Pulling back, Mads bites his lip—perhaps realizing he just hugged a very dangerous man. Luca and I share another look, both of us hiding smiles. For a billionaire, Mads is endearing as hell. Even if he’s going to give me an ulcer one of these days.
Mads clears his throat. “I've been aggravating Anthony here to no end, I’m sure, but we've come to an agreement. You'll be proud to know he totally threatened me with you should I not follow his draconian security protocols.”
Luca turns to me and cups my face, kissing my forehead. It’s a gesture of friendship and respect built over years of having each other’s back. “That means Anthony cares. He is a very loyal friend.”
“And I appreciate it,” Mads says, smiling up at me.
I should be mortified to admit that his smile feels like a carefully packaged bit of sunshine, meant for my eyes only. I’m not, but I should be.
“Now, let’s go play cards.”
* * *
“Hey, Andrew, what's the scoop?”I ask, sipping my Earl Grey as I wait for the head of security at Mads’ office building.
Andrew’s voice booms through my poor Bluetooth speaker. “We've got the first shift crew in place at Mads’ building, and the locksmith installed the retinal scanner this morning. I'm almost done vetting Mads’ driver, and I think he might work.”
I quickly adjust the volume on my phone. “Excellent work. Thank you,” I say, sighing in relief. “Tell me about the driver.”
“He's a veteran, active in the community, clean record, and thrilled that Mads is finally taking him off the bench. More importantly, he's got the licenses necessary to carry a gun.”
“Solid. And he’s agreed to drive armed?”
“Yes. He seems competent and comfortable with that decision.”
“Outstanding. And you’re okay with me pulling you off Mrs. Sheffield to run ops on Mads?”
“As much as I enjoy walking the park with Mrs. Sheffield and her asthmatic poodle, I think this will be fine,” Andrew deadpans. “Though I'm surprised you're not taking this one. Don't you have Rafa taking over for Mr. Wolfe and Company?”
“Yes, this one's a little personal though.”
Understatement.
“Oh? In what way?”
“He’s a friend. A Wednesday-night poker friend.”
“Anything I should be aware of?” he asks, knowing how important friends are to Luca.
“Aside from the stalker and the fact that he’s a billionaire?”
“No, just checking.”
Andrew goes quiet, and I know he’s working it out. “Oh, I get it. He's the one you had Luca harangue.”
“I don't know that I would necessarily characterize it as me having Luca do it. I just made sure Luca was aware of Mads’ incompetent security situation.”
“From what I can tell, his security team was fine. He just never listened to them.”
“Yeah, well, Luca had no problem getting him to pay attention.” I smile, knowing that was dirty pool. I regret nothing.
“I bet not. Okay then, we've got him set up. I think he'll start to feel safer pretty quickly.”
“Don't expect him to be grateful about it. He really does chafe against any constrictions on his ability to move about.”
“Gee, sounds like somebody I know,” Andrew cracks, loving to take the mickey.
“Punk.”