Page 25 of Frayed Bonds

“Thank you for helping me get up here.” I smile and he nods as he begins walking away from Ambrose and me.

“Don’t forget our meeting later,” Ambrose warns.

“Yes sir.” Augustus salutes, and Ambrose clenches his jaw in my peripheral vision.

Augustus' absence is felt instantly. The air shifts from comfortable to awkward within seconds. His eyes return to me and he almost looks bored.

“If you were so desperate for money, I'm sure Antonio would have given it to you in exchange for some attention.” he shrugs, walking towards a desk in front of his office.

My feet stay rooted in their spot as I try to process whether to tell him to fuck off, or just keep quiet. “That’s not-”

“But, since you're already here, you may as well make yourself useful.” He cuts me off as he leans against the desk.

“There is a coffee shop at the end of the block. Can you go pick up my usual order and then bring it back here? I’ll find something else for you to do while you're busy with that.”

His eyes rake over me a final time before he retreats to his office.

“Asshole,” I say aloud as I stare at the closed office door.

Chapter ten

Valerie

Who does he think he is? The fact that he thinks he’s some sort of God now that he is the CEO is the most nauseating thing ever.

Clicking the elevator’s button, my phone begins ringing.

“Antonio? Where the fuck are you?” I say into my phone.

“Val, I'm so sorry. I've been in back-to-back meetings the entire morning thanks to your new boss. Did you get up to your desk okay?” he asks, concern lacing his tone.

Any trace of anger I feel for him immediately dissolves, and I sigh.

“If by okay you mean almost having security called because the front desk guy refused to believe I was replacing Alexa, and having to be saved by Gus, then yes. I got up fine,” I say.

Antonio's chuckle rings through the phone as I make it out onto the busy street in front of Vitale Holdings.

I hug my wool coat closer to my body as the wind hits me. I increase my pace, hoping to get to the supposed coffee shop and out of the cold, a bit quicker.

“Are you jogging? Where are you?” He asks.

“Asshole wants his usual coffee,” I state and the line falls silent before Antonio starts screeching from laughter.

“How did you piss him off so badly that he’s already making you go get coffee?” he asks between gasps of air.

I smirk at the memory. “I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”

“I look forward to it, maybe we can get lunch together?” he asks, and I smile.

I’ve missed Antonio and seeing each other so casually. Before I left for Paris, we were practically inseparable. We did anything and everything together, so to reconnect after all this time is the best thing I could ever ask for.

“I'd like that,” I say before we exchange goodbyes and I hang up.

It’s only after the call ends that I realise I’ve walked to the end of the block, and haven't seen a single coffee shop. A chill runs up my spine and I spin around checking if anyone’s behind me. It's the same chill I felt at Scala and I’m faced with the same reality that no one is there even though I can swear it feels like there was. I retrace my steps checking to see if I missed the coffee shop. I didn't.

Nearly four blocks and a jumpscare later, I arrive outside a modern, sleek black store.

Cophia, the sign reads. If it wasn't for the two men walking out with coffees in their hands, I’d question if this place was even a coffee shop at all.

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