Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Matteo
“You said this has never happened before.”
“Not to my knowledge it hasn’t.” We’re still holding hands. Her skin feels so warm and soft against mine.
“What?” she asks.
“I don’t even know your name, and here I am stroking your wrists.”
“Elizabeth. Most people call me Liz.”
“Does that feel good, Liz?”
She nods.
“Want me to stop?” It’s a loaded question, and in this moment where time seems to stop, I feel something stirring deep inside me.
This was supposed to be a routine workday morning.
A meeting with the old man, then drinks and dinner in the evening.
It was supposed to be just with Rio and Enzo, but Rio announced that Dex is coming, which means Jett and Zach will probably tag along, and all the girlfriends, too.
Rio did a big deal in Italy and he wants to celebrate.
We seem to be having a lot of get togethers these days.
Without the old man. Zach doesn’t like that we exclude him but he also doesn’t want to miss out, so he’ll be there.
From what I’ve observed, this woman—Liz, Elizabeth— this woman whose wrists feel like they were made for me to stroke doesn’t seem to conform easily, and though she tries to hide it, I sense she’s a bit of a rebel, like me.
For the briefest of seconds I wonder what she’d make of the puzzle that is my family.
What she’d make of my brothers and the old man.
She clears her throat and I lean forward, eager to catch her words, but before she can say anything, a sharp click breaks the silence. A low mechanical hum follows. The lights flicker again. Our hands spring apart. The air changes. Becomes colder. I look up and see that the floor indicator flashes.
I turn back to Elizabeth and our gazes hold steady. Locked in an indecisive moment. Who are we? Do we walk away as strangers, or try to exchange numbers? My heart thuds in a way that is alien to me.
A voice comes through the intercom. “You’re good to go, folks. Sorry for any inconvenience.”
Everything snaps back to normal.
She lets out a breath, and a little laugh that sounds so false. Slowly, we both rise to standing.
“I guess it’s all back to normal now.” Her voice is a whisper.
“Told you it would be.” A surge of disappointment lances through me. I shove my hands into my pockets, wishing I’d heard what she was going to say. The timing was off, again.
How long were we trapped in here? Twenty minutes?
Thirty? It felt like so much more, and yet not enough.
Like we were more than just two trapped strangers.
She wobbles as she tries to slide one foot into her stiletto.
I crouch down and turn the shoe the right way up. Her dainty foot slides in easily.
“Thank you,” she murmurs, before sliding her foot into the other one.
I look up at her, and something shifts in her expression.
I swallow, feeling like my insides are in tumult.
The gentle press of her hand on my shoulder sends a jolt inside me.
I swallow, then slowly stand, feeling like the earth shifted around me. Or the elevator glitched.
Something happened but I’m not sure what.
“Where are you going again?” I ask, heart thumping. I don’t understand this effect she has on me.
She opens her mouth, but before she can answer, the elevator doors slide open and Eddie, the building maintenance guy, stands waiting outside. The moment he sees me, his eyes widen in shock. “Mr. Kni—”
“It’s all good,” I say, interrupting.
“Sorry this happened it was a—”
“Not now, Eddie. You can explain later.”
I glance over my shoulder, hoping Elizabeth didn’t hear all that. She’s slipped on her jacket and picked up her large bag but now her eyes avoid mine. We step out of the elevator, like guilty teenagers, and face one another.
“Good luck with your presentation,” I say, still wondering who she’s here to see.
“Good luck with wherever you were going.” She makes to move away, then pauses. “I don’t even know your name.”
I hesitate a moment. If she gets the job, I’ll see her again, and if she doesn’t, then it was never meant to be. “Matteo.”
Her expression softens. “Matteo.” I love how she says it. I love how it sounds so soft and new on her tongue. “Have a great day, Matteo.”
We pause, both turned away, about to walk off, but it’s like we can’t. This is the moment where I’m supposed to ask for her number, but I suddenly remember Rio’s words from last night.
Word is the old man’s been asking questions he shouldn’t be asking. Something about the tech glitches we’ve been having. Thought that was your domain, dude?
It is my fucking domain. We’ve been having issues, and I’m on it. So I walk away, fists curled, anger simmering.
* * *
LIZ
I watch Matteo go, and feel profoundly confused because my pulse is still pounding, my heart is racing, and I feel out of sorts.
None of these feelings are to do with the presentation I’m now late for. I feel a twinge of regret that we didn’t exchange numbers or anything, but I know his name, and I know where he works, and if I get this job we might run into each other again.
There was something between us. Something nebulous, and invisible but definitely there. Something as solid and as steady as the beating of my heart.
I glance at my watch, discover that I’m now almost half an hour late. And I’m on the wrong floor, but I quickly head towards the washroom here. First impressions count and I’m not feeling as put together as I need to be.
