Page 44 of Dancing with the Devil
“Good thing I’m not your wife yet, so you can still back out, but just know, I won’t quit. I will keep working here whether you like it or not.”
“You’re a stubborn little thing, aren’t you?” he asked and his tone sent a chill crawling down my spine.
“And you’re a possessivelittle thing, aren’t you?”
There was comfortable silence for a second before he spoke. “Fine. You can work here. On one condition of course.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“No physical contact withanyof the men in here.”
My tone turned playful. “Not even mysweetheart, Giovanni?”
“Especially,him.”
Something had shifted behind his eyes and my heart dropped for a second but I brushed it off.
“Andnoprivate sessions,” he sternly emphasized with no hesitation.
“Now you’re standing between a woman and her money?” I teased.
“When you get an offer, you decline, let me know, and I’ll transfer double the money you would have made.”
“You’re joking,” I shook my head.
“Dead serious.”
I pondered on his offer for a minute. “Triple.”
“Done,” he gave me a single nod. I knew it’d probably be a far stretch, but I wanted to see just how much I could milk this.
“And does this proposal come with a black Mercedes?”
His reply was instant. “In any model your heart desires.”
“G-Wagon, of course,” I smiled, watching him give me a single nod of confirmation. “How about a red Porsche—no. Scratch that. A white Rolls-Royce.”
“Yes. So does this mean you’re accepting my offer?”
I chewed my bottom lip, fighting a smile. “Well as tempting as this sounds…really,” I said, getting up. “I’m going to need a few days to think it over. I mean, you don’t decide to sell your soul to the devil overnight.”
“You have until Wednesday.”
“And you have untilnowto stop telling me what to do,” I pointed a finger at him. “Plus, Wednesday is in four days. I need a week or so.”
“Fine. A week,” he agreed, standing up. “We’ll work on that attitude,” he gave me a single nod.
I rolled my eyes and he smiled.
“I’ll see you soon, De Luca,” I grinned, sending him a playful finger wave.
As soon as he closed the door behind himself I fell back down onto the couch, heavily exhaling. It’s as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again.
I contemplated the most ridiculous proposal I had just gotten.He can’t be serious, can he? Me and him? Married? He can’t be…
Silvia bursts through the door seconds later. “So? What was that all about?”
“Uh… yeah. He just asked me to marry him. No big deal,” I said, lifting my fingers to hover over the front of my throat. Suddenly, it felt as though I wasn’t getting enough air.
