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Luca:I’m busy now, Saoirse. We’ll talk tonight as planned.
Me:A little late for that, isn’t it? While you’re locked in your executive tower, I’m with the rest of your employees. Send the code, or I’ll “reply all” to your email and tell everyone about your fetish.
Luca:What fetish do I have?
Me:Don’t be coy. I know all about your collection of toenails.
Luca:Jesus. Why did I think you’d make my life easier? Check your badge. You’ll find you now have clearance to the executive floor. Perks of being my wife.
Me:I’m on my way. Prepare to meet your maker, Rossi.
Luca was sitting calmly behind his desk when I arrived.
“Are you kidding me?” I seethed, charging toward his desk. I braced my hands on it, leaning down so we were face to face. “This isn’t what we planned.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Plans change. We would have discussed it over lunch, but you were busy.”
My eyes flared. “I know you saw me with my coworkers. I saw you too.”
“Coworkers? I only saw one, and the two of you looked really familiar with each other.”
“You only saw one because two of them were in the bathroom.” Straightening, I slapped my forehead. “Is that why you did this? You sent a company-wide email because you were jealous?”
“Jealous? No.” He pushed back from his desk, stood, and rounded to my side. I turned to face him head-on. His eyes were nearly black as they flitted back and forth between mine. “If I’m going to be inconvenienced by having a wife, I expect her not to date other men during our marriage. That’s not asking for too much, is it?”
My breath caught at his harsh manner. “Inconvenienced?”
He picked up my left hand. “Is it too much to ask for you to wear your rings?”
“Are you wearing yours?”
His jaw tightened, and he leaned in so our foreheads were almost touching. The heated way he looked at me made me unsure whether he was going to throttle me or kiss me. I was millimeters from taking the decision from him when his office door flung open.
“Married?”
We jumped apart at the indignant screech. A smartly dressed pregnant woman with tidy hair and Luca’s eyes stood in the doorway, her head swiveling back and forth between us.
Luca’s arms crossed over his chest. “Knock next time, Clara.”
She cupped her round belly. “You’re married, Luca? Are you kidding me? We just had lunch and you didn’t say a single word.”
A man hovered behind her. He was what my sister-in-law, Elena, dubbed “Medium.” Everything about him was in the middle. Height, coloring, looks. For Clara’s sake—since I recognized him as her husband, Miller Fairfield—I hoped he had the personality to make up for his lack of everything else.
Clara strode right to me, holding out her hand. I took a step to meet her, sliding my hand into hers to shake. Then I used my best training from my life as a politician’s daughter.
“Hi, I’m Saoirse. It’s really nice to meet you, even under surprising circumstances.”
That wasn’t a lie. I wanted to meet all of Luca’s family, but Clara had intrigued me the most since she was his big sister, and from all accounts, they were fairly close. Also, I’d always had an interest in high-powered women. And Clara Rossi-Fairfield exuded power, even flustered and red-faced.
Miller followed his wife, shaking my hand after her. “Miller Fairfield. Rossi’s CFO and Clara’s husband.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
My nose twitched since this was less than the truth. I knew nothing about Miller, but his immediate vibes were so blah, they were off-putting.
The corners of Clara’s eyes pinched. “I wish this wasn’t the first time I’m hearing of you, Saoirse. If I’d known my brother already had a wife, I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to fix him up with a suitable woman.”
I let out a soft, breathy laugh. “It would be great if you didn’t push my husband to date any longer.”
