Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

D’Angelo

The three hours to Baltimore seemed to pass in the space between breaths. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when Eva was nudging me awake and claiming that our destination was only a few minutes down the road.

I’d never spent much time in Baltimore before, but major cities all tended to look very similar at the heart. Tall buildings rose on either side of the street, blocking the view of the sky. The sun had set, and it was night now, but one could hardly tell due to the numerous streetlights and glowing advertisements hanging above every shop and restaurant.

The neon image of a cup of coffee caught my attention, and I ordered Gavriil to pull over. Three hours of sleep had barely scratched the surface of my exhaustion. In order to get through this meeting, I needed some caffeine in my veins.

Stepping through the front door of the cafe, I was surprised to find it empty. Sure, Baltimore wasn’t as busy as a place like New York City, but it was still a major metropolitan. A cafe sitting in a prime spot on a main street should have been overflowing with customers.

I checked my watch. The time was later than I thought, and the shop closed in exactly three minutes.

While I hated to be that customer who came in right at the end of the day, I didn’t have many other options. At this point coffee was a need, not just a want, and I was already in the shop. Backing out now would just be awkward.

No one stood behind the counter—which was understandable as they were probably in the back cleaning up for the night—so I was forced to ring the service bell. The high-pitched chime made me wince.

“Hold on just a moment, I’m coming,” someone called from the back.

A young man shouldered his way through the swinging door, his hands laden with a large tray of freshly washed mugs and cutlery. His eyes were downcast, focusing on keeping the tray balanced, so I had a moment to observe him unnoticed. Fair, with tousled chestnut hair that hung longer in the front than in the back. Since he was turned to the side, I could only see him in profile, but he had a heart-shaped face with a small straight nose and just enough pronunciation in his cheekbones to give his face some definition without losing its natural softness.

All in all, just my type. Even his height was perfect. He stood on the shorter side of average. If I held him, his head would tuck comfortably under my chin.

From the side, I could just barely read the nametag on his uniform.

Oliver.

It was a fitting name. After such a hectic day, and the loss of my previous lover, it felt like the universe was offering me an olive branch by at least giving me something nice to look at.

“Sorry for the wait,” Oliver said when he finally finished setting the mugs and silverware back in their place and turned toward me. “We’re getting ready to close so I can’t… oh.”

Large hazel eyes stared at me, flickering down for a moment over the rest of my body before he seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly focused back on my face.

“I… sorry, I can’t offer you much.”

I knew I cut a striking figure. It wasn’t a matter of arrogance. A lot of effort was put into my appearance for that very purpose. In my position, making an impact the moment I entered a room was half the battle, and had saved my life on more than one occasion.

Tipping my head in just a little to the side, I let my face settle into a charming smirk that almost always earned me a partner for the night.

“Good thing I’m not picky. What’s the strongest thing you have available?”

“Um… the strongest?” He looked down at the counter, as if searching for something he couldn’t find. A light blush dusted his cheeks.

It was only then that I noticed the man’s most prominent feature that I’d somehow entirely overlooked. A large burn scar covered most of the left side of his face, all the way from hairline to jaw. The only excuse I could give was that his bright eyes were particularly distracting. Plus, the way his hair hung longer in the front and was parted more to one side did a spectacularly good job at hiding the scar.

It looked old. More silver than pink, signaling that the skin had healed a long time ago and the scar had settled into place. Still, based on its size, the burn must have been traumatic. It was a wonder that his eye hadn’t been damaged.

He seemed to realize the moment my gaze settled on his scar, for he automatically turned just enough to the side so that I was mostly looking at the right side of his face. It was such an automatic move, like he hadn’t even thought about it. He was obviously used to always presenting his “good” side to people.

“You’ll have to be more specific. I’m not sure what you want.”

My smile almost dropped.

What I wanted should be obvious.

Right, this conversation was about coffee . I’d almost forgotten my initial purpose for stepping into the cafe.

Still, there was no reason for flirting and coffee to be mutually exclusive. I could have both.

I leaned my hip against the counter, purposely angling myself so I could see more of the left side of his face. Scars weren’t a turn off for me, and I wanted him to know it.

“Well, I want a lot of things.” I trailed my gaze down his body, purposely lingering until I was certain he’d noticed. “However, for now, I’m looking for whatever drink you can offer that’ll give me the most caffeine in one cup.”

“Ah.” His eyes lit up, making the hazel color practically sparkle. “The nurse’s special.”

“What?”

