AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Everything was black—from the floor to the booths, tables, and stools. All set amidst the backdrop of the gray on gray patterned walls. White crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, casting a dim light over the bar.
Even without the buzz of a crowd and the seductive lull of the soundtrack we had exclusively produced for the bar, the atmosphere was edgy.
Sexy. Erotic. A total waste of splendor given the quality—or lack thereof—of my present company.
Ariana trailed a finger over the bar top.
“Word has it you run the other side of L’Oscurità. The restaurant.” She turned to face me, her eyes flaunting an unflinching dare. “Yet, here you are. It must suck wanting all this control over your life but having none.” She had no idea. “Piss off your boss?”
There was a potential rat that needed terminating, but I couldn’t exactly tell her that. Instead, my eyes narrowed.
Most girls went for sultry. Seductive. Desperate sex appeal. Hell, sometimes I even got the ass-end of the spectrum. Those so afraid of me they’d tuck tail and run at the sound of my last name.
But Ariana De Luca?
She stood in front of me, her own brand of unwavering valor and unnecessary provocation. She was challenging. Combative. Argumentative. Fearless.
I understood these qualities, but not on her and certainly not at my expense. She was poking the goddamned lion and loving it.
But she’d learn not to.
I didn’t bother with a response, instead walking past her and toward my office. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before she trailed behind me.
I sent a text to Giuseppe, my head chef, to set up the interview course, a selection of dishes that Ariana had to pair with a limited selection of wines.
It was a test no one had yet passed, and once she failed, the message would be clear—I had given her a chance and found her lacking. I would still hire her, sure, but I would break her spirit first.
ARIANA DE LUCA
One second.
That’s how long it took for me to open my big, fat mouth and pick a fight with Bastiano Romano.
I had done it the second I saw him, pissed off at having had to wait for two hours—one hundred and twenty damn minutes—for him to show up.
I had antagonized him again when we entered the bar.
And now, standing awkwardly by the door of his office while he completely ignored my existence, I was tempted to pick another fight.
After all, I liked nothing about this situation, about having to go undercover with my real name, and having to put up with his callous, miserable ass made it worse.
A pregnant lapse of silence passed. Bastian sat in his seat, the chair pulled arm’s length away from the desk, thighs far apart, staring at his phone.
I waited several more minutes for him to invite me in, to offer me a seat.
He didn’t.
Another lapse of silence—loaded to me, but likely meaningless to him. I sighed, bit the bullet, and took a seat across from him at his desk.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” His voice cut through the silence like a bullet slicing through skin.
“Sitting,” I offered, dragging out the two syllables in a way that exposed what little I thought of his intellect.
“That’s top of the line nubuck leather.” He eyed where my body pressed against the seat. “If I wanted something cheap on my chairs, I would have gone with polyester.”
I waited for the ball to drop.
For his full lips to curl up in a smile and his mouth to form the words, “Just kidding!”
