Chapter 14 Liana
LIANA
I’m reading through the additions I made to Massimo’s contract while I wait for him to show up for our meeting. If he wants to force me to do something I don’t want to do, then I’m going to get everything I possibly can from this marriage and make sure he’s just as miserable as I am.
“Nicco’s picking you up for lunch, right?” I ask Izzy, who’s sitting at her desk, working on her computer.
“Yeah, he should be here any minute, why?”
“Just curious. Usually, he picks you up by now.”
Izzy drags her gaze from her computer and raises a brow. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No. I just know how you get when you and baby get hungry.”
She laughs. “That is true. If I thought I got hangry before, this little baby takes the cake on hangriness.”
I laugh.
“He said he’s on his way, so I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”
A knock sounds on the door.
“Ahh, that must be him. Come in,” I call out, loud enough for Nicco to hear through the door.
Lainey pokes her head in. “Um, you have a visitor, Liana.”
My eyes widen when I realize she must be talking about Massimo. He’s early. I specifically timed this so Izzy would be gone while he was here, but of course the day I have him come, Nicco is late and he’s early.
Lainey pushes the door open, making space for Massimo to walk in.
Izzy’s gaze snaps to mine when she sees who it is.
“You’re early, Massimo,” I say, my voice tight.
“You could say I’m very excited about this meeting,” he says.
Massimo’s hands are shoved in the pockets of his black slacks, and he looks as if he’s enjoying himself a little too much.
I can’t help but run my gaze over him. He’s wearing all black, which doesn’t surprise me. It seems to be his favorite color. It doesn’t take me long to realize he’s wearing one of my suits, and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“You and Massimo have a meeting?” Izzy interrupts.
“How are you, Izzy?” he says in a sickeningly charming voice I’m sure would have any girl melting on the spot … But not me.
“Doing well, Massimo. How about you? Here to bully Liana into marrying you again?”
A sly smile lifts at the corner of his mouth, and he chuckles a deep sound I feel all the way from here. “Bullying seems like a harsh word, don’t you think?”
“I mean, if the shoe fits,” she says with a smirk. “But why am I not surprised?”
It takes me all of two seconds to realize this isn’t Izzy being a bitch to Massimo. No, this is some friendly banter with some unspoken joke or something that I’m not privy to.
“I’m going to head out,” she says.
“Nicco finally make it?” I ask, not able to contain the slight annoyance I have with him being late.
It’s not that I was planning on hiding my meeting with Massimo from Izzy. I was going to tell her eventually, but I wanted to get everything figured out and get my own mind wrapped around this farce before filling her and the girls in.
“He did. He’s out back, so I’m going to head out for the day.” Putting on her coat, she grabs her bag and smiles brightly at me. “We’ll chat later.”
“Izzy, can you do me a favor and keep this to yourself for now? Please?”
She gives me a small nod and a sympathetic smile. “Of course, Liana,” she says, then walks toward the door, stopping next to Massimo, whose penetrating gaze hasn’t left mine.
“I knew it,” she says to him, which has me crinkling my brow at her.
I don’t know what exactly happened on that date they went on, but I’m assuming that’s what all this little back-and-forth between the two of them is about.
Before I’m able to ask her, she and Lainey exit the office, leaving me alone to endure the suffocation Massimo makes me feel.
He walks over to my desk.
“What did she mean by that?” I ask.
Taking a seat in the chair across from me, he says, “Mean by what?”
“Condition number one: if we’re going to be married, blatant lies to my face will not be tolerated. You’re to respect me as an equal.”
He raises a brow. “Does condition number one really say that?”
“More or less,” I say, handing him a copy of the document I drew up. “That’s the general idea.”
Massimo’s hand grazes mine when he reaches to take the paper, and I break out in goosebumps.
Our hands rest midair, with me stuck in a trance until I remind myself where I’m at and who I’m with. I shake myself out of the stupor and yank my hand away, but my body’s temporary reaction to Massimo doesn’t go unnoticed by him.
He chuckles, and I roll my eyes at him.
“Do you remember that date I took your cousin on?”
“Not really,” I say, already breaking condition number one.
“Well, since it’s honesty you want … Izzy is quite observant, and she ended up calling me out for taking her on that date. She suspected it was only because I was trying to get the attention of another woman.”
I scoff. “Yeah … I’m sure.”
He chuckles. “You really don’t see it, do you?”
“See what, Massimo?” I ask, exasperated with his vagueness.
