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Scarlett let out a small, relieved sigh and slid open the kitchen door to leave.
“Ha! I win!” Leo announced, bounding into the kitchen. “You didn’t find me!”
“Hey, kiddo, what are you doing down here?” I asked, scooping him up into my arms.
“I was playing hide and seek with her.” Leo pointed to Scarlett, whose face had turned a color that perfectly matched her fiery hair.
“You’ve met Scarlett, then,” I said, tickling his ribs before setting him back down. “She’s Papa’s new friend.”
Our eyes met, and a silent understanding passed between us in that moment. We would be nothing more than friends from that moment on. No more lies. No more secrets.
“She’s my friend too.” Leo ran over to her and grabbed her hand. “She’s going to teach me German. Tell him, Scarlett.”
Scarlett forced a smile and gave me a shrug. I knew what she meant—there was no getting out of things with Leo. He was a force to be reckoned with. My only concern was how the hell I was supposed to be only friends with her if she was going to be around all the time, being my son’s friend too.
Chapter 10
Scarlett
Beingbackintheoffice after my rather interesting yacht trip with Luca was like dying a slow death. He seemed to be everywhere I turned, despite being the CEO with more than enough on his plate. We’d barely spoken since the beginning of the week, and I’d taken to ducking out for lunch every day to try and keep it that way.
When I got to Hal’s Diner, Riley was already seated at our usual table. Our old team used to grab breakfast there every Friday morning before our end-of-week wrap up back at the office.
She looked up just before I got to the table, and a slight smile curled her lips as she waved.
“You look great, Scarface,” she said, kicking out my chair from under the table, sending it sliding into the perfect position for me.
“Always so suave, Riley,” I said with a laugh and sat down.
I’d just about slung my purse over my chair when a waiter appeared with two giant shakes—one strawberry and one mint. The mint one came to me.
“Aw…” I looked at Riley with puppy eyes. “You remembered?”
She rolled her eyes at me, taking a gulp of her shake and smacking her lips. “Give me a break, would you? It hasn’t even been that long. We used to come here every week for four years straight.”
I savored the fresh mint flavor coating my tongue and nodded. She was right. Although it felt like I’d lived a lifetime since getting laid off, not that much time had passed since we’d last seen each other.
“So what’s going on? I want to hear everything. Have you seen any of the others?” Questions tumbled out of me, and I only then realized how happy I was to see someone from my old life.
That’s what it was now. The time before Luca Moretti and the time after. I still couldn’t quite explain how that man had done such a number on me. One thing I knew for sure was that there was no way I could tell Riley any of it—especially not that I was now working for the man who closed us down.
Riley shrugged, her expression growing somber as she studied the menu that was stuck down to our table with old, peeling masking tape. We knew that menu off by heart, so I knew she was actively avoiding eye contact with me.
“It is what it is, you know,” she said, still not looking up.
I sighed. “You know how much I hate that fucking saying. What’s going on, Riley? You can tell me.”
She leaned back in her chair, her shake cradled in both her hands. “There’s nothing to tell. And I mean, nothing. I haven’t been able to get on to another job yet, so things are pretty bleak.”
My shoulders fell, and I tried to ignore the pang of guilt twisting in my gut. “I’m sorry.”
I meant it too. I would’ve been in the same situation if it weren’t for—No. I shook my head to get rid of Luca.
“If you want, I’ll ask Chris to—”
“It’s not just me, Scarlett,” Riley cut me off. “It’s all of us. It’s like we’ve been frozen out of tech since the takeover.”
I felt a flush rising up the back of my neck, and that old anger that had driven me through Luca’s door that first day started burning in my veins again.
