40 • The Birthday Gift I Want

◇ MYKAELA ◇

A little after nine o'clock. Okay. Not too late. No more rush hour traffic. We'd be there in less than an hour.

I glanced down at the duffel bag sitting beside me. It hid overnight clothes, some toiletries, my laptop, tablet, and some books I should read through over the weekend. I simply could not afford to fail that post-training assessment.

The bag in the trunk wasn't for me, though. It contained a dozen curtains for Enzo's house. My apology and excuse to see him. All brand new, too. I leaned forward and scrunched up my nose at the strong, musky aftershave scent all over the interior. I blamed the guy sitting in front of me. "Lele."

"Miss?"

"You sure your boss just got home?" I sat up straight. I placed my hand on the back of the driver seat where Marco sat.

Gabriele budged and stopped chewing his gum to regard me. "Yup. 'Bout two hours ago."

So Enzo went out for dinner? Alone? "Where was he?"

"Downtown."

But where exactly? "D'you know who met up with him?"

"Ju