Page 6 of Raising His Baby (The Sartoris 2)

Anger distorted his handsome face. “Excuse me?”

She put her hands on her hips. “I’ve hardly begun. You blew up at me for every little thing. You didn’t even give me a chance. I’m not a mind reader. Nobody is. The instructions I was left with are sketchy at best, and I’m certainly not going to be called out of my name just because I spilled a cup of coffee. I don’t know what the heck you’ve been through that you’re spewing this kind of ugly attitude, but trust and believe you’re not going to keep anybody worth her weight if you keep it up!”

Both men were silent for what felt like an hour. Each second that ticked by, Sonya regretted losing her temper more and more. Hadn’t she vowed to keep a cool head that morning, to do her work so well he would hire her permanently to the company? Even if she was right in everything she said, who’d want a secretary that told him off? She was so not getting another position from her agency.

At last Romy spoke, and this time his voice was deathly calm. “What makes you say I called you ‘out of your name’?”

Crap!

She swallowed and licked her lips. Both men waited for an answer, and she didn’t want to give one. Not now. It was too soon to give details of her background that might lead him to the truth.

“Well?” Romy insisted.

She had no choice. “I understand Italian. I can’t really speak it, but I can follow along for the most part.”

Surprise registered on their faces, and Cason broke into an interested smile. She ignored him. Romy strode to his desk and yanked open a drawer to pull out a sheet of paper. He scanned it and pinned her to the spot with a glower.

“Knowing that this corporation is owned by an Italian born CEO with executives—myself and my brother—who are born and raised in Italy, why wouldn’t that information be included in your resume?”

She couldn’t lie. The light in Romy’s eyes dared her to try. She made up her mind then and there that she didn’t like him. He didn’t deserve to be in Arron’s life. “It’s not essential to the position, is it?”

“Anyone would have mentioned it to gain an advantage.”

She raised her chin. “I prefer to make my way based on my other skills and not my half-developed ability to understand Italian. I mean what use would it be to understand anyway? I can’t read it. I can’t speak it, and if the person is speaking too fast, I run into trouble and miss a ton of information. What use would I be to you then? I’d only end up looking like a fool, boasting about something I don’t know much about.”

Cason beamed. “That’s my girl. Thinking on her feet.”

“You stay out of this, Cason,” Romy told him. He strode around the desk and leaned on it. When he folded his arms over his chest, the intimidation he probably hoped she would feel came through loud and clear. “You said I can’t fire you. I don’t like deception, and something tells me you’re not being completely honest.”

“You are a bit sensitive lately, fratello.” Cason was also a jerk, but since he had nothing to do with Sonya, she didn’t feel one way or another about him.

Romy went on as if his brother hadn’t spoken. “Give me one reason not to fire you.”

She was trapped in her own scheme. If she had told him the truth from the beginning, she wouldn’t have found herself in this situation. Now she might have made things a lot worse for herself.

The words stuck in her mouth. She clutched her hands together until her fingers ached. “The truth is… Darn it, my ankle hurts. Can I just take a little pressure off it before I tell you?”

Romy’s narrowed gaze slipped from her hot face to her ankle, and his eyes widened. He jumped to his feet and barreled toward her. Before she knew what he intended, he whipped her up into his strong arms. “What kind of woman sprains her ankle and doesn’t even cry over it?”

She dropped her chin to her chest and struggled to get words out despite the flurries in her belly. Note to self. Romy’s chest is far different from Cason’s! Run away, Sonya. Run far far away!

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nbsp; Chapter 3

Sonya lay across a sofa with a hand towel clutched in her fingers. She hid most of her face. Her ankle had been elevated, and someone had already come to evaluate that it was indeed lightly sprained. She pretty much knew it. This wasn’t the first injury she sustained, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

The issue she faced at the moment was that Ezio had arrived, and he and Cason and Romy were having a conversation in a small conference room off Romy’s office. She heard their voices raised a few times, and they spoke in Italian. One of them must have informed Ezio that she understood their mother tongue, and the voices lowered. Too late, she’d already heard her name mentioned. Did they think she would sue them? In a few minutes, she bet a lawyer or someone from the legal department would show up to get her to sign release papers.

She looked down at her ankle and groaned at the thickness of it. If she had her duffel bag, which she kept in the trunk of her car, she’d have an ace bandage. Maybe she could hobble down to the parking lot and get it.

Just as she started to rise, the door to the conference room opened. Ezio stepped out first, followed by Romy and then Cason. Blue eyes exactly like Romy’s locked onto her, and goose bumps popped out on her arms and legs. She raised her chin. He was the type to try to intimidate a person. She wouldn’t go for it, job or no job. Probably a bully, too.

“Ms. Davis,” Ezio said, “I’m going to have one of my men take you to the hospital.”

Glad I wasn’t dying while you had a meeting about it.

“The company will take care of all your medical expenses. Romy will go with you to sign off on everything. When you’re well enough, you’re free to return here. I can’t promise the same temporary position, but something in the same capacity will be available.”

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