Page 28 of Corporate Bondage

I returned to my office hungry and planning to order take-out for lunch so I could continue working through the hour. I needed to keep busy to avoid thinking about calling Gio. So far, keeping occupied had kept thinking about him to a minimum. I just needed to do this daily and eventually, I would get him out of my system, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him out of my system. I would rather have him around. My life was far more interesting that way.

“Ah, Mr. Eardley!” Carlo cried my name when I strode into the office. He seemed beside himself with worry, rising to his feet, his eyes upset.

“Not now Carlo, I’m on lunch.”

“But sir, you don’t understand.”

“Whatever it is I don’t understand, take care of it until after lunch.”

I entered the office and slammed the door shut behind me. Jerking my tie loose I made a step toward my desk and stopped. I would know that dark head anywhere. Gio? What the hell was he doing here? He rose to his feet and I realized he had chosen to sit in his chair, the one where he’d knelt for me before. I blushed, something I hadn’t done in years as I thought about how horrible I had been to him that day. And he had let me. Why had he let me?

“I hope it was okay for me to wait here,” he stated, pushing his hands into his pockets and not quite meeting my eyes. “Your PA did try to stop me, but I told him I didn’t think it would be a problem. It’s not a problem, is it? Because I can just go.”

My eyes still trained on him, I walked toward my desk. Why had he come to me? My elation was short-lived when it hit me that he probably just wanted an update on Tate and Bryan. I frowned at him, “It’s fine.” As I sat, I found a transparent bag on with the name of his restaurant on my desk.

“You wouldn’t happen to know what this is, would you?”

He smiled at me, displaying perfect white teeth. I frowned because he was being too nice after everything. Why was he here smiling at me? Why wasn’t he upset?

“I had a lot on my mind, so I cooked,” he answered. “As usual, I made too much food, and well, I thought you could use some lunch or dinner. Or whatever.”

“You brought me lunch?” Now that he mentioned it, the office was filled with a delicious odor that wasn’t him. I was so distracted by him I hadn’t noticed.

“Yes, I think you may actually like it.”

I carefully opened the box and my mouth watered.

“Gulf shrimp and scallops prepared in garlic butter, white wine and some very carefully handpicked spices,” he stated. “It’s served with pasta and salad. I’d love to hear your opinion on the sauce as well. I make my own.”

He was positively beaming. I glanced from him back to the meal, hungry but distrustful.

“Uh, umm, thanks,” I remarked, scratching my chin. “I’m sorry, Gio but I can’t help but think you may be trying to poison me after you know.”

He looked horrified at the thought. “What? Of course not. See.” He got to his feet, approached my desk and removed a food container from the bag. He searched inside for a fork, jammed it in the middle of the pasta and stuffed it into his mouth. He did the same with a little bit of everything on the plate till his cheeks were full. He looked adorable.

“See.” He chewed quickly and gulped the food. “Trust me, I’m not in the habit of playing Romeo and Juliet.”

“I don’t get it.” I shook my head at him. “Why would you go through all this trouble? You despise me.”

“Honestly? A little.” He sighed. “Is it wrong of me that I just don’t want to talk about it?”

“You don’t want to talk about it?”

He nodded. “Exactly. I’m glad we understand each other.”

This was too good to believe. Not want to talk about it? And here I had signed up with a therapist just so I could talk about it?

“There’s just one thing.” Aha, I knew there was more. “On the subject of Tate and Bryan.”

I should have known. I closed the box before me with a sigh, no longer hungry. “I have to tell you the truth, Gio. I don’t think we can do anything to break up Tate and Bryan. They seem to really love each other.”

“I agree.”

“If you wanted—” I started and stopped, blinking at him. “What?”

“I said I agree. They do love each other and I shouldn’t be trying to ruin that.”

“But Tate—”

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