Page 29 of Corporate Bondage

“— is with the person he loves and I’m fine with that.”

I was at a loss for words as to what was happening. Was he saying what I thought he was? His eyes were wary but hopeful. He seemed to genuinely want to put the disaster of our first night together behind him, but I couldn’t let it go.

"You should know there was an incident at the party," he continued.

I groaned and shook my head. "You don't have to tell me."

"It's important. I had a visit from some police officers yesterday. Apparently, someone shot at Bryan, and they thought I might have been involved."

"You're kidding."

"Not at all. It happened around the time I was with you. At the moment, they are treating it as a case of mistaken identity."

I nodded. "That makes sense. Who would want to kill Bryan?"

He shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Hmm, Bryan's Tate's problem now," I remarked, pushing the incident from my mind. “Gio, we have to talk about what happened. Not talking about it won’t make the fact go away that I was despicable to you that night.”

“You were,” he agreed. “And when I left I was a hundred percent certain I would feel nothing more than hatred toward you. I was wrong.”

My heart thudded hard. What I had considered a hopeless situation was making a dramatic turn for the better and all because Gio was willing to give me a second chance. How did he know I wanted a second chance? I hadn’t even apologized to him.

“Gio, I’m all sorts of fucked up.” It was only fair to him that I warned him. “I can’t promise it won’t happen again.”

I expected him to leave after that, to walk away and forever out of my life. Instead, he stood, walked around my desk and parked himself right between me and the desk. “I know, and I admit the thought is scary.”

“Then what are you doing here? Are you thinking you can change me? Because you’d be setting up yourself for a disappointment. Others have tried.”

He placed a hand on my thigh. “Yes, it’s true that I felt humiliated when you walked away from me that night. It’s true that I still don’t understand why you did it, but I also know what I felt before that happened, and it’s the most genuine thing I’ve felt my entire life. That fire between us—”

“Is destructive,” I ended for him.

“Then one of us will just have to be the phoenix, and I’m up for the challenge.”

I ran out of things to say to change his mind. For whatever reason, Gio was giving me a second chance, and I was going to seize it. I stood, kicked the chair back and placed both my hands on either side of his head. I stared into his eyes, saw the sincerity in his words, and then I apologized to him the only way I knew how. I kissed him, pouring out my coward’s heart and soul into that kiss. When his lips moved beneath mine, and he moaned I felt taller than Lady Liberty. I kissed him over and over, not ready to release him yet, afraid I would wake up to find myself dreaming.

He placed his arms beneath mine and cupped my shoulders, pulling me even closer to him. He tasted of sauce from the lunch he had brought me, and I swirled my tongue into his mouth.

“Hmm, that’s some good sauce,” I stated, releasing his lips. “Say, I have a function tonight. A charity event at a country club. Would you like to go with me?”

His arms remained around my shoulders. “Like a date?”

I bit into his bottom lip. “Like a date date.”

“Oo, two dates, huh? Sounds fun. Sure, why not?”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Seven’s fine. Can we swing by the restaurant for me to check on things?”

I’d have held a gun to someone’s head if he had asked it of me. “Sure. Anything you want.”

“Anything?”

I stilled, wondering if he was thinking about Tate and Bryan again. I was already aware that I was second best to Tate, and he was only capitulating because he couldn’t have his best friend. The truth hurt but having him as second best was better than not having him any at all.

“Yes, anything.” I waited, tense for his request.

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