Page 33 of The Don

With hesitation he nods his head. “The shed should be finished by the weekend.”

“Whoever’s saying this, I want to see them.” Dante’s admission to the shed being ready by the weekend means he knows exactly what’ll happen.

Dante stands and places his glass on the sideboard for Maria or Isabella to take and wash. “Yes, sir.”

“Get the car ready,” I instruct Dante.

“Where are we going?”

“Sunrise.”

“Everything okay?”

“There’s been a downturn in clients, and I want to check it out myself.”

“I can go,” Dante offers. I stand from behind my desk and swing my suit jacket on. “I’ll get the car,” he says, reading my resolve.

Dante slinks out of the office as I head upstairs to find Eliza. I knock on her door and wait for a few seconds. When there’s no answer, I open the door and walk in. Eliza is lying on the bed, her back to the door. Storm is on the bed with his body up against hers. He lifts his head to look at me when he hears the door creak open. I walk over to Eliza and find she’s peacefully sleeping.

Standing beside the bed, I sweep her hair from her cheek and bend to give her a kiss on the temple. “Take care of her,” I say to Storm who’s staring at me.

I leave her room and head down to the car where Dante is waiting by the open back door. “Sir,” he says and closes the door once I’m in.

The drive to Sunrise takes a little over an hour, and when we arrive, the concierge, Noah, is already waiting. “Mr. Sacco, it’s good to see you.”

“How many girls are on tonight?”

“We had ten scheduled, but Melissa’s daughter is sick so she wasn’t able to make it to work.”

“What’s wrong with her daughter?” I ask as we walk toward Noah’s office.

“She only said her daughter was running a temperature.” He swipes his card to open his office. “Can I help you with anything tonight?”

“Get Melissa on the phone.” I sit at his desk on his chair and log him out of the system so I can log myself in while he dials Melissa’s number.

“Hello?”

“Melissa, I have Mr. Sacco on the line.”

“Oh,” she says, sounding startled. “Mr. Sacco.”

“Your daughter is unwell?”

“Yes, sir, she’s running a fever and has been vomiting for the last four hours.”

“Have you called the doctor?”

“I think it’s a stomach bug, I was going to call the doctor in the morning if it hasn’t settled by then.”

Dante enters the office and stands by the door. “I’m going to have Dante arrange for the doctor to come to your home now. You’ll need to give him your address.” Dante is already on the phone to the doctor, giving him instructions.

“It’s really not necessary, Mr. Sacco, I can call our doctor in the morning.”

“Mommy, I don’t feel good,” I hear her little girl say in the background.

Dante walks over to the phone and lifts the receiver. “Your address?” He nods as he listens and repeats the address to the doctor. “The doctor will be there within the hour.” He nods again and replaces the receiver. “She said thank you.”

“How many of the girls are with clients at the moment?”

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