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“Hey. I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
“That doesn’t sound ominous or anything.”
“Can I shut the door?”
Now he’s freaking me out. He doesn’t want anyone to hear, and I think he’s asking for propriety’s sake. My office has a glass wall and door. Anyone can look in and see who I’m meeting with. I nod. I’m slow to stand; somehow, I don’t think I should be at my desk for this. I gesture to the chairs near the small conference table.
“What’s going on, Marco? None of you come into my office. You always stay out of sight.”
“I know. I just spoke to Enzo.”
I keep my face neutral, but that hurts. I haven’t heard from him in days. I know Marco’s his brother, and it probably had to do with business and not pleasure. But the emotional side of me wants to demand why he has time to call Marco and not me.
“Michelle, he called because there’s a problem. It wasn’t a social call.”
“A problem? Is he okay?”
“Yes. But it’s going to extend this trip. He wants to increase your security detail. Can you work from home until he gets back?”
“How long’s that going to be?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“I can’t just not show up here indefinitely. I have client meetings. I can do a day or two max.”
“That won’t be enough.”
“Does this have to do with the threat already made against me?”
“Yes.”
I wait for him to say more, but I should have known nothing would be forthcoming. We sit and stare at one another, both willing to wait the other out. It’s my office phone that interrupts the standoff. I walk back over to my desk and answer it.
“I’ll have to check my availability. I may have a conflict.”
I watch Marco as I make an excuse to one of my biggest clients. I tell her my secretary will call hers. She’s not pleased, but what can I do? I return to the table once I hang up.
“See. I can’t just disappear. Why can’t you add men to the detail rather than locking me up?”
“No one is locking you up, but I’m certain Enzo would feel much better if you stayed with our parents.”
“No.”
I’m not staying indefinitely with people I barely know. This is going too far. It was one thing to agree to it in theory. It’s entirely different now that it’s being forced upon me. I’ve been there four days. I thought I might even go back to my place tonight. I want to see if there’s anything I can salvage.
“This isn’t a request, Michelle.”
“Are you going to manhandle me into a car and lock me in Enzo’s room?”
He cocks an eyebrow. This is a man used to getting his way. This is a man who’d have me pinned against the table, begging for my life if I weren’t a woman. This is a man who won’t relent until I bend to his will. Is it worth the argument? Yes.
“Marco, unless you can give me a clear and persuasive reason, I’m not staying with your parents any longer. I’ll agree to staying at Enzo’s place instead of mine. Since someone trashed it, I don’t really have much choice. Either way, I know he has security there, and I don’t. But I’m not imposing on people I don’t know any longer than I already have.”
“You don’t know? They’re going to be your in-laws.”
I stare at him, then narrow my eyes.
“Don’t manipulate me.”
