just
the latest?” He shook his head. “What drove you to behave like this?”
Anger warred with pain, eventually winning.
She glared at him. “You’ve obviously already figured it all out. Why should I
offer any explanations now?”
“Why indeed, when there can be no
justification for your actions?”
“Precisely.” She straightened her jacket.
“I’m not moving in with you. You’ll just have to trust me to keep up my end of
the deal.”
“But I don’t trust you. You will be moving
in with me because, as much as you hate to admit it, your body wants mine with
a marked lack of reason.” He seemed confident she would be taking up residence
with him by the end of the day.
With a mutinous set of her mouth, she said,
“I am not leaving my home. It will be a cold day in hell before I give up my
autonomy to be at your beck and call.”
Two hours later, Phoebe followed Luca into
his sumptuous penthouse apartment in a twelve-story building in mid-town. A
chill ran down her spine, making her wonder if hell had indeed frozen over.
Chapter Four
It was strange to be back at her desk less
than twenty-four hours later, as if nothing had changed. Yet, everything had
changed. She now knew Luca as intimately as anyone could know another, but knew
nothing about his heart. He had closed it to her. The only thing she could take
freely from him was his body, and while she enjoyed the sex, she wanted more.
Once upon a time, she had dreamed of a relationship with Luca that included
making love. Now, they had a pale imitation of what might have been, built
solely on lies, misconceptions and sex. It was physically satisfying but left
her emotionally bereft.
Her phone buzzed. “Did you find that file
yet?” Luca asked, sounding impatient.
She winced, realizing while lost in her
reverie at least fifteen minutes had passed since he asked for some key
paperwork that had been missing from the Giovanni packet. “Just now. It was
misfiled.” Better to look incompetent than to appear weepy. It was bad enough
she was emotionally vested in the travesty they were acting out. He didn’t need
to know she felt anything remotely sentimental.
As if the day wasn’t already bad enough,
the sound of Salvatore’s wheelchair entering her office let her know it was
about to get worse. She pretended not to see the old man as she lifted the
folder and turned toward Luca’s office.
He dashed her hopes of avoiding a
confrontation with his first spiteful statement. “Now you’re his whore, aren’t
you?”
She took a deep breath and tried counting
to ten. Before she even made it to five, he continued.
“It sickens me to know you’re sharing his
bed.” A wheezing laugh escaped him. “However, I am comforted to know the affair
will be short-lived. I won’t ever have to worry about him trying to marry you
now that he knows what you are.”
Phoebe whirled around, glaring down at him.
“He knows what you are too—a manipulative, hateful old man who will stop at
nothing to control those around him.” Somehow, she managed to steady her voice.
“You might have opened his eyes to my so-called flaws, but at what cost to your
relationship with him?”
Salvatore snorted. “As if a whore like you
could come between my son and me. You are trash, pure and simple. Not a cent to
your name that you’ve earned the old-fashioned way, no breeding of which to
speak and nothing to redeem you. I’d do what I did a thousand times over. My
only regret is I didn’t personally ensure you left New York as I had planned.”
“You—” Whatever might have flown from her
tongue halted with Luca’s arrival. He strode out of his office, glaring at both
of them.
“Enough. I won’t have you two behaving this
way, especially not in the office.” His disapproving gaze alternated between
the two of them, making her feel like a recalcitrant child. “What if a client
witnessed this display?”
She swallowed a ball of anger and managed a
nod.
the latest?” He shook his head. “What drove you to behave like this?”
Anger warred with pain, eventually winning.
She glared at him. “You’ve obviously already figured it all out. Why should I
offer any explanations now?”
“Why indeed, when there can be no
justification for your actions?”
“Precisely.” She straightened her jacket.
“I’m not moving in with you. You’ll just have to trust me to keep up my end of
the deal.”
“But I don’t trust you. You will be moving
in with me because, as much as you hate to admit it, your body wants mine with
a marked lack of reason.” He seemed confident she would be taking up residence
with him by the end of the day.
With a mutinous set of her mouth, she said,
“I am not leaving my home. It will be a cold day in hell before I give up my
autonomy to be at your beck and call.”
Two hours later, Phoebe followed Luca into
his sumptuous penthouse apartment in a twelve-story building in mid-town. A
chill ran down her spine, making her wonder if hell had indeed frozen over.
Chapter Four
It was strange to be back at her desk less
than twenty-four hours later, as if nothing had changed. Yet, everything had
changed. She now knew Luca as intimately as anyone could know another, but knew
nothing about his heart. He had closed it to her. The only thing she could take
freely from him was his body, and while she enjoyed the sex, she wanted more.
Once upon a time, she had dreamed of a relationship with Luca that included
making love. Now, they had a pale imitation of what might have been, built
solely on lies, misconceptions and sex. It was physically satisfying but left
her emotionally bereft.
Her phone buzzed. “Did you find that file
yet?” Luca asked, sounding impatient.
She winced, realizing while lost in her
reverie at least fifteen minutes had passed since he asked for some key
paperwork that had been missing from the Giovanni packet. “Just now. It was
misfiled.” Better to look incompetent than to appear weepy. It was bad enough
she was emotionally vested in the travesty they were acting out. He didn’t need
to know she felt anything remotely sentimental.
As if the day wasn’t already bad enough,
the sound of Salvatore’s wheelchair entering her office let her know it was
about to get worse. She pretended not to see the old man as she lifted the
folder and turned toward Luca’s office.
He dashed her hopes of avoiding a
confrontation with his first spiteful statement. “Now you’re his whore, aren’t
you?”
She took a deep breath and tried counting
to ten. Before she even made it to five, he continued.
“It sickens me to know you’re sharing his
bed.” A wheezing laugh escaped him. “However, I am comforted to know the affair
will be short-lived. I won’t ever have to worry about him trying to marry you
now that he knows what you are.”
Phoebe whirled around, glaring down at him.
“He knows what you are too—a manipulative, hateful old man who will stop at
nothing to control those around him.” Somehow, she managed to steady her voice.
“You might have opened his eyes to my so-called flaws, but at what cost to your
relationship with him?”
Salvatore snorted. “As if a whore like you
could come between my son and me. You are trash, pure and simple. Not a cent to
your name that you’ve earned the old-fashioned way, no breeding of which to
speak and nothing to redeem you. I’d do what I did a thousand times over. My
only regret is I didn’t personally ensure you left New York as I had planned.”
“You—” Whatever might have flown from her
tongue halted with Luca’s arrival. He strode out of his office, glaring at both
of them.
“Enough. I won’t have you two behaving this
way, especially not in the office.” His disapproving gaze alternated between
the two of them, making her feel like a recalcitrant child. “What if a client
witnessed this display?”
She swallowed a ball of anger and managed a
nod.
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