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Knowing my luck, I’d already be fired by the time she arrived, which would be a waste of tea. I knocked on the door to Miceli’s office, then waited a second before opening the door. There he sat, the lights low, head resting against headrest of his chair. His eyes were closed. Damn it, why did seeing him like this tug at my heart strings?
“Mr. Daidone?” I murmured, stepping further into his office, closing the door behind me, so no one could hear him fire me while also chewing me out for being such a fuckup.
“Ms. Attwood,” he murmured, glancing in my direction. “Please, sit.”
Right. I exhaled and took a seat across from him. My palms were sweaty. The rapid beat of my heart worried me as much as what he might say. I was utterly fucked here, and I had no one else to blame but myself. “I need to apologize for last night.”
He hummed, closing his eyes again.
“Should I turn off the ligh—wait, are you hungover?” I sat forward. “You are, aren’t you?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He peered at me with one eye open.
“I am,” I answered, being truthful. “I need to apologize for what happened last night, besides abusing my position here and trying to have an inappropriate relationship with Robbie. Mr. Daidone, I—”
“Miceli...” He winked.
“Right, Miceli. God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I said some really inappropriate things to you last night and accused you of some awful things too. I could blame the stress or worrying about my brother.” About being hunted like wild dogs. “They’re all excuses. I have no reasons or excuses for why I should be acted that way. I get it if you want to fire me, sir.”
“How can you be hungover and talk so much?” he groused, sitting forward, and folding his hands on the table.
“Genetics?” I grimaced. “I’m scared and nervous and worried. When I get like that, I talk.”
“I suppose this is what I can look forward to when Rocca is of age,” he said with a small laugh.
“She’s a good kid, Miceli. I understand why you have her here instead of with her friends, but she is craving some kind of social interaction, and I don’t mean with the staff. Though they can talk to her, they’re not at her level.” I’d seen it last night when we were watching the movie and eating dinner. Rocca yearned for an escape from her reality. Sure, I’d facilitated a small portion of such, but keeping her closed up in the house would do more harm in the long run.
“Did your parents keep you under thumb?” It was the first time he’d asked about them since I’d interviewed for the position. It seemed so weird to talk about my mother and father, even though it was coming up on a year since they’d been murdered. Weird how I don’t even know if they were buried or cremated.
“Yes, and no.” I shrugged. “They took me with them places, sometimes. Others I stayed home, or I went on sleepovers. As I got older, went into high school, and took part in activities, their home became the hub for all kinds of parties and stuff.”
“You don’t enjoy talking about them.” No. What I didn’t like was not being able to figure out what the angle was in this conversation.
“I miss them terribly,” I admitted. “So does Lucas.”
“Last night,” Miceli began, then paused as Mrs. Petry placed a single teacup filled with a yellowish colored tea in front of me. When she left, he began again. “Last night, I did something I regret.”
If he told me he slept with Brooke, I’d puke on his expensive rug.
“Oh?” I didn’t want to know the answer, yet I did. This thing between Miceli and me was like a train wreck about to happen. I couldn’t look away, yet I didn’t want to miss it either. I leaned into him, curious about what he’d say or if he’d say anything.
“Brooke is...” He considered his words for a second. “Well, never mind about her. What happened last night was unfair to you. Thisismy house. I have free rein to do as I please with whoever I please. However, with that said, I also don’t have the right to flaunt my dalliances in your face, nor should I tell you who you can or can’t have relations with either.”
Oh. That. So, he wasn’t revealing his undying love for me. He was just apologizing for being a jerk with Robbie. “Well, I’m glad that’s settled.”
He smirked, stifling a chuckle. “Must be those teenage hormones running through you still.”
I gritted my teeth. “Miceli, I—”
“There isn’t a thing going on between Brooke and I,” he said, destroying any type of retort I would have flung his way.
“Sure,” I said, taking a sip of the tea Mrs. Petry left behind for me. “Does ‘nothing going on’ include wearing your engagement? Pawing all over you? Acting like she owns the place, because from where I was standing, it didn’tlooklike nothing was going on.”
“I suppose I could say the same for you,” he replied. “What’s your intentions with Robbie? Would you have fucked him had I not have stepped into the room at the last possible second?”
He had me there. Since I’d left the house last night, I had given nothing between Robbie and me a second thought. I’m sure at some point, I might have stopped what we were doing. Then again, maybe not. Point was, that ship sailed the minute Miceli growled at both Robbie and me. “We’ll never know, will we?” I arched a perfectly manicured brow, challenging him. “Besides, you can’t tell me you didn’t screw Brooke before you came downstairs. She was too smug and shitty to not be freshly fucked.”
“So crude. I didn’t know you had it in you.” His purred words rolled down my spine and settled low within my belly, pushing back some of the anxiety.
