Page 27 of Frayed Bonds

“So, what did you get me?” he asks, lips pulling to the side in a smirk.

“A vanilla frappuccino, since you wanted to act like a little bitch.”

The smirk is gone almost as fast as it arrived, and before I have the chance to retreat to my desk, he's on his feet circling the desk and coming straight for me.

“You've got quite a smart mouth on you. First this morning, now this. You lack some basic respect, especially for someone who's doing you such a huge favour.” He says placing his hands on either side of me on the desk, caging me in.

“You're not doing me any favours, Antonio is.” I scowl at him and attempt to push him off, but fail miserably, earning me only a smirk.

“You forget… Without me, Antonio has no favours to give out.”

My skin feels hot, he’s radiating heat like a furnace, and the annoyance pumping through my veins is only adding fuel to the fire. It's suffocating to be this close to him and have his eyes pour into mine like this.

I stare at him and reach up with my hand, gently running it down the back of his neck, allowing my nails to graze down the back of his neck.

“You aren’t the same man you were all those years ago, Ambrose,” I say in a hushed tone.

“You have no idea.”

His face is so close that I can smell not only the overwhelming scent of his fragrance but also the mint of the gum he's chewing.

I smile as sweetly as I can. “It isn’t a compliment,” I grunt, and slam my knee up into his crotch.

Even though I caught him off guard, his reflexes are still too fast and he moves back in time. Eyes wide, I realise how bad this is, and rush towards the exit but he grabs my wrist.

His eyes are no longer stoic, they now hold emotion. An emotion I can't decipher as it runs across his face.

I rip my wrist out of his grip, not naive to the fact that he lets me go.

“You’re an asshole, and it's crystal clear why all of your investors are pulling out. You act like an egotistical, entitled teenager who has no respect for the people around you.”

With that, I open the door but turn around. “And, if you're wanting a little assistant that jumps every time you ask her to get coffee, I suggest you rehire Alexa.”

Chapter eleven

Ambrose

Istare at the door where she left. The electricity that filled the room died down quickly, but the blood that rushed to my crotch remains. Shifting my pants slightly to readjust myself, I walk towards the lone cup on my desk and stare at it.

It's still hot, and I wonder if she truly did walk the four blocks as she claimed.

In my defence, I truly did think it was at the end of the block, but the asshole in me knows I should've told her about the car, the driver and my order, before running into my office like a little bitch.

Although Antonio made his hints about my new assistant crystal clear, I somehow still hoped I would be wrong and some other random woman would walk into my office this morning. But of course, she showed up, with her smart mouth and perfect curves on show for the entire office to see. She may as well have been naked, with the way her dress hugged every inch of her body.

A knock on my door breaks me from my thoughts, and I realise I haven't moved from where she left me. “Come in,” I say loud enough for whoever it is to hear.

Antonio pops his head in, his laughter still lingering in the air, presumably from something Valerie said.

His face turns serious again as he turns to face me. When he sees the look of annoyance on my face, he swallows. “Are we still meeting this morning? Adriano and I have to head out to meet with Mattia,” he asks.

I want to ask what the three of them could be doing, but more importantly, I want to know what she said that could be so funny.

“Yes, I'll be down in fifteen minutes. I need to call Diego about something.”

I grab the coffee and my phone, deciding to follow him out. The faster we get this stupid meeting over, the faster I can get all of my brothers, and the investors off of my back.

“Diego? Hi, I wanted to call and discuss the next board meeting with you,” I say as I close my office door behind me, and see Antonio leaning over Valerie's desk like a love-sick puppy. She has always been quite oblivious to his feelings.

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