Page 38 of Secrets, Lies and Love

From the bed, I pick up the only photograph I keep from my childhood, and after running my fingers over the image, I kiss it.

“I’ll do it. I’ll make sure your son is okay, Keith. But just so you can rest assured in heaven, know that Dionysus truly loves Joseph. He’s not like Sue. I feel with every drop of blood in my body that his love for our boy is real.”

I dry the tears that insist on falling and place the photo at the bottom of my suitcase. The right thing to do would be not to take it, but I’ve never left it behind. It’s the only good memory I have from my childhood.

Five minutes later, the doorbell rings. I know it’s Mr. Colt because he texted me a while ago saying he was coming. He also gave me all of Diony . . .Mr. Kostanidis, silly!He gave me all ofMr. Kostanidis’numbers.

I’m going to need to watch myself so I don’t think of him as the man who was my sexual fantasy last night.

From today onwards, he’s my boss.

I open the door for the driver, who smiles, friendly.

“I knew this position would be yours.”

“I didn’t. I thought he would never hire me. Mr. Colt?—"

“You can call me Anderson, girl.”

“Anderson, again, I ask you to forgive me for the scare I gave you. I should have paid more attention when crossing that day.”What I really wanted was to tell him the whole truth, but I can’t. Not yet. Maybe when I can finally leave.

“Forget it. You were tired and distracted. God works in mysterious ways. I have no doubt that that incident had to happen for us to get here.”

I don’t say anything more because my list of sins and lies is reaching stratospheric levels. Instead, I let myself be guided in silence to the car, even though I feel very embarrassed when he opens the back door of the vehicle.

As soon as I sit down and fasten my seat belt, my phone rings.

“Cecily?”

My body shivers from the heat of that sexy voice, but I force myself to be in control. “Mr. Kostanidis, good morning. I’m already on my way to your house.”

“I know. An unforeseen