Page 21 of Sinister Devotion

"No one," Edward replies as Vinnie brings in a plate full of steaks fresh off the grill.

"Hey, boys!" Vinnie smiles. "Nice to see you. Grab a plate. They're all medium or medium rare. I'll grab some vino, and we can throw some eggs on the stove if you want."

"The steaks are good enough. Thanks, Vin," I tell him. Edward already has a plate and fork and is sliding one of the steaks off the pile. I focus on my uncle, "So, you want me to move on Scarpella?"

"Do what you do best, Julian," Armande tells me. "When you're done with him, I'm gonna gut him like a fish. It's time to end this feud between the families once and for all."

9

CLAIRE

The rest of the day seems to fly by without Julian in the office. I have to admit that a part of me feels like he's avoiding me and rightfully so. The dress I'm wearing is hardly work attire, but I want to show him what he's missing out on. I don't like that he feels like I'm playing games. But isn't he the one who started this?

I was perfectly fine fantasizing about him until he brough my vivid dreams to reality and stopped short of taking my virginity. I don't want to give it to anyone else, but it's looking like that may happen, anyway. The workday runs smoothly and when the day ends, still not a word from our CEO.

However, I don't get the chance to leave without running into Fiona. She's still fumbling with a thick binder in her arms which I'm no longer sure it's actually necessary for her to carry around. I'm beginning to think she carries it to make herself look more important than she truly is. After all, she's in the finance department. Aren't all of her forms and records on the servers? Does she have to carry sensitive documents with her all the time?

When she practically stomps by like she's annoyed to have a job, I put my head down to focus on closing out my laptop and tablet for the day. After she makes the obvious deduction that Julian's not in the office, she stops by my desk.

"Where is he?" she asks. In a huff.

"Mr. Blackwell isn't in the office today," I reply.

"I know that," she snarls. "I saw the memo you sent out earlier. I thought he'd be back by now. I need his signature on these forms and contracts."

"You can leave them with me. I'll make sure he gets them and they get back to you." I tell her as I stand to take the file from her.

Fiona tosses her wavy hair over her shoulder, tucking the binder in closer to her body. She's behaving like she has top secret missile launch codes in her hands. Perhaps she does. That would certainly be a more plausible way to make a billion dollars annually than consulting about mergers, acquisitions, and corporate culture.

Yes.

From now on, in my head, Nuvola Scura is a corporate entity safeguarding nuclear weapons for various governments and the company is paid millions of dollars daily to do so.

"Are you going to leave the documents here or would you prefer I leave a message for Mr. Blackwell to see you when he gets back into the office?" I ask her.

Fiona drags her green-eyed gaze up and down my frame as if I'm insulting her. "These are for his eyes only. I'll come back tomorrow. Oh, and just a note, that attire isn't suitable for the office. More like for a club. You need to decide what you want to do here."

"What do you mean?"

She rolls her eyes. "I mean, you're barely out of high school. Most people your age are in college or trying to find a career. I hardly doubt that Julian Blackwell's, whatever you are, is going to be an executive assistant forever."

"What's wrong with being an executive assistant?"

Fiona lets out a sigh, shifting her weight and that stupid binder to the other arm. A part of me wants to take it from her and sit it on my desk. However, she doesn't seem like she wants me to help her, let alone touch anything she's touched.

"Nothing, but Julian, and his family, come from money, honey. If you're going to be associated with their family, the expectations for you are much higher than an average girl. Besides, I feel like you're ambitious and eventually you'll get tired of fetching his coffee." She closes her eyes, almost as if she's dreading whatever words are going to come out of her mouth. She shocks me too as she says, "If you ever want a bit more responsibility, to see how we do business here at Nuvola, you can shadow me for a few days."

"I thought you didn't even want me around," I reveal in a low tone.

"I don't, but since Julian does, I might as well make you an asset. Sitting your pretty little ass in front of his office all day doesn't make you an asset. It makes you a trophy that most of his visitors would likely try to capture. That doesn't serve anyone here. My job as his finance manager is to make him money. There's something far more profitable for you to do here, career wise. Make an appointment to see me sometime next week."

Fiona walks away without me agreeing to the offer. She just assumes I'm going to take her up on it. I think I might, unless of course, this is some ploy to make me look bad. Maybe it's a way to get me fired. However, even if it is, I can use it to actually learn the specifics of the different departments. I might excel in a specific area. The confidence I'd have would match Fiona's and then I'd feel much better standing up to her. However, I don't have time to work myself up over whatever lessons or games Fiona is playing here. I have a date tonight. Excitement fills me to the brim and I can't wait to see what Devon has planned for us. I can barely contain my grin as I shut everything in the office down for the day to make my way home with Bonnie.

"You're wearing that on the date?" she asks as we pull up to the front entryway of the manor.

"Yes, why?" I ask her, peering down at my dress and high heels.

"It's just that, the Devon kid, the car he drives, it all looks, um, you might be a tad overdressed for a first date," Bonnie says. "I could be wrong, but maybe jeans, a regular shirt and some tennis shoes might be better."

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