Page 106 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

"I don't wear boxers. I'm a briefs man."

"You... what... You know what, I don't care what type of underwear you prefer. We're even, Frederico Miconi. I planned to use you. You planned to use me. We're both busted. Let's call this off and never see each other again. Goodbye."

Monique had only taken three steps when Miconi's words forced her to halt again.

"I became mesmerized by you before Orazio Cattaneo did," Mr. Miconi called out.

Monique stopped walking. What the hell was he talking about now? She spun around again.

"What?" she asked.

"According to my intel, Orazio saw you for the first time right before you got divorced. I saw you a year before that. Unfortunately, I learned of your divorce too late. And when I finally found out, Orazio had already staked his claim."

Monique cocked her head to the side. "Mr. Miconi, there's no way you saw me a year before..."

"Yes, I did. It was at an event I shouldn't have been at. But a series of events led me to that location, to you, yet we never said a word to each other," Mr. Miconi announced as he rose from his seat and approached her.

"My patience is wearing thin. Just tell me where you saw me."

"A company wanted me to invest in their latest vehicle. I wasn't interested. To show me how popular their previous version of the vehicle was, they invited me to an event," Mr. Miconi told her as he approached her.

Resisting the urge to take a step back, she tilted her head to stare up at him when he reached her. She was pretty sure she'd never run in the same circles as him. The only events she'd ever attended with her ex were small events. Nothing worth bragging about. Nothing that would require the presence of Frederico Miconi.

"What event were you invited to that I was apparently invited to as well, Mr. Miconi?" Monique asked, ready to catch him in his lie.

"Call me Frederico," he whispered, the spicy scent of his cologne wrapping around her. Why did he have to smell so damn good?

"I don't have time for this, so..." she started.

"Call me Frederico, and I'll tell you everything."

"Okay,Frederico. Tell me now, please."

His eyes darkened, and she could've sworn he shivered.

"You shouldn't say please like that to a man like me," he whispered.

Well, damn, Mr. Miconi.Monique reminded herself that her heart and body still belonged to Raz.

"I-I'm still waiting for you to tell me where you saw me," Monique stuttered.

"It was at Jeep Week, or maybe it's called Jeep Weekend, I'm not sure."

Well, that... was shocking. "You've been to Jeep Weekend?"

He nodded. "I didn't want to go. My daughter insisted I go, not to view the company's new vehicle but to enjoy myself. A short vacation. I was supposed to attend the one in Florida. But more important matters arose, and I couldn't attend. I received a second invitation from the company to attend the event in Biloxi, MS. Again, my daughter insisted I go. So, I did. And I'm glad I did because that's where I saw a beautiful woman standing all by herself on the beach."

Oh, wow!He really had seen her there. She hadn't wanted to be there either, but Trevor insisted she go so his client's wife wouldn't be alone. The woman had gotten food poisoning the night before, and no one had informed them.

So, Monique ended up at the event with no one to talk to and feeling like the only female there who had on clothing. Instead of staying by her side and keeping her company so she wouldn't feel out of place, her ex had left her standing alone, with people staring at her, probably wondering what she was doing there.

"You looked like you felt out of place there," Mr. Miconi pointed out. "Which was exactly how I was feeling. I watched you for over thirty minutes while working up the courage to go talk to you."

"A man like you didn't have the courage to approach me?" Monique asked in disbelief.

"You were the first woman I'd felt the urge to approach after my wife's passing. It takes time and courage to get back in the saddle. Just when I felt ready to approach you, another man did. At first, I didn't think you two were together. You didn't seem intimate or close. You even looked irritated by him. When the guy walked away, I sent my guard to ask him who he was to you.The bastard told my guard that he was your husband, but for the right price, he could pretend the two of you weren't together."

Fucking Trevor! He was a stain on her life that she just couldn't wipe clean.

---