He shakes his head, smiling like there’s a joke he said that went over my head.
“There’s only one woman I had eyes for back then, and there’s only one I have eyes for now.”
I narrow my gaze on him. “You realize this is a business arrangement, correct? You can quit this facade. You won. I’m agreeing to marry you.”
He shakes his head again. “My adoration for you has never been a facade, Liana. One day, you’ll see that.”
His gaze penetrates deep into my bones, causing a shiver to erupt across my body that I can’t hold back no matter how hard I try. I refuse to believe Massimo has a hint of humanity. If he did, we wouldn’t be having this meeting.
Shaking those feelings away, I direct my attention back to the paper. “So, we’ve gone over condition number one. Number two is that you’ll continue to let me run my business, not interfering with any part of it. Understood?”
“I would never keep you from working, Liana.”
I’m shocked into silence, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. I assumed based on his already controlling tendencies, he’d want to have a say in my day-to-day life. I’m not sure how to respond to him saying that’s not what he wants.
“I accept both conditions.”
“O-okay,” I say, diverting my gaze back down to the contract, surprised this is going as well as it is. “Condition number three … You will make Tomasso allow his daughter to date Colton, and his father’s debt will be expunged.”
“Expunged?”
“That’s what I said.”
“You know I can’t just make a million-dollar debt disappear.”
“Oh, but you can, and if you want my hand in marriage, you will.”
Massimo chuckles again, and the sound is beginning to grate on my nerves. Does he not take me seriously?
“I’m impressed, Liana. Given what you do for a living, I knew you’d handle this contract like a business deal, but I didn’t anticipate you calling for some big … conditions.”
“What you’re asking of me is quite large, don’t you think?”
He gives me a reluctant nod.
“Then I deserve the same respect. Wipe Gregory Taylor’s debt and make sure Tomasso leaves his daughter and her boyfriend alone.”
“You know getting involved with a family’s personal affairs isn’t something we do.”
“Oh, but you had no issue doing it when it was my name on the line?”
Massimo is silent for a moment. “Touché. I accept condition number three.” He gestures for me to continue.
“Condition number four: No sex.”
Massimo scoffs out a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I wasn’t done,” I say, raising a brow at him. “No sex. No kissing. No hugging. Basically, no touching.”
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “Come on, Liana. That is completely unreasonable.”
“I don’t think it is,” I say with a shrug.
He shakes his head. “I’m not agreeing to that.”
“Then this marriage isn’t going to happen.”
“That’s fine. Then Alessia and her ex-boyfriend will never have the happily ever after you’re so desperate to see out.”
I clench my teeth, a wave of frustration coursing through me. “Just how long do you think you’re going to be able to use this against me?”
“As long as it takes to make you mine,” he growls out.
The emphasis he put on mine has my spine straightening. It was a possessive lay of claim on me I’ve never wanted in a man, but when Massimo growls it out, it vibrates deep inside me, sparking something I haven’t felt since that first night we kissed.
Ignore it, Liana.
“Well, either you accept condition number four, or we can go our separate ways.”
I’m beginning to understand Massimo a little more. He knows he can use Alessia against me, but if it’s hardball he wants to play, then it’s hardball he’ll get. I’m giving him what he wants, so he’s going to have to give me what I want.
“Fine,” he grunts out. “But if that’s how this meeting is going to go, then negotiations will be had and compromises will be made.”
“This isn’t a—”
“Liana, I’m willing to compromise with you, the least you can do is compromise with me.”
I nearly laugh at that statement. The nerve of this man when I don’t want anything to do with him. If anyone’s compromising here, it’s me. But fine, if that’s what it’s going to take to get this meeting done and over with, then I’ll listen to what he has to say.
I gesture for him to continue.
“You cannot take touching off the table, but if it’s sex you don’t want …
” He pauses, tilting his head from one side to the other, as if trying to release the tension that’s built up in his neck from this conversation.
“Then fine. We don’t need to have sex.” His words come out strained, as if he never wanted to say them in the first place. It brings a joyful smile to my face.
Nonetheless, I raise a brow at him, surprised he gave in so easily to that condition. There must be more.
“Not until you beg me,” he finally adds.
“Until I beg you?” I scoff out a laugh. “Please, that won’t be happening. I’d rather stay a virgin for the rest of my life.”
Something passes through Massimo’s eyes. Is that … excitement?
“Virgin?” he says, a smile lifting at his lips.