The Tallest Tower (Underbelly Enchanted) by Emilia Finn

Author:Emilia Finn [Finn, Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beelieve Publishing, Pty Ltd
Published: 2024-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Icook steak for dinner. I prepare a salad. I essentially repeat the steps I took last night, but I’ll make damn sure Christabelle eats this time.

And that she stays alive.

My phone rings incessantly. Work demands my attention, and life outside this house continues to move forward. I have to get back to my duties soon. I have a business to steer. Income to ensure. Product to move.

Maybe Ms. Cannon doesn’t approve of how I make a living, but I don’t approve of nepotism dressed up as elitism, or someone nearly dying in my bed instead of telling the fucking truth about their medical emergencies.

That makes us even.

“So…” I venture.

We sit on my bed, cross-legged and as dressed down as any couple could get. She still wears my clothes, a state she doesn’t entirely consent to, but one I’ll force time and time again.

Seeing her in my shirt tastes sweeter than cocaine ever did.

“Do you accept my business offer?” I cut a small chunk of my steak and place it in front of the woman who still, even now, barely picks at her meal. “You’ll do some research for me, unravel a mystery we’re both attempting to solve anyway.”

“Does that make me the mob, too?” She rolls her eyes, but leans forward to accept the beef from the end of my fork. “I prefer my status as socialite. Not crooked journalist.”

I snort and bring my silverware back to my plate to cut off a slice for myself. “It’s research you would have done anyway. I’m not asking you to execute a man.”

Her eyes narrow to dangerous slits. “How often do you do that?”

“Only when necessary. Tell me, what do you already know about my family? Anything that I don’t?”

Thankfully, she lets me off easy, skimming over the execution mess, and shrugging at my next questions. “Just the same stuff that’s already been reported. Timothy Malone the Second was your father. His father, Timothy the First, ran the family business before him. There’s a Timothy Malone the Third, but I guess he didn’t want the job, so now you have it.”

“Tim’s in love with a square,” I smirk. “Doctor Mayet’s second-in-charge and bestie best friend in the whole wide world. He won’t admit it,” I add, “but I know a man who’s smitten. And he doesn’t want to be like the other Tim; he wants to be like Arch. So he took off to Copeland too, and now he runs a bar and checks out the nerdy doctor in his spare time.”

“But you?” Christabelle challenges. “You did want the job?”

“I don’t hate it. Most of all, I want my family to be safe. If we’re not here to control our slice of the city, old grudges will surface, and Malone hunting season will be open. Some families have already tried it. Micah was taken and tortured just a couple months ago by a man I wish I’d killed.”

“Yeah?” Her silver eyes flicker between mine. “Who took him?”

“Emilio Pastore. He’s a dickless kumquat who held a grudge after my father stepped on his toes over the years.

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