First message
Manhattan. 8:17 AM.
Lorenzo Moretti doesn’t wait in lines. He doesn’t fetch his own coffee. Yet here he is, standing in a crowded café.
“Your father’s meeting is at nine,” Matteo mutters.
“My father is dead, Matteo.”
“His attorneys, then. Jesus Christ.”
Lorenzo barely looks up from his phone. His charcoal Italian suit hugs his muscular frame, tattoos peeking beneath his cuffs.
“Tell Russo if the shipment isn’t handled by noon, I’ll handle him personally.”
He hangs up just as someone reaches past him for a coffee.
An elbow catches his arm. Hot coffee splashes across his jacket.
The café goes silent.
“Oh, fuck,” Matteo whispers.
Lorenzo looks at the stain, jaw tight. A guard steps forward, but he silences him with one hand.
Then he looks at the woman.
And freezes.
Jesus Christ.
She’s breathtaking. Not simply beautiful, but the kind of beautiful that knocks the air from his lungs. He forgets the coffee, the ruined suit, the men watching him. The entire café seems to disappear.
She snaps her fingers in front of his face.
“Hello? Earth to Mr. Expensive Suit. Maybe if you weren’t blocking everyone’s coffee, you wouldn’t be wearing mine.”
She presses a napkin into his hand.
“You look like you can afford dry cleaning.”
Then she takes her drink & walks out.
Matteo braces for an explosion.
Instead, Lorenzo watches the door, a slow smile forming.
“Who the fuck was that?”