“Potato, poh-tah-to. But I get your point.” He hadn’t noticed the blood trickling from the heel of one of his multimillion-dollar hands, but she had. She rushed to hold the door open. “Let’s go inside so you can get cleaned up and I can get that coffee you promised me.” She tried to think of something that would appease him. “We can have a business meeting at the same time. I’ll give you my first report.”

Miraculously, that did seem to settle him a bit, although he grabbed the door from her and pushed her none too gently into the hallway. Only then did he notice his bloody hand. He blistered an obscenity.

“Just a scratch.” She shot ahead of him to open the second door into the kitchen. “I’ll patch you up in no time.”

“Like hell you will.”

“All I need is a first aid kid.”

“And a license to kill.” He stalked past her. “Or maybe you already have that?”

“Funny and smart. I’m so lucky to be working for you.”

“Shut up.” Still, his rancor was a little less heated.

The small, spotless kitchen had a stainless-steel counter, oven, deep fryer, and grill to prepare the club’s limited food menu: minisliders, French fries with malt vinegar, and—at two in the morning—platters of complimentary bourbon fudge brownies. As Graham washed up at the sink, Piper found a first aid kit in the well-organized pantry, but he snatched it away from her. “Give me that thing. Call me greedy, but I want to keep this hand.”

“So insulting.”

When he flipped open the plastic lid, she saw specks of gravel in his palm. “I really am sorry.” She was going to have to do more than apologize to appease him. “Here’s some good news. From what I’ve observed so far, your VIP staff is exemplary. Considering the size of the tips they’re getting, they should be, but it’s reassuring to have that confirmed.” He didn’t look mollified. She needed more. It wasn’t the right time to talk to him about his lazy bouncers, and she had no evidence to back her suspicions about Taylor, the server. That left her with only limited possibilities. “I know this will make you happy. I’m going to personally update your Internet fan club site.”

He rummaged inside the first aid kit. “I already have someone doing that.”