Chapter 6 Liana
LIANA
Ihaven’t told Alessia about my failed attempt at trying to pay her boyfriend’s dad’s debt. She hasn’t been in the boutique the past few days because she’s been working on a project for one of her classes.
“Is there a reason you’re staring at that mannequin,” Izzy asks.
I whip my head in her direction. “Huh?”
She nods to the mannequin I’ve been standing in front of for far too long.
“You’ve been standing there for several minutes and haven’t put one pin in that mannequin.
” She crinkles her brows, pushing herself up from her desk, and walks over to me.
Glancing at the mannequin, then back to me, she says, “What’s wrong? ”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“Then why haven’t you done anything with the dress on the mannequin? You’ve been spacing out for the past five minutes. That’s very unlike you. You’ve been so excited about creating this piece, and now you’re just staring at it.”
Letting out a sigh, I say, “I just … I talked to Tomasso Caruso the other day.”
Izzy’s eyes light up. “You didn’t tell me you already had a meeting set with him. How did it go?”
“Not as well as I hoped for, unfortunately.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah … Tomasso is kind of an asshole.”
“Tell me everything,” she says.
I glance at her swollen belly. “Do you want to sit? I know being on your feet has been a lot lately.”
“Yeah, but I need to get up every so often to keep my blood circulating. Did you know as you get closer to your due date, if you sit for long periods of time, there’s a chance your blood could clot?”
“No, that’s definitely not something I knew about.”
Izzy and her husband, Nicco, are welcoming their first baby girl next month, and I cannot wait to be an auntie. Well, technically, a cousin, but Izzy and I have already talked about this, and we agreed I’m going to be Auntie Lili.
“Yeah, there’s so much when it comes to being pregnant. It’s freaking wild,” she says, rubbing her stomach. “Anyways, enough about me. Tell me what happened with Tomasso.”
“Well, I tried offering him money—even told him to throw out a number and I’d have my financial adviser put in for the wire transfer, but he declined.”
“He did?” Izzy furrows her brow. “He didn’t even attempt to throw out a ridiculous number?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I was expecting that to happen and to just suck it up and pay it, but he didn’t even give me a number. He didn’t entertain my offer one bit.”
“Huh, that is strange.”
“Right?” I say, running a hand through my hair. “And I haven’t told Alessia yet because I don’t want to let her down. I was certain I’d be able to help her and her boyfriend get out of this situation, but now I’m hopeless. I have no other plan.”
Izzy offers my arm a comforting squeeze. “Hey, Alessia will understand. I’m sure she’ll just be appreciative of you even trying to help.”
“I don’t know, Izzy. It’s not good enough. He’s using her boyfriend to control her. He doesn’t want her with him, so he’s going to destroy his career before it even starts. That’s such a dick thing to do.”
“It is. I agree, but what else is there you can do?”
My shoulders round forward, the weight of helplessness becoming too much. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to think of another plan, but I’m clueless. If he won’t take my money, what else is there?”
A knock sounds on our office door. “Come in,” I call out.
Lainey, one of my newest sales associates, pops her head in. “There’s someone here to see you.”
“Oh, okay … Yeah, sure. I’ll be out in just a moment. Thanks, Lainey.”
She nods and gives me a smile before closing the door.
“Huh, I didn’t think I had any appointments this afternoon.” I grab my iPad to take a quick peek at my schedule. “I don’t … That’s strange.”
“Maybe it’s a walk-in?” Izzy suggests.
“Yeah, maybe,” I say, walking toward the door.
I don’t typically take walk-ins due to the high demand, but I also hate turning down a potential client. Taking a look in the mirror, I run my hand down my ivory top and high-waisted plum pants, then exit my office.
I head down the hall that opens to the back of the boutique. When I make eye contact with Lainey, she nods toward a man standing off to the side who’s peering through the rack of men’s dress shirts.
Putting a smile on my face, I make my way toward the customer, but as I get closer, he turns to his side, so I can see his profile, and I nearly stumble when I realize who it is.
Massimo Bonetti.
It’s been a while since he last brought in one of his little girlfriends, so I guess it makes sense he’d be here. It was only a matter of time before he showed back up in my boutique.
Massimo’s been coming here for years with whatever woman he’s banging at that moment, and each time, he requests me to help style her.
I should’ve said no the first time he came in, but I didn’t want him to think anything of me saying no, so I just went along with it.
Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, Massimo has brought in some pretty influential women throughout the years who have gotten my brand’s name out.
When he notices me approaching, he turns to face me, and an annoyingly charming smile takes over his face, showcasing his absurdly straight, white teeth.
Glancing around the boutique, I say, “Where’s your new girl of the week? Do you need my help dressing your newest conquest … again?”
“Liana, it’s such a joy to see you too,” he says, with his hands shoved into his perfectly tailored black slacks. It annoys me how comfortable he looks in my store. “I didn’t realize you were keeping tabs on me and my … conquests.”
I fold my arms over my chest, hugging my iPad to me. “It’s kind of hard not to notice when you’re in here every so often with a new girl on your arm.”
Massimo slowly rakes his gaze up my body, and the heady look in his eyes makes me squirm.
“Are you seriously checking me out right now?” Annoyance seeps through my tone.
“How could I not?” he asks, unfazed by me calling him out.
“What do you want, Massimo?”
He slowly closes the distance between us, invading my space like it’s where he belongs. Bending down, he lowers his tone and whispers in my ear. “I kind of liked it when you called me Phantom, you know.” Then he chuckles as he brushes past me.
My face heats. It’s been six years since the night we met. He chooses now to bring it up? I thought we had moved past this.
Whipping around, I see he’s made his way to the bridal section and is now looking through our latest gowns. I stomp over to him and smack his hand. “Do not touch anything. Do you know how frustrating it is to get stains out of these dresses?”
He laughs, shoving his hands back in his pockets, then turns around to face me.
“What do you want?” I ask again. “Or are you just here to annoy me?”
Massimo narrows his gaze as if he’s studying me. Trying to figure something out. What that is, I have no freaking idea.
“Do you remember what I said to you the first time we met?”
My mind draws a blank for multiple reasons.
One, because it was several years ago, so remembering every last detail is above me, and two, I’ve done everything in my power to forget that night ever happened.
It was a moment of weakness and misunderstanding, and to this day, I haven’t told anyone about it.
Catching the eye of one of New York’s most powerful men in the crime world is not something I care to disclose to anyone.
Shaking my head, I say, “No. Must’ve not been too memorable.”
Massimo chuckles, and the cocky sound grates on my nerves. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you’re an arrogant asshole who thinks the world of himself?”
He lets out a humorous breath. “Why do you hate me so much?”
“I don’t hate you. That would be too strong of an emotion to feel for a man like you. I just don’t care to have you in my space.”
Closing the distance between us once more, Massimo wraps his arm around my waist, and I stiffen, my iPad nearly slipping out of my hand in the process. “You can put on this facade and act like you don’t care about anything I do, but we both know that’s false,” he whispers in my ear.
I scoff and press my hand to his chest to make him back up, but it doesn’t work. “You’re wildly confused about what’s going on between the two of us.” I press my hand into him again, this time with a lot more force, and he reluctantly takes a step back, dropping his hands to his sides.
I would think I’ve just won, but the shit-eating grin on his face tells me he hasn’t given up on whatever the hell this is.
“We’re inevitable now.” He sears me with his dark penetrating gaze.
“Excuse me?”
“Those are the words I said to you the night. We’re inevitable now.”
“And if you remember what you said, then you surely remember what I said. I believe it was something along the lines of absolutely not.”
His smile broadens, accentuating his annoyingly perfect jawline covered in fine hairs. “So you do remember our conversation that night.”
I open my mouth with a rebuttal, but he continues. “I came here with a proposition for you, and I think you’re going to want to hear it.”
“I highly doubt that.”
Massimo tilts his head. “Come on, Liana. All I’m asking for is a few minutes of your time.”
“You’ve already taken several, Massimo, so please explain to me why you think you’re entitled to more.” I pop a hand on my hip, waiting for his response.
“I love a woman who can play hardball with me,” he says, a sexy, heady tone taking over his voice.
I’m taken off guard by how much I like it, but I force that down, ignoring any kind of flattering feeling I might have for this man. It’s purely physical. His personality is nothing I’d ever want to be around.
“You need to leave. This is my place of business, and you’re taking my precious time away from it.”
“I’ll leave … but not before I say what I have to say.”
I roll my eyes, fed up with the back-and-forth. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say, so please, just go.”
“Nah … not going to happen,” he says, rooting himself in place.