Page 45 of Sins and Secrets

“My office,” he says, his hands balling into fists before he stuffs them into his pockets. “Now.”

I sigh but follow him through the main office and into my own. He doesn’t stop, just nods to my desk as he passes on the way to his own office. I drop the papers on the desk, trying to keep them in a neat pile, before following him.

Alessio stands to the side as I enter the room, waiting until I’m inside before closing the door. He strides to his desk with long steps, his shoulders tense beneath the gray suit that hugs his body. For a brief second, I consider begging him to bend me over the desk, just so I can relieve some of the tension from the other night.

He walked away and left me there, naked and needy like he said he would. It had been infuriating. I should have begged him to stay and have his way with me. To fuck me until I didn’t even know my own name anymore.

Get it together. He is the man you’re trying to get away from. He stands for everything I find wrong with the mafia. He is the representation of a life I no longer want to live.

Yet, I still can’t get the image of him making me beg out of my head.

“You wanted to talk about my personal life in the office?”

Alessio nods and paces in front of me, crossing his arms over his chest. “I will not have you and other staff members discussing your dates or the dates you will be going on while you are at work. It is unprofessional. And I feel the need to remind you that you are under a contract that outlines you’re doing whatever I tell you to.”

I arch an eyebrow and cross my arms. “Are you trying to tell me who I can and can’t talk to?”

“No. I’m telling you that while you are under my contract, you will not be going out with other men. For the duration of the contract, you’re mine, Billie.”

I nod, my mouth pressing into a thin line. There is not much that I can say to argue with him. I did sign a contract. Whether I like it or not, I am his for the next several weeks.

Sometimes I really regret signing that damn contract.

“I wasn’t planning on going out with him,” I say, my tone a little sharper than intended. “He asked me out and I told him I was seeing someone.”

Alessio’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head. It would almost be funny if he didn’t look murderous right now. “Who the hell are you seeing?”

“Calm down.” I smother the smile that threatens to escape me. “I’m not seeing anyone. I just wanted to let the guy down easy. He seemed nice enough and I don’t really want to be known as the frigid bitch at The Fortuna. Do you know how well that reputation would serve me?”

“You shouldn’t be worried about getting along with the other staff. You should be worried about making the most out of this job. You seemed interested in it. I’m paying you well on top of the contract money.”

“Wow,” I say, shaking my head. “You sound like you’re jealous that another man might have even shown a little interest in me.”

Alessio stops pacing and spins to face me. He closes the distance between us in two quick steps, looming so close to me that his chest brushes against mine.

“There is nothing to be jealous of. Whatever does or does not happen between us is not my problem. You’re alright, but it’s only a bit of fun. Nothing that I truly have to commit to.”

His tone is cold and cruel, as if he knows that the words may as well be a punch to the gut. I wipe all emotion from my face and shrug.

“Well, I'm not sure that I would call it fun for either of us. You tease me and then regret it the next day, or I let you fuck me and regret it the next day. Either way, there seems to be a lot of regret involved.”

Alessio’s frown deepens. “Billie, that’s not what I meant.”

“Sure sounds like it every time you tell me that I’m a mistake. Which isn’t wrong. I’m a mistake who could ruin your carefully cultivated life and you’re another complication that I don’t need right now.”

While the words may be true, it’s not how I feel. Right now, I feel like he’s saying what he can to try and hurt me. He seems like a scared child who doesn’t know what to do with the situation.

I’m not about to stand around and inflate his ego. I won’t tell him that he’s the only man who has ever managed to keep my interest for more than a couple weeks. There is no way in hell that I could ever tell Alessio about the crush I’ve had on him since I was twenty.

Admitting the curiosity I have about him will only make all of this hurt more in the end.

“I need to go organize the profit and loss reports before the meeting,” I say, sighing and heading for the door. “I assure you that I’ll keep my personal life away from The Fortuna.”

Even though I should wait for him to finish the conversation, right now he isn’t the leader of the mafia. He is just a man who pissed me off and is unable to admit that he might be slightly jealous.

Instead, he pushes me away harder than ever before.

I’m going to let him keep pushing. I’m going to use that hurt as a reminder of all the ways that I shouldn’t be getting caught up in whatever romantic fantasy my mind keeps coming up with.

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