The blush returned to his cheeks, though he didn’t look as shy as before. “Oh, there’s a pretty big hospital nearby. A lot of nurses come here on their breaks, and they’re often looking for something to help them get through their long shifts. So, we came up with a recipe just for them. It’s basically, like a maxed-out espresso. Would that work?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great.”

He grabbed one of the neatly stacked to-go cups and turned to the elaborate coffee machine at the far side of the counter.

“You got here just in time. I was about to clean out the machine and shut everything down.”

“Yeah.” I leaned a little farther over the counter so I could watch him work. “Lucky me.”

His hands were long and delicate, and moved with perfect precision. I’d bet my entire fortune that the man was an artist. It was too easy to picture him holding a paintbrush, creating masterpieces with a mere stroke of his fingers.

It was also easy to picture other things his hands could do for me, but I kept those thoughts to myself.

For now.

He also wore a surprising amount of jewelry. There were several rings on his fingers, along with multiple necklaces of varying lengths. However, what caught my eye was the ear cuff. It looked like a golden snake curling around the shell of his ear like it was whispering secrets to him, and a small apple charm hung from his earlobe.

The young man presented a charming portrait of contradictions. He was not only an olive branch of peace, but also a creature of wicked temptation.

If I didn’t have such an important meeting lined up, I would definitely try to coax this man into my bed. Whatever Alex needed from me had better be important.

The drink took a few minutes to complete, and I noticed him doing something complicated with the milk pitcher. I wasn’t complaining, since it gave me more time to watch him, but I was pleasantly surprised by the final result. A tall cup of rich coffee was carefully placed before me, filled all the way to the brim. The lid still sat beside the cup, showing off the artwork that had been created on the drink’s surface.

I’d seen plenty of latte art before, but this was much more than the fancy heart or leaf that most barista’s could do. This was very clearly a phoenix. I could even see the individual feathers, and the flames that rose up from its wings.

Taking out my phone, I snapped a picture of the drink. “Impressive. I knew you were an artist.” I hated covering up the art, but I needed to put the lid on the cup in order to take it with me. The phoenix would just have to be content with living immortalized on my phone.

“Y-you knew? How?”

I handed over my credit card, and although Oliver was distracted staring at me in awe and confusion, he still managed to slide the card through the cash register without fumbling.

“You’ve got the look of an artist.” When he handed the card back, I let our fingers brush. “Plus, you’re obviously good with your hands.”

With one finger, he nervously twirled a lock of his wavy hair. It was a cute gesture, but also allowed him to discreetly block my view of the scar on his face.

If I did take this man to bed, I’d tie up his hands so he couldn’t hide from me.

For a moment, I was half-tempted to push back my meeting with Alex. He owed me a favor after I helped him when he was kidnapped.

The sound of a throat clearing drew my attention. Eva stood in the door of the cafe, scowling at me as she tapped her watch.

My break was over. It was time to get back to business.

I stuffed some cash into the tip jar on the counter, not even paying attention to how much. “Thanks for this.” I saluted Oliver with the cup. “Sorry for keeping you so long. I’ll let you finish closing up.”

As I headed out the door, I heard the barista stutter over his words. “It’s… uh, you’re a pleasure.”

I stopped just before the door could close behind me and looked back at him, one eyebrow raised in a silent question.

Realizing what he’d said, Oliver’s face bloomed a bright crimson red. “I mean… you’re welcome. It’s my pleasure.”

Taking a moment to sip my coffee, which was just as strong as promised, I regarded him from head to toe. “Hmm. Not yet, it’s not. Ciao bella.”

With that cryptic remark hanging in the air, I left without further explanation. It was entirely by design. I was certain the beautiful effeminate man would be turning my words over for a while, wondering what I meant and if my suggestive tone was intentional.

Good. I liked the idea of living in his brain long after I was gone.

As we headed back to the car, I could feel Eva giving me a judging look out of the corner of her eye.

“Something to say?” I asked before taking another sip of my coffee.

“You just killed your previous lover a few hours ago.”

“Yes.” I waited while Gavriil opened the car door for me. “Which means I am in need of another one. Maybe this one won’t try to stab me in the neck with a syringe.”

For a moment, she looked like she would argue, but something in my expression must have tipped her off that I wasn’t in the mood, for she looked back at the cafe with a thoughtful expression.

“Maybe, depending on how the meeting with Mariano goes, we can come back.”

For Eva, that was basically permission to fuck around as much as I wanted. Now I just needed to get through the meeting with Alex.