Chapter Three #2
He’d returned to the place he’d been found.
Sicily. He’d worked days on the dock as a labourer—picked up any shifts he could until he could afford his own computer.
Then he’d worked on his app through the night.
The hours he’d put in were insane. He’d gotten interest—yes, investment—that had been earned. But he’d retained control.
‘You’re very humble,’ she added, still saccharinely pointed. ‘You don’t ever want to brag about how you made it?’
Her interest wasn’t a compliment; she angled more as if there were something dubious about his achievements.
Sante flexed his shoulders. ‘No.’
‘But so many people would be curious, hoping to emulate your success.’
‘Are you asking me for career tips?’ he mocked. ‘I can understand your curiosity given you flit from one thing to another so frequently. Is there a reason for your lack of reliability?’
That heat in her eyes flared. ‘Don’t you even want industry recognition?’ She ignored his dig. ‘Or is it that you prefer no recognition at all?’
‘I have nothing to hide, Mia,’ he said tightly. ‘And I definitely don’t need accolades from anyone.’
He didn’t need anything from anyone. He certainly didn’t need her needling him in this way.
‘You don’t care what anyone thinks?’
‘I don’t.’ He definitely didn’t care about her opinion.
She was a snob. But somehow, she was closer. Somehow, this was more intense. Somehow, she was the only person in the world.
‘You just do what you want,’ she breathed.
‘Yes.’ His mouth dried and he could barely whisper.
‘Wow.’ She slowly shook her head. ‘You have done well for yourself.’
Yet, she made it sound as if his hard-earned liberty were a crime. She had no idea the hours he’d worked, the sacrifices he’d made, to ensure his independence.
‘Yes,’ he repeated huskily. ‘And no one will ever take it away from me.’
What he had now wasn’t bad for an unwanted foundling who’d been bounced from foster home to foster home.
Fury flashed in her eyes but it was nothing on his.
It was bad enough that she was Dario Lorenti’s sister.
He avoided her brother as much as possible—while their fields had once intersected, Sante’s interests were far broader than the fintech space now.
His office mostly managed his property portfolio.
The coders were a side project—working on the ideas he didn’t have the time to dive into.
Mia’s presence forced him to remember a time he’d rather forget.
The culmination of a series of complete disappointments.
Being blamed. Being kicked out. Alone again.
She had no idea. Screw her judgement and her questions.
He’d had to shut her down when she’d mentioned seeing him at the hospital.
He’d been so tired by the time he’d made it there.
Mia had just told him that Dario was still in surgery when her father had appeared.
The bastard had ignored her because of course he’d wanted to berate Sante.
But maybe ignoring her had been normal for the jerk.
That would track with everything Sante knew of the guy.
Dario certainly hadn’t been close to the man at the time, and why was Sante wasting his time now dwelling on this?
Because the level of distraction Mia brought him was outrageous what with her blue eyes and Botticelli beautiful body. He needed more than coffee to sort his head out. That he even gave a damn was shocking enough, but the thought that she’d just looked at him with heat other than anger—
Was only because of his lack of sleep. He would never cross the line with an employee.
Furthermore, she was a Lorenti and he knew what ran in her blood—selfishness, greed, betrayal…
snobbishness. But he was sure she had looked at him like an absolute temptress.
One minute she was ice, next moment fire and he needed space to recover.
He stalked out of the office. He’d go one better than a measly pastry; he’d have a long, leisurely lunch—alone.
* * *
Her eyes gleamed as she watched him walk in early the next day. ‘Twice in the one week?’ She shot him another saccharine smile.
‘I told you I’ll be watching you,’ he answered abruptly.
‘I wasn’t sure given you just disappeared yesterday, and of course there’s nothing on your schedule.’ She shrugged airily. ‘But the team will be delighted.’
She obviously was not. Yet, he found himself staring at her. Again. Reading those mixed messages—she was sharply acidic while smiling radiantly, and her gorgeous eyes gleamed.
Sante made the mistake of not closing his office door, which meant not only could he hear her, he could also see her. There was no getting away from her when he really needed to.
She was on a conference call to the coding team.
