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At Elio’s low rumble, I step in. “Hey. You asked for me to come by?”
Wow.
Since when did things get easy enough between us for me to just waltz into his office with a ‘hey’? What was next, me walking up to him.Hi honey, how’s your day?
A kiss on the cheek?
A kiss… elsewhere?
My face feels warm, and I fervently hope that Elio doesn’t notice the blush in my cheeks.
“Shut the door behind you, please,” he murmurs.
I freeze. “Why?”
Elio tilts his head. “I have something to share with you alone, Caterina. I trust all my staff, but given the current state of affairs…”
His voice trails off, and I sigh. He’s right, of course.
I shut the door.
“Okay, what’s so important that you need to have total secrecy?” I say, hoping that my teasing will cover the fluttering nerves in my stomach.
Elio nods to the papers on his desk. “Sit.”
“Are you going to give me a treat if I shake too?”
He frowns. “Shake what?”
“Never mind. Stop commanding me like a dog,” I say.
“Ah. Sit, please, Caterina,” he says.
There’s a teasing edge to his voice.
I tell myself I don’t like it. Instead, I look at the papers. “What’s this?”
“It’s a relinquishment of parental rights.”
I drop the papers like they’re on fire. “What the hell, Elio? You want me to relinquish my rights to Luna? You just put these here like it’s nothing? How fucking dare you. How…”
Elio’s hand on my wrist makes me want to slap him. “Don’t touch me,” I spit.
“Caterina. I’m not asking you to relinquish rights to Luna. I am relinquishing my rights.”
The anger in me is still bright and hot, so I don’t understand. It takes me a full minute to understand the words that he said.
Still, I’m not processing them. “What?”
“Sit, please, Caterina,” he gestures to the plush leather chair in front of his desk. “Read them. You’ll see.”
I plop myself into the chair, and I start to read.
Ten minutes later, I look up at him. There’s a million thoughts racing around in my head, crowding for space on my tongue.
“This is real?” I say, somehow voicing the stupidest one first.
“Yes. You can have a lawyer verify it, you may show it to Sal, whatever you need in order to recognize that I’m not trying totrick you. I’m not making an effort to trap you, Caterina. This is real,” he added softly.
