Rafe fixed his tie, wishing he’d taken an extra day of relaxation on the yacht before he got to work but that would be completely out of character for him. Actually, he’d been feeling unlike himself recently and he couldn’t understand why or even pinpoint when it started. He was exhausted. Not physically, he was sure of that, and he couldn’t say emotionally either. Emotion was a foreign concept to him. But something inside him was just tired. Whatever it was pulled him down from his head right down to his feet. His arms felt like he had weights attached to them and there was this restlessness he couldn’t get rid of no matter what he tried.
“Signore DeLuca,” Enzo started. Rafe looked at Enzo through the mirror. “Miss McKenna is here to see you to the office,” he continued.
Rafe clenched his jaw to tamper down his irritation. That and his temper had recently grown worse too. Another thing he couldn’t ex
“Quanto tempo ci vuole per arrivare in ufficio?” DeLuca barked next to her, making her jump. That was the second time he’d startled her that day and for two completely different reasons. The first one, she wasn’t sure she wanted to examine.Why was he asking how long it would take to get to the office? Was he in a hurry? And why was he in such a foul mood? The only one in a hurry was her. She wasn’t sure if she could sit still for the twenty minutes it would take to get to the office with mister mood swings next to her.“Venit minuti,” Enzo answered, to Talia’s relief, from the front passenger seat. She had temporarily lost her ability to speak.“Why didn’t you respond? I thought you spoke Italian?”Talia turned to find him staring at her, creases around his eyes at the intensity of his gaze that matched his terse tone. Talia stared back at him wide eyed. Was he tryi
He leaned in closer. “I mean stay employed.” Talia’s fist clenched tighter, not to hold on to determination anymore but to hold back her temper. The old fat, she thought as she forced her lips into a tight smile. Without another word, she turned around and marched out of the office, careful not to bang the door behind her. “Ohff,” she exhaled as she shook her fists in front of her. She turned her head to look back at the door. Were they even really considering her project? Probably not. Just as she’d thought, DeLuca was her best bet to getting the go ahead on her project. But that thing, that moment… Forget whatever that was, Talia, Focus on the end goal. Fueled with new determination, Talia marched to DeLuca’s office with her own agenda in mind. Screw the old fats, they could find someone else to spy on DeLuca. She came to a stop in front of the door, raised her hand to knock and froze, all the courage she had mustered abandoning her. On the way she’d been so determined, now just
Rafe stared at the closed door, his mind numb from the image of Miss McKenna walking away. Now he got where the saying ‘I love watching you walk away’ was coined from. The black pants she wore, though loose, were fitted from her waist to the mid of the curve of her hips. Her long sleeved white shirt, though fitting, was sadly loose around her bust. It was the two open top buttons that gave a hint of what lay underneath. She was dressed professionally, not provocative or revealing, but that was the thing. He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He’d had naked women throw themselves at him but none had turned him on like she just did. If she only knew that was what men like him found seductive.But then again, if he were to imagine her naked, it wouldn’t be hard to fill in the blanks. The memory of her unexpected visit was still stuck in his mind. Those blue jeans shorts that reached the mid of her thigh in freys, her long dark legs exposed to the ankle. T
Talia stretched as she rose out of her chair. It had been a long day of dodging Mr. Perez, checking on DeLuca—including making sure he ate like a good assistant would—and doing her own work, the stuff she had been officially employed to do. She’d been forced to work overtime to finish the tasks under her job description, but it was just as well. The suits didn’t want DeLuca being left alone in the office at day’s end, which was made very clear by the short text ‘you leave when he leaves’ she had received at four in the afternoon. They must have found out about the boxes of records he was currently pouring through.Talia chuckled cheekily, imagining them running around like headless chickens, panicking about what DeLuca might find.She dropped her hands to her hips, her head tilting to the side. What was it they didn’t want him to find?“Miss McKenna.”Talia jumped, startled, crying out with a cur
“I ah,” she began but the air was so thick with sexual tension she couldn’t breathe well enough to get the rest of the words out. Then suddenly, he let go and she fell backwards, but thankfully against her desk.“Cosa ci fai ancora qui?” he demanded, a meter away, his hands in his pants pockets, his gravelly voice harsh.Talia stared at him wide eyed and huffed her surprise. What in the world was he mad about? His attitude was a cold splash of water to her libido. She was the one who should be pissed. She almost became Triple-D!“I asked, what are you doing here?”“I heard, and understood, you the first time,” she retorted tartly. She pushed off the desk and stood straight, straightening her clothes and responded, “Waiting for you. Isn’t that what a good assistant does?” She was hating the role more and more and it was officially just day one.“Enzo left
Daintily, with the tips of her fingers, she pulled the collar up to her nose and took a long deep draw of the scent. Just as she thought: strong, wild and masculine. She let go of the collar and dropped her hand to her shoulder, lightly. She ran it down the soft Italian cotton sleeve to the open cuffs hanging low at the tip of her thumb. Smiling, she stared at her reflection in the six foot tall mirror, swinging side to side in nothing but the shirt that hung on her like a thigh high dress. She loved how the fabric of his shirt felt against her skin. She loved it even more that it was on his body just a moment ago. Besides his scent, it still held his warmth.Her eyes fluttered, closing at the feel of his large palm at the back of her neck. She tilted her head to the right, trapping his thick digits between her cheek and shoulder. His thumb pressed down on the pulse at her nape, then swept up and down the curve ever so lightly, sending shivers down her body. Distracted by the
Rafe tried to concentrate throughout the presentation, but with Talia seated right next to him, her scent washing over him, it was near impossible. He couldn’t understand why the hell he was reacting so strongly to her—or it. What was it? It wasn’t flowery nor a brand he could easily recognize, but it was very much designed to entice a man. He was reacting way too strongly towards her for it to be anything else. It wasn’t like he was a curious, horny teenage boy. Rafe has always prided himself for being in control, especially of his emotions, and now that control was being threatened and it shook him to the very core. It was that damn scent. Surely she must know that? She must know the effect her perfume had on men? The kind of frenzy it instigated? He was tempted to look at the man seated next to her and ask him if he was having the same problem. It couldn’t possibly be just him getting drugged by that scent.And that stupid pen she had in
Talia had hummed throughout the entire meeting. Sitting so close to DeLuca had her mind going back to that dream about him and his mouth between her legs. It didn’t help that he kept on side eye spying on her. She’d wondered from time to time if they were meant to be reproaching glances because her knees just wouldn’t stop bouncing! But he would have said something; he wasn’t exactly the type to spare someone’s feelings and avoid public humiliation. Poor Harry had been sweating from the moment DeLuca had entered the boardroom. How she had even found herself sitting next to him was a mystery to her. Usually, there was just one seat at the head of the boardroom table, but the place had been so packed with executives, she’d been forced to shift to sitting behind DeLuca. When she saw all the suits file in, she’d forced herself to smother a laugh. She was willing to bet her left kidney they were beyond curious about what DeLuca was up to and how it would affect them. It was finance, the mo