He knew she was keeping track of them via the project management software but daily personal calls made the difference—well, that was what Adele always said and she’d clearly trained Mia to follow the routine.
So why it bothered him now, he didn’t know.
But Mia was wildly different from Adele.
Her voice carried—with its sing-song higher pitch, laced with laughter as she threatened to set a timer on for someone.
She radiated a boundless joie de vivre that was extremely irritating.
He heard a ripple of soft laughter and then finally there was blessed silence.
Until she started humming. Then stopped.
Then hummed a little again before she obviously got absorbed in her work.
Sante sat, his ability to concentrate obliterated.
Restless after less than five minutes, he rose.
Hovering at his doorway, he watched her work, intently focused on her screen.
He found himself walking to her before thinking, so when she suddenly looked up into his eyes with an intensely attentive expression, he was forced to improvise.
‘I’m expecting a package of documents to be delivered this week,’ he said shortly. ‘It’s essential I get them as soon as they arrive.’
‘Of course,’ she replied smoothly but a deep colour ran into her creamy complexion. ‘Are they late? Do you want to tell me where they’re coming from and I can make contact and chase up the courier company if necessary?’
Her immediate efficiency only aggravated him more. As for that uncontrollable blush—it made his temperature rise. ‘It’s confidential.’
‘Naturally.’ She swallowed. ‘Then I’ll keep a sharp eye out and bring it to you immediately.’
Sharp eyes were definitely what she had.
For a moment he gazed right into their beautiful blue.
Satisfaction rippled; he liked having her full focus on him, liked seeing the pink in her cheeks deepen.
Until she glanced beyond him and a sudden broad smile illuminated her face.
Sante still stared, powerless to do anything but watch as she blossomed with a vitality that was extremely alluring and not directed at him at all.
‘So nice to see you, Valerio,’ she called softly.
Softly. Not the vivacious volume with which she usually spoke.
Sante glanced behind him. The new graphics intern almost smiled as he avoided both Sante’s and Mia’s eyes entirely as he went to his desk.
Sante turned back to Mia. She looked surprisingly pleased to see the jeans-and-headphones-wearing guy; her smile had turned almost intimate.
She’d been here almost two full weeks already.
She knew his staff. Had she formed relationships with those staff—with this young kid who wasn’t even on a permanent contract?
But then, nor was she. Maybe they’d bonded over that.
Which was fine. Naturally. Yet, he was absurdly sensitive to the different receptions she’d given him and Valerio.
Sante stalked back into his office. He jerked his chair forward, determined to focus and finally achieve something.
But his computer suddenly pinged with a never-ending series of notifications.
He went to it and frowned, staring at the calendar with consternation.
He didn’t pick up his phone. All patience lost, he simply hollered. ‘Mia!’
* * *
Mia drew on a defensive smile and headed into Sante’s office—leaving his door wide-open behind her and trying to steady her heartbeat.
Appallingly, her body responded with increasing chaos to his proximity.
It didn’t seem to care that he was a heartless jerk who’d betrayed her brother; her body just wanted his near.
So she was ignoring her body. Controlling it.
‘You’ve screwed up my scheduling.’ He glared at her.
‘Where?’
He jabbed a finger at the screen and she was forced to round his desk to study it. Big mistake. There was nowhere near enough of a barrier between them, and she desperately needed to calm her overexcited response.
‘You’ve blocked out a significant portion of my day tomorrow.’
She leaned closer just as he turned his head towards her, meaning his mouth was only inches from hers. It was searingly intimate. It would take nothing to lower hers and—
What the hell was she thinking? Why had the idea to kiss him popped into her head? She stared into his brown eyes for three seconds too long.
‘That’s not a screw-up.’ Breathless, she straightened and stepped back. ‘It’s a lunch meeting.’
If it weren’t for Adele she would stalk out of here and not come back.
Was she coming down with some bug? Because Mia did not mix business and pleasure. She’d done that once and never would again.
‘You expect me to have lunch with my employees for two and a half hours?’
Sante looked so appalled Mia had to bite back her smile.
‘Not only are you going to have lunch with them,’ she said. ‘You’re going to pay for it.’
‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘If you want them to come into the office more often, you need to tempt them.’