Page 80 of The Nerds and the CEO

Chapter Twenty-Seven

JUSTIN COULDN’T BELIEVEhe was doing this.Please don’t let it blow up in my face. He sat in the lobby to an office he hadn’t visited in five years, trying not to fidget. He was more nervous than the first time he interviewed here. Back then, Antonio had his back. Justin only had to make a good impression, and the job was his.

This time, Antonio didn’t know Justin was here. Justin used his new project name to get himself on Antonio’s appointment calendar. This kind of uncertainty was new for him. It was deceptive to not give his name, but if Antonio saidnobefore Justin got in the door, this thing would fall apart. He hoped the face-to-face visit would carry his sincerity with it.

“Mr. Bianchi will see you now.” Antonio’s assistant nodded to the closed door.

Justin steeled himself, pushed into the room, and shut Antonio and himself off from the rest of the world.

Antonio looked up, and his shock blinked into an impassive mask. Even trying to appear emotionless, he looked incredible.

How had Justin missed this part of himself for so long?

“Hear me out,” Justin said, before Antonio could speak. “Please?”

Antonio clenched his jaw. “Is this about business?”

“Some of it.”A teeny, tiny bit.The visit did include a proposal, but Justin didn’t expect to get too far into it. Antonio knew most of the information Justin had to pitch.

“And the rest of it?”

I love you, and I was an idiot not to recognize it. Tell me what it will take to earn your trust and friendship back, and then we can work from there.“How are you doing? Both of you.”

“You didn’t fly to Italy to ask how I was, and you already know how Emily is.”

But Justin didn’t. Over the last few days, she’d faded off. Cut their conversations short and missed more of them than she made. That hurt too, as much as losing Antonio but in a different way. Justin was surprised at the emptiness her absence left inside. “I’m asking anyway. I want to know.”

“I’m good.We’regood.” Antonio’s expression relaxed enough that the corners of his mouth teased up. “We’re together now. An actual, honest-to-Christ couple.”

“That’s amazing. Fantastic. I’m glad to hear it.” Justin forced the lie to sound sincere. He swallowed the rest of his prepared speech and tried to ignore how much of him shriveled up at the news Antonio and Emily had both moved on. At least it was with each other. Something about that felt right, even in center of disappointment.

“Thank you. We’re really happy together.” Antonio smiled.

Justin swore there was a hint of sadness in his friend’s eyes, but that was probably wishful thinking. He wouldn’t fuck up their lives anymore by being the asshole who said,I changed my mind. I was wrong; I love you,after Antonio had moved on. “Well, then, I suspect your day is as busy as always. Do you have time to hear the business part of my pitch?”

“You’re on my calendar. I’ve got at least another forty-five minutes.” Antonio gestured to the chair across from his desk. It was odd, seeing him behind the desk his father occupied for so many years, but it was appropriate. Justin never should have tried to take him from here. “I have a question before you start, though,” Antonio said.

“Fire away.” Justin shoved his glimmer of hope to the bottom of his shoes and stomped on it. There was no reason to make assumptions about what kind of question it would be.

Antonio leaned in, fingers clasped. “Does this proposal of yours sound anything like,Let me introduce you to Promiscuous Perks—a predictive education algorithm, driven by years of data gathering in the consumer market.”

“It’s notexactlylike that.” Justin laughed.

“Because you had to change the name, to sell it to schools.”

Justin could do this. It would take time and adjusting, but they could go back to what they had before. Antonio did it for years. Justin could learn. “Pretty much. I’m rolling out with Ballet West’s Park City academy, and I have three other schools along the West Coast and mountain states that are ready to sign on.”

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