Page 153 of Bleed with Me

“Because she’s the luckiest person in the world,” I mumbled, staring up the stairs in case she woke up. The last thing I needed was her to find me arguing with myself.

Seriously? he whined in evident disbelief. She got you for a husband. Where was her luck then?

“Oh, shut up!” I slammed the file against the coffee table, focusing on the envelope that came the previous day. The stamp said Social Services. My chest tightened. Not even that I hadn’t said to my wife about adoption yet, because with Malin, the file, and everything else, I simply forgot. But I also was scared to open the fucking letter because what if they rejected my application?

Then we’ll kidnap her, falsify her papers, and make her ours, the demon offered a perfect solution, making me smile for the first time this morning. She’s ours.

“Yes, she is,” I agreed, grasping the envelope. I ripped it open and pulled the paper out when the buzzing of Malin’s phone interrupted me. He’d handed me his work phone after waking up, loaded with numbers for what I privately called his stalking team. The name Stella blinked on the screen relentlessly.

“I’m listening,” I picked up, leaning the envelope against the vase.

“Hey, temporary boss,” the young voice chirped. “I have the file you asked for. Everything on Sonny Carlile we were able to dig up.”

“Anything stand out?” I asked, hot rage bubbling in my stomach just from the thought of the bastard.

“The large sums of money he receives stand out,” she replied, the rock music echoing in the background. “But we haven’t found who sends it. Everything goes through shell companies. It’s the perfect cover-up.”

“Cover-up of what?” I groaned, thinking about the things Sonny could be involved in. Money laundering, sex trafficking, weapons, drugs- the list was endless.

“No idea. Whatever it is, they’re paying him too much for it to be legal,” Stella said. “I dug into the connection with the Valentino family, but I hit a wall there, too.”

“We need Malin to break that wall.” I stood up and headed to the kitchen for a coffee refill.

“We sure do,” she agreed. “How is he, by the way?”

“Grumpy, annoying, complaining about everything. His sunshine personality is glowing.”

A genuine laugh spilled out of her.

“Good to hear he’s back.”

“Yeah.” I smiled, inhaling the smell of freshly brewed coffee. “Anyway, keep me updated. Sonny is my number one person of interest. Also,” I remembered another thing, “keep an eye on Lorenzo Valentino, too. He is up to something.”

“Roger that, temporary boss,” she confirmed and ended the call.

“Temporary boss.” I grinned, shaking my head at the title. “If only she knew.”

I put a generous amount of cream into my steamy concoction and turned to the door, almost getting a real heart attack.

“Morning!” Nina greeted me with a murderous expression, a dim kitchen light reflecting off her satin short nightgown. “Who the fuck made you smile at five am, husband?”

Half the coffee splashed onto the floor, but I didn’t mind. My gaze was glued to her. She looked like an angel of death with glowing eyes and long hair framing her lethal face.

“No one,” I exhaled, pretty sure that if I said I was talking to a woman, she would have my balls for breakfast.

“Dorian.” She took a slow step closer, and I almost flinched back. Fuck. I wasn’t scared of my wife, but she’d caught me completely unprepared. And why the hell did I feel like I’d committed a crime?

“Malin’s team member called,” I said, wiping my burning thumb with a napkin. “To debrief me and ask about Malin. No one made me smile.”

“He or she?” Nina lifted a brow when I didn't answer right away, and I sighed.

“She.”

“Why is she calling you at five am?”

“Because it was important.”

“Nothing is that important!” Nina yelled, slamming her hand against the kitchen counter. Her words were unusually thick with an Italian accent. “You’re a married man. You don’t receive calls from women at night!”