Page 108 of The Boss

“What?” all three of us yell in unison.

Ryan doesn’t talk much about his upbringing, just that he grew up in a small town. His parents met at a bar and had a one-night stand. And all he knew of his dad was a note leaving his name and number. When his mother called the number, his dad never answered.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want it to become a thing,” he says.

“Become a thing? Ryan, this is a big deal. You’ve been trying to find him your whole life,” I say, looking at him, hoping he can hear the sincerity in my voice.

“I know. I have a sister too,” he adds.

“Really? Have you met her?” I ask.

“Yeah, her mom is pretty nice too.” He gives a soft smile.

“That’s great,” I say.

He swallows. “Yeah, ok, now that I’ve spilled my secret, can we please go back to what we were doing?”

We all know how much Ryan doesn’t like to share too much, so we all let it go, despite our questions.

After a few minutes, we’re looking over data and trying to piece something together.

“Juliet,” I hear Gino call, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

I get up and follow him. He enters his office, and once I walk in, he closes the door and locks it.

I look at him.

I gasp as he pins me against the wall. “Gino,” I breathe out.

“What, Juliet?” he whispers in my ear.

“What are you doing?” I ask, breathless.

“Nothing.” He smiles at me as he leans down and kisses my neck, and I moan.

“This isn’t nothing, Gino; they're right across the hall.”

“Then we need to be quiet.” He pauses. “And fast.” He winks.

He lifts the hem of my shirt and takes it off me. He must see the red lace bra I’m wearing because the look on his face changes to absolute hunger.

I bite my lip. “Do you like it?”

“Like it? Bella—” he stops himself. He grabs my face between his hands. “You’re fucking perfect.”

I blush, and he kisses me, and it’s rough. He lightly bites my bottom lip.

Stepping back, he pulls his shirt over his head.

“Should we really be doing this in here?” I ask.

“Are you nervous?” he whispers.

“No,” I whisper back.

“Good,” he replies in a low voice. “They can’t hear us anyway, you know. Unless the door is open, this room is mostly soundproof.”

I swallow.