Page 86 of Frayed Bonds

As I walk past Adriano, I can feel someone’s eyes following me and for once they aren't Ambrose’s. His are trained on Antonio as he speaks, it’s a pair of a man sitting next to Horatio that I’ve never seen before but much like Horatio, he seems so familiar.

I place the coffee cup in front of Ambrose and his attention falls to me. He beckons me closer and I want to curse him for making me bend down even lower in this stupid dress.

“I just need you to pretend for a little bit,” he whispers.

“The man next to Horatio keeps staring at me,” I say and he looks over at the table while placing a hand on my waist. I nearly jump at the contact but hold my composure for the sake of this looking natural.

“He’s new, no idea who he is,” he whispers back at me. I look at him concerned when suddenly the talking in the room stops and when I turn everyone's eyes are on the two of us. Everyone's eyes including Antonio who seems beyond confused even turning to look at Adriano.

“Thank you, Val,” Ambrose says, flashing me a smile. I've seen him fake for everyone a million times and it makes me sick to my core that I just became another victim of its receiving end.

“Good luck with the rest of the meeting,” I offer him an equally fake smile and place my hand on his shoulder as I stand up. “Good seeing you again, Horatio,” I say as I exit the boardroom and allow myself to breathe. I want to scream in panic as I head back to my desk wondering if Antonio is going to be suspicious after that little stunt we pulled.

The answer to my question comes faster than expected when less than half an hour later Ambrose and Adriano walk in joking with Gus and Antonio following behind. I assume Gus only arrived now since he wasn't in the meeting.

The middle brothers leave a few minutes later while Antonio calls Ambrose over to the side. Both of them are having a hushed conversation when Antonio’s eyes flash to mine. I know we’re in shit and that the conversation is about what’s going on between Ambrose and I.

As if on cue, it ends and Ambrose walks over to me, doesn’t stop and simply mumbles under his breath. “In my office now, I need to talk to you.”

Chapter thirty-five

Ambrose

What’s going on with you and Valerie?

She’s not just some girl to fuck with Ambrose, back off.

Back off. He told me to fucking back off. As if she’s some piece of property that only he gets to own as if he has the rights to her simply because of their friendship. Completely disregarding how she could feel in this situation.

I didn't feed into Antonio’s very valid and rather accurate accusations. Instead, I probably did the most suspicious thing I could've done, which was say nothing. I always argue back. I’m known for not keeping my tongue, it’s my best and worst asset, so he knows something must be going on for me to say absolutely nothing.

Cazzo.

As I walk into my office, I try to keep my anger from bubbling over as I remember why I actually called her into my office.

“Close the door behind you please,” I ask. My voice is coarse, I’m tired and this morning’s arguments have drained me further than the past week filled with sleepless nights have. Between the guilt eating at me, Valerie’s random nightmares have been keeping me up. Nightmares she never seems to remember in the morning, or if she does, she never mentions it.

Last night was particularly bad. It’s also what prompted me to even ask about the scar this morning. She was practically screaming and crying, so much that even me holding her in my arms wasn't enough to soothe her this time. After briefly waking up, she fell asleep with absolutely no recall of it this morning. Not even a trace of tiredness or residual moodiness as I imagined she would have. If anything, her sour mood only seemed to be directed at me.

Her inability to recall anything makes me think these dreams have been going on for quite a while or at least she must be so used to them that it no longer bothers her or impacts her sleep, but they sure as fuck are impacting mine.

I stand in front of my desk, instead of sitting behind it. I don't want her thinking this is some sort of interrogation; if anything it’s supposed to be a pretty joyful discussion, but there’s something we have to take care of first.

She sits on the arm of one of my chairs and looks up at me expectantly.

“How’d the meeting go?” she asks.

“That’s actually why I called you in here. They signed the contract, so it’s official, and to say thank you to you for the part you played, I wanted to know if you would go out to dinner with me.”

She stares at me blankly. “I’m glad it went well. You all worked so hard it’s well deserved,” she smiles, it almost looks genuine but it doesn't meet her eyes and I’ve come to know that’s when she’s faking it the most. “Are we going to talk about what happened this morning? I wanted to–”

“Here’s your payment for agreeing to be my date, I’ll give the rest after dinner.” I can feel her apology hanging in the air as I cut her off.

“Ambs, I’m sorry.”

I grab her wrist and pull her frame to stand between my legs. I don’t think I could be angry at Valerie if I tried, but I was incredibly hurt and I've always had the tendency to show my emotions as anger instead of how I actually feel.

“For what?” I look between her eyes which seem ready to burst into tears again.

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