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"That's a very serious accusation based on rumors." Even though his words might have seemed cautionary, the man knew me well enough to know I was far from interested in office gossip.
I nodded to the folder, and he sighed and slid it open. The photos I'd printed from the high-tech security tapes spoke for themselves. "Fuck," he groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face. "If this gets out...."
"I've approved a $3,000 bonus for Mack in the security office in exchange for a signed, additional Non-Disclosure Form that he's not to speak of what we found on those tapes or you will own him for the rest of his life. We went through all the extra hours Mark logged, and I took care of the film from inside and around his office during those hours. The photos are the only remaining evidence that anything untoward happened, and those are the only copies. Once I shred them, my suggestion would be to remind Dobson that if he breathes a word of his involvement with Mrs. Clarke, it would mean he makes the affair public record, and blacklists himself from the other firms in the city following his termination here."
He sighed but nodded. "I’ll need to talk to Kelly first, but she always agrees with you. Pitbulls, both of you."
"I'll call her assistant and get you a meeting on the books for whenever we can fit it in today, and I'll schedule Dobson's termination for first thing tomorrow morning. You had a cancellation with Christopher French, and Dobson is free until 10 a.m."
He took a sip of his coffee, placing it back in the exact spot on his desk where he kept it. Everything had a place. Then he handed me the photos. "Is there anyone who can pick up the slack until we can hire a replacement?"
I nodded. "I'll divide the main accounts between Johnson and Romero, two each, and distribute the less demanding accounts between Skorzeny and Evans."
"Perfect. What would I do without you?"
"Crash and burn, most definitely. It's incredible you made it this far in your life without me. Honestly. I'm off to lunch. Do you think you can hold down the fort until I get back?"
"I'm sure I'll manage somehow, Miss Mahoney."
"Peachy." I turned on my heel, striding to my desk to grab my purse and head down to meet Lino for our biweekly lunch. I'd just locked my file drawer with all my confidential information when the elevator doors opened. Even if I hadn't known that Jasper had no appointments until later in the day, I'd have known who strutted out those doors anywhere.
I didn't even have to look at him to feel the air change with his presence and hear the confidence to the gate of his step. His dress shoes tapped against the floor as he made his way to me. Glancing over, I followed those shoes, up over his body encased in grey and up to the devastatingly angular face that made women chase after him everywhere we went. His full lips titled into a stunning smile when our eyes met, the deep brown of his almond eyes shining as his strong brow softened.
The bastard had worn my favorite grey three-piece suit, fitted to perfection over his lean but muscular form. Since I'd started the process for my divorce all those months ago, it felt like Lino and I were playing with fire, like something shifted in our friendship.
But we both knew it couldn't. I wouldn't let it happen.
I was done with men. Done with the hurt they caused. Not to mention my brother would revolt if he knew I got involved with Lino. He and Yavin partied together, worked together. Lino might have been my best friend, but Yavin filled a role that I never could. There was no chance that my protective best friend would take me into the underbelly of the world where they lived, and that meant that I stayed on the sidelines. Never really a part of his world, and never really out of it either. "Will you ever listen when I tell you to wait in the lobby?" I asked, smiling at him with a shake of my head as he leaned in to kiss my cheek.
Normal. Expected.
So why did it feel like his lips lingered, like he breathed me into his very soul?
And why did my heart flutter like it had back in grade school?
"When will you learn that I do what I want, Little Dove?" He brushed my copper hair over my shoulder, reaching down to take my right hand in his. His thumb stroked the birthmark on my palm, something he'd done since we'd been children. It seemed mostly involuntary at this stage in our lives, something he did completely out of habit. I rolled my eyes at him, but let him keep it in his as he led me to the elevators. Not for the first time, I wondered how things would have turned out if Lino had kept the promise he made all those years ago. The one that made me write Mrs. Samara Bellandi in my journal for years after.
But when high school had come, he dated.
He dated everyone but me. I couldn't blame him, not with the way girls threw themselves at both the Bellandi boys. I wondered if maybe he was waiting for me to turn sixteen, but sixteen came and went. Then high school came and went.
Then college.
Eventually, I'd just accepted that Angelino Bellandi would never marry me, and I'd given myself to the first man to treat me like I mattered.
The elevator doors closed us in, and the air suddenly felt stifling. I still felt that pull, that irrational draw to Lino. While I'd convinced my heart that being his friend, having him so thoroughly immersed in my life was enough. My body was another story. The thumb still traced my palm, still stroked my skin so delicately like he thought I might break from the slightest pressure.
He'd never know that I'd survived much worse pain. He could never know. I wouldn't be responsible for what happened to him if he did something there was no turning back from. I knew without a doubt, if he found out about the times Connor had hurt me, I'd lose Lino forever. Lose him to the darkness that lurked just beneath the surface.
I wouldn't be responsible for that, not when it had been my stupidity and stubbornness that led me to that place.
"Where did you go just now?" Lino asked, jolting me out of my thoughts. I turned my head up to look at him, feeling his gaze examining every piece of my face. As if he could see my injuries. See the internal scars I wore that I never allowed him to see. He frowned at me, and I knew his head ran through all the possibilities of what he might need to do to protect me from whatever made me lost in thought.
"Nowhere of significance." I shrugged. "Work this morning was complicated. I had to investigate a rumor, dispose of the evidence to prevent damage to the company's reputation. I'm just distracted is all."
His brow tensed, tarnishing that sexy businessman persona just enough for the devil to show his face. "You could come work for me."
"I like my job. I rock at my job."