I check myself in the mirror. Flushed cheeks and shiny eyes stare back at me. I smooth my hair down, and catch the lighter dyed ends. I should have done a better job of dying my hair. I take out my nose ring, something I should have done before I left this morning.
He noticed these things.
Matteo.
I like his name. Interesting and different, just like him.
I shake my head, trying to snap my thoughts away from him.
I have to focus. This is important. My future’s counting on this.
I’m about to make what could be one of the most important presentations of my new career.
Not wanting to risk taking the elevator again, I quickly climb the stairs to the top and head towards the reception desk.
It’s the same receptionist I met the last time when I came for the first and second interviews.
This is the final one. Talk about putting me through my paces.
You can do this, I tell myself.
Of all the projects I’ve had, of all the clients I’ve needed to impress ever since I set up my own cybersecurity company, this is the one I want the most.
“Hi there.” I flash a smile at the receptionist. “I’m here to see Paul Knight again. Sorry I’m late, but there was a problem with elevator.”
“Miss Raven. He’s expecting you. The elevator. He knows. Don’t worry. He’s in the meeting room this time. Follow me, please.”
I do as she says.
“Were all the elevators down?” I ask.
“No, just the one.”
As we approach a door, I hear loud noises. The receptionist pauses. She’s heard them too. “Oh,” she murmurs.
“I’m so late,” I say.
The noises are loud.
“You went behind my back!” A hard voice bellows.
“I own this company and I can do as I please.” A tone clipped and precise.
“What the—”
The receptionists knocks and the arguing stops. Paul Knight opens the door looking as charming and as intimidating as only he can.
“Elizabeth Raven is here,” the receptionist announces. She gives me a reassuring smile and leaves.
“Sorry I’m late,” I mumble, staring into Paul’s cold blue-grey eyes.
“Miss Raven. At last, you’re here,” he says calmly, shaking my hand. In my periphery I see someone pacing around the room.
“I’m sorry I’m late. The elevator stopped working.”
“I know. Don’t worry. Come on inside, Elizabeth. I don’t bite.”
“The hell you don’t,” the guy pacing around mumbles.
I know that voice. In that same instant, he stops pacing. My gaze falls on him and my throat dries instantly.
It’s him. Matteo. The elevator guy.
Charged silence fills the room.
Somehow I manage to put one foot in front of the other and manage to get inside the room. There’s a large glass table. A projector. Everything’s set up for my presentation.
Only, my world has imploded and suddenly, I’m all over the place.
My breath stutters and in the pit of my stomach I know instinctively that the guy I thought was a janitor, is clearly not a janitor.
Not if he’s here in a room with Paul Knight.
Arguing with Paul Knight.
He looks equally stunned, but masks it quickly.
“Everything is all set for you to start,” Paul says, oblivious to everything.
“You’re not the janitor?” My shock gives way to clumsiness and the words fall out.
Paul stops, looks at me, then at Matteo. “A janitor?” he asks, his tone clipped. Then he breaks into a snakish grin. “You thought he was the janitor?” He throws a curt glance at Matteo. “When you dress like that, what do you expect?”
Matteo glares at his father. Then at me.
“This is Matteo, my son.” Paul spits the word “son” out like its a curse.
I can scarcely breathe.
Corporate won’t approve.
Now I understand what Matteo meant.
Corporate is his father, and he doesn’t approve, not just of how Matteo dresses, but of something more, something deeper, something fractured. But this is more than a fracture in their relationship. This runs deeper, through the entire family.
I suddenly get a feeling about Matteo, about the words he didn’t say. About the tattoos on his skin. About the ink that tells a story. If only I could get close enough to dig deeper.
Matteo, the guy I thought was a maintenance guy, maybe the head of maintenance, the guy who told me he was a janitor, is one of Paul Knight’s sons.
“Matteo, meet Elizabeth Raven,” Paul says.
“Elizabeth runs her own cybersecurity firm. She used to be a gray-hat hacker once. Brilliant but a little reckless. I’ve brought her in as an external consultant to audit our systems and help your team to figure out what’s behind the software glitches we’ve been having.
“We already met ... between floors.” Matteo’s hands are buried deep in his pockets. He glares at his father. “But you didn’t have to poke your nose in my business. I’m on it, I told you.” He grinds the words out with malice.
They were arguing about this. About me.
Matteo didn’t know and now that I think about it, all my meetings have been with Paul Knight. How does Matteo fit into all this? His jaw is clenched so tight, I fear he’ll grind his teeth down.
“W-will I be working alongside Matteo?” I ask Paul, my voice a wobble.
“He’s the Chief Technology Officer, responsible for tech and cybersecurity, amongst other things, so, yes.”
My mind boggles. His father didn’t think to involve him in hiring me? No wonder he’s looking at me like he wants to rip me to shreds.
Family and Truth, the words inked on his wrists.
In this family, trust isn’t given, it’s weaponized, and I get the feeling that I’ve just stepped onto the battlefield.
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