Page 12 of The Devil After Dark
Cassio had also given Thea next to no information on what he specifically might need our firm for. The last thing I wanted was to look like a complete dumbass in front of the man I was crushing on—who just so happened to be one of, if not the richest men in this entire province. Gods I was pathetic and now I was going to have to face this crush of mine in a professional capacity. Was I going to be able to hide the fact that I masturbated to the thought of him each night? I had exactly zero sexual encounters in the last how many years? And now I had a masked man in my bedroom and a wealthymagic wielder monopolizing my thoughts. I had been completely fine without sex and now I could not get it off my mind.
“Roger, you have to stop pacing,” I called out my office door. He stopped and glared at me before an embarrassed smile crossed his lips. “The steps are probably good for your health, but I can see your blood pressure rising from here.”
“Liana, do you realize how big of an account this could be?” Roger asked as he entered my office in an attempt to stop his nervous pacing.
“Huge. You need to calm down. He might also be a huge pain in the ass. Clients that ask for quick meetings with minimal context usually are,” I reminded him.
“Yeah but you are very good with those clients, Liana,” Roger retorted.
“Remind me to start doing a bad job so they fire us and I don’t have to deal with them anymore,” I said as I rolled my eyes. Roger just chuckled. “Okay, deep breath Roger. Let’s go wait at the lift. He will be here any minute.”
Cassio was right on time. The lift door opened to reveal him in another absurdly expensive suit that was custom made to fit his tall and muscular body. My eyes caught on his tattooed hands then trailed their way up his torso to his tattooed neck. He had to be roughly six feet five inches tall. My masked man seemed just as tall and large. How many six feet five inch men were there in this city? There was no way Cassio was my masked man, right? That was just wishful thinking. By the time my eyes reached his, he was looking straight back at me with something of an amused smirk on his face.
I realized Roger was introducing us and Cassio extended his hand. I shook it firmly in mine as I greeted him, “Mr. Padovano, it’s wonderful to see you again. I am excited to hear how we might be able to assist you and your business.” I sounded so confident I wanted to givemyself a high-five.
“Oh. Do you two know each other?” Roger asked as he gave me a look that screamed, “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Our paths have crossed,” Cassio replied smoothly with a teasing smile.
CASSIO
So Liana was willing to admit we had already met and Roger was clearly surprised by this. Her eyes had also lingered long enough to make me wonder if she was putting the pieces together that it was me in her bedroom at night. I followed Roger to the conference room at the end of the hall as Liana trailed us. “After you,” I said as I held the door for her. She gave me a practiced smile and slipped into the room.
I still had not decided how hard I was going to make this on her. I wanted to push her and see what she was made of, but also I didn’t want her to look bad in front of her boss. This meeting was mostly to give me an excuse to be around Liana—and an excuse to see if she had figured out I was the one visiting her at night.
As I began telling them about my new housing development project I watched Liana. It became very clear that I was not going to be able to read her like I wanted to. Then came the part where every question or challenge I threw her way she responded to with poised professionalism. She didn’t have all of the answers, but the way she handled my bullshit made me wildly impressed.
“I will need this analysis by tomorrow evening if I am to move forward with your group. There are a few other firms I’m considering hiring long term, but I don’t have time to wait,” I leveled at Roger. It was one last attempt to see if they would accommodate me. My asks were ridiculously needy, but it seemed like they wereaccustomed to needy clients. Roger glanced sideways at Liana, then back at me.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Padovano. I do not want to waste your time, but Liana will have to tell us if that is even possible. She is our busiest associate and I am not one to abuse her time,” Roger said with a bite before turning back to Liana. Good, Roger respected her and stood up for her. That was one less man I needed to worry about in her life.
I held back my smirk as I also turned to Liana. Her face was unbelievably neutral. “I can have a preliminary report for you tomorrow evening. When you decide to work with us in an on-going capacity I am sure I can find the time outside of regular business hours to meet with you as well.” When, not if. She was confident and calculated with her words. And my beautiful woman really did not have a life outside of work if she was willing to accommodate meetings for me outside of regular hours.
fifteen
LIANA
I had stayedup nearly all night to make sure I had everything I needed for my after hours meeting with Cassio. He was paying us for this analysis, but what I presented to him might be the difference between a multi-six-figure contract with him or no more business. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to land the business for the payout or if I wanted to land the business so that I had an excuse to see Cassio more. I had arrived at the office in the afternoon after sleeping the morning away. It was now after five and my colleagues had all headed home, bidding me good luck on their way out. Roger would have normally insisted on being at this meeting, but he had other client obligations tonight, so it was just me. That was okay. I could handle this.
At twenty to seven, the lift dinged and a caterer wheeled a cart onto our floor. “Caldway and Associates?” The man asked as I held the door open for him.
“Yep, let me show you where you can put everything,” I responded and showed him to the conference room. I watched inawe as he set up what looked more like a private and extravagant date than dinner for a business meeting. Cassio clearly had expensive taste and I guess I was going to reap the benefits tonight.
I loitered by our front desk waiting for Cassio, who stepped off the lift exactly at seven. “Mr. Padovano, how are you tonight?” I greeted him. His perfectly tailored suit showed off his incredible body and, yet again, I found myself imagining what he looked like without clothes. How far did that tattoo actually go? What would it feel like to run my hands and tongue along his muscles?
“Ms. Sutton, thank you again for accommodating me,” his smooth voice snapped me out of my fantasy. This was a client. Regardless of our previous encounters, I needed to be professional. I led Cassio to the conference room where I had the screen already set up with my analysis to share.
“Let’s eat first, I’m starving,” Cassio said as we entered. I wasn’t going to argue. I watched him remove his suit jacket and straighten it before laying it over the back of a chair. Then his fingers unbuttoned his shirtsleeves, rolling them up to his elbows and exposing corded tattoo covered forearms. My mouth practically watered as I watched him. I blinked a few times, reminding myself why I was here. This was a business meeting.
The wine was excellent and the food was amazing. Cassio certainly had good taste. We also kept the conversation light and centered around our businesses—well around Caldway and Associates and Cassio’s real estate development company. I knew he had others, but this was the one we were hired for.
We had finished our food and it was now time for me to share my analysis. I stood and turned the screen back on as it had switched off during our meal. “I have to ask, Cassio, did your in-house team provide you with an analysis on this project?”
“They did, but I find getting another opinion is often a good choice,” Cassio said as he leaned back in his chair, watching me.
I turned to face him. “Well, feel free to interrupt me—” I paused as Cassio slowly stood from his chair. My heart was beating uncontrollably as he took a sauntering step towards me. The way he was looking at me made me clench my thighs together and shift on my feet. Cassio walked right up to me, so close that I had to tilt my chin up to look at his face. His hands on my hips guided me to turn and back a few steps into the conference table. “Cassio?” I asked breathily. In response he pressed my hips down until I was sitting on the edge of the conference table.
Cassio’s hand slid along my cheek and into my hair as I looked up at him. Those ice blue eyes of his completely wiped every thought from my mind. There was no mistaking his intentions at this moment. My fingers dug into the wooden table as his nose brushed my temple and he took a deep breath like he was inhaling the smell of my hair. Oh my gods, was this really happening?
