Undercover billionaire and the bakery bandit.

nk. Her mind was riddled with the unavailability of the knife and all those unpaid bills. Alex

lour and sugar. Yet something wasn't right. It was quiet. It was cold ins

she s

art pl

stood open, dancing on its h

nds pushed it wide and the dark lane behind the bakery was rev

nd flour lined the countertops, some of the drawers were open, and their contents spewed out ont

cookbook-her best

her eyes went directly for what was not there: her grandmother's signature

turned through the remaining pages, her

Somebody had taken it. They had

wasn't burglary-it was personal. Someone was trying to hurt her

all, and Addie sprang up, h

h concern. He came into the kitchen, paused at what was

e papers everywhere. "They took my grandmother'

ked around the room, eyes squinting

ined. "Can't make out. why tod

enched. "The person who did this knew w

been monitoring me, trying to take over this bakery. He knew about

of his body spoke volumes. "We should repor

y. "Even if I go to the cops, how are they going to h

a soft, yet firm tone. "I have contacts.

e so sure if she could already trust him, but for the time b

. "We'll sort all that out,

something. Folded up and tucked beneath the scattered cookbook pages lay a piec

?" Alex aske

er; through thick blac

y, or next time

couldn't swallow. Hardly was she quivering so th

oud. Immediately, his jaw started clenching with every

uality of her voice made it an unmistakable fact. "I

ust a little too well thought out, too precise. Whoever had done this had known exactly what to go f

said matter-of-factly, his words c

I have no longer any other choice. If th

Alex growled. "We aren't going to let the

nly started to break as she fought not to cry

hen we shall be ready for them. You are no longer

, but something in what Alex just said made her trust him. There was s

shop entered, along with her regular customer, Mrs. Harris. She

ith her jolly beaming smile. "Have I

"N-No, Mrs. Harris. Ju

table, unsuspecting of what h

tta keep this on the down low. A word gets out abou

grim. "We can keep quiet.

d. "But I don't kno

ured. "First, we gotta know who is behind this

in confusion. "What

mething like this happens, it isn't quite as black-and-white as it appears.

? She wanted to deny it, but after everything that happened

said. "This bakery is all I have left

, a firmness behind the vo

d Addie felt her tense involuntarily. But this time, it wasn't just another

iding up to the count

s he stood protectively next to Addie. "I

ust a tint of a smile on his f

e two men was almost palpable and solid. She loo

low and menacing. "You should have taken

ound and stormed out of the bakery, leaving an inte

door, dumbfounde

fists were clenched. "Wh

ear began to brew inside her. "

e heard herself say, though her stomach churned: "We