Finally, Mia looks at her friend. “You call me if you need anything.”
Cas nods, and Mia makes her retreat, shooting daggers over her shoulder at me.
“I’m sorry, Mia can be…protective.” Cas swirls her whiskey around her glass.
“Evidently.”
“She’s right, though. Claudio will want me backstage soon. I won’t be able to stay long.”
I smirk. “I’m sure he’ll make an exception for me.”
She takes a long sip from her glass, and I try not to stare at her throat as she swallows. “I don’t think you understand. He can also be very protective.”
I pretend to weigh this up for a moment. “Well, I suppose that’s the one benefit of owning this place. Everyone here has to do as I say.”
“Mister Moretti?” Her eyes practically bulge from their sockets.
“I see my reputation proceeds me.”
She takes another long drink.
In the silence, something she said catches in the back of my mind. “Tell me, is there a reason my talent manager is so possessive of you?”
Cas doesn’t look me in the eye as she replies. “He…we’re living together.” Then, more firmly, like a dagger to my chest, “He’s my boyfriend.”
Of course, nothing can ever be this easy for someone like me.
I smirk to myself as I circle the rim of my glass with a finger. “He’s a fool, then.”
“Excuse me?”
“For letting you have a drink with a staggeringly handsome Italian billionaire,” I answer simply.
“Mister Moretti…”
“Rocco,” I correct her.
Her gaze narrows. “Rocco. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression…”
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t interrupt me,” she snaps, her eyes igniting with something that makes my heart race. “I am only interested in maintaining a professional relationship with you. As my employer, you must understand that.”
If I wasn’t so in awe of her, I might have been blindsided by her flash of confidence.
But I realize that the fire within her is what makes her so irresistible. I saw it when she was on stage, baring her soul. She has been defiantly holding my gaze during our conversation as well, and I find myself lapping it up.
“Then I will respect your wishes,” I concede. “Although it is a shame you’ll never know the kind of protectionIcould offer you. It’s notoriously unparalleled.”
She crosses her arms. “Care to enlighten me?”
I chuckle darkly. “It’s not the kind of topic discussed with polite company.”
“Luckily, I’m not polite. At all.”
My eyes roam her defiant face, hungry to speak up her attention. “Well, first, we’d have to take this conversation somewhere far more private. I wouldn’t want an audience for all the things I would do to you. At least, not the first time.”
To my delight, her pupils begin to dilate at my words. “You aren’t serious.”
