Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“When you know, you know. At least, that’s what they say…”
I still didn’t understand why he didn’t want to share his relationship with me with the person he was closest to, but I didn’t want to press him. I didn’t want to compromise what we had. I decided not to take it personally.
There was a small knock on the door, and then Andre came in with his cart of food. He greeted me with a nod. “Miss Aliénor.” He’d never greeted me so formally, so I’d clearly moved up in status in this house.
He set the platters, silverware, and linens on the table before he removed the lids. He placed a jug of ice water in front of us then rolled his cart back out again, trying to disappear from Luca’s notice.
“Wow, this looks a lot better than what I made you.” It was a piece of steak and greens, along with a side bowl of fries and a cup of soup. There was also a basket of bread in the center. It smelled warm and fresh.
With his arms on the table, he dug into his meat and ate the way he did before, inhaling his food like he’d been starving all day. He didn’t make conversation while he ate, too focused on his meal.
I didn’t mind. I liked watching him eat. It was manly.
Minutes went by, and there was nothing but the scraping of our utensils against the plates. The occasional drink of booze or water. I grabbed a slice of bread and buttered it before I dipped it in my soup and took a bite. “Damn, this is good. I would never leave if I lived here.”
“There are times when I don’t.”
“It seems like you work a lot.”
“After the tariffs are paid, it usually slows down.”
“When is that?”
“At the end of the month.”
“Like, now?” I asked.
He nodded as he chewed a bite of his steak. “I’m not working tonight.”
“You aren’t?” I asked, a little too enthusiastically.
He took another bite and nodded.
“So I have you all to myself all night?”
When he swallowed, the smirk started to come back.
This was the Luca that I liked. The one who dropped his guard. The one who wasn’t hostile or irritated for almost no reason at all.
“Looks that way.”
“Ooh…I’m a lucky girl.”
He continued to eat the rest of his dinner, his smirk fading when his hunger returned. He wiped up the rest of the juice from his steak with a piece of bread and ate that in a single bite like he was a bottomless pit. “Congratulations on the job. When do you start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Good for you.”
I remembered the look the guys had given each other when we’d talked about my new position at Diamant. Definitely suspicious. “Did you have something to do with that?” I felt ridiculous asking the questions, but my instincts about things were almost always right. It was the reason I was still alive right now.
He took a drink of his scotch. “Why do you ask that?”
“You and Bastien shared this…look.”
Luca set down his glass and looked at me. Just stared.
I waited for him to say something.
I hadn’t actually believed he’d interfered, but the longer the silence went on, the more I suspected something. “Did you tell them to give me that job?”
The stare continued, focused and hard.
“Why aren’t you answering the question?”
“I don’t lie.”
“Okay…then answer the question.”
He stayed quiet.
“What is happening right now?”
“Some things are better left unsaid.”
That was as close to confirmation as I would receive from him. “So, you did.”
He continued his hard stare, facing the consequences of his actions head on—like a man. And even though I was shocked and irritated by this turn of events, I was deeply attracted to his integrity. If he’d said no, I would have believed him without a second thought. But he chose not to lie, chose the hard path instead of the easy one.
“Why?”
“Because no one should work for free.”
“Well, I’m not qualified to do anything besides free work right now.”
“You would be if your life hadn’t been savagely taken from you—and that’s not fair.”
“It’s also not fair to the other person in the office who deserved that promotion—”
“If you don’t want the job, then don’t take it. Don’t come at me like I’m an asshole for helping you.” He didn’t raise his voice, but he could shake the room with his tone and presence. “Let me give you a life lesson. Those who get ahead don’t get there because they play the game by the rules and patiently wait their turn. They know people, they hustle to know people, they’re connected, and they cut in front of people to seize what they want. That’s my advice.”
“Is that how you got to where you are?”
His stare deepened and turned thunderous as storm clouds. “Absolutely.”
He’d told me his profession, but I knew nothing about what he really did. Didn’t know what he did at night while I slept soundly in my bed. How many people he killed or how he killed them. “I appreciate you helping me get the job. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I just wanted to know if you interfered.”