“Denver.” I pause, still battling to process the last twelve hours. “I found Tatiana.”
He whistles before asking carefully, “How is she?”
“She’ll adjust.” I rack my brain for the right words to share my news. Coming up empty, I give it to him straight. “I have a kid—a boy, four years old.”
“Jesus. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you ask for a DNA test?”
“I don’t have to. I know he’s mine.”
Saverio is quiet for a beat. “What do you want to do?”
I don’t hesitate. “Bring them home.”
He doesn’t question the wiseness of that decision. “If you need me, my men are at your disposal.”
“I appreciate that.” Sav always has my back. “The Dutch investors aren’t happy. I left them hanging.”
“I’ll handle them. That’s not important.” He hesitates, letting me know the next part is what I should be worried about. “Does Teszner know you have his sister?”
“He’ll know when I’m ready.”
“He’ll retaliate. He’ll gather support and go to war to get her back.”
“He can try.” I can’t fucking wait. “Did you call in that favor with Bennett?”
The silence stretches a tad longer this time. Sav has never been a fan of Bennett since his wife played poker with that loan shark. He doesn’t want Bennett anywhere near Anya, and even though Bennett offered her his services, Sav doesn’t like to ask him for favors. But he knows this is important to me. He knows what’s at stake.
“Consider it done. But Dante? Don’t get mixed up in Bennett’s business.”
“I just want Leander Teszner to be up to his ears in debt.”
And Bennett, who runs illegal poker games where the elite play for big money, can make that happen. All he has to do is extend a private invitation. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get Leander to bite. That motherfucker has only one love in his life—gambling.
“I owe you, Sav.”
“I’ll collect. When will you be arriving?”
“Monday.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I have a feeling I’m going to need it. Tatiana never did make anything easy for me, not way back when our history started and certainly not now.
“And Dante? Watch your back.”
I hang up and call my broker, who confirms he’s bought the latest shares Teszner has put on the market. The price was lower than I expected. Since Leander took over the reins of his father’s business, the company has taken a nosedive. I’ve been buying up shares in Teszner Agglomerate over the last four years under different onshore and offshore shell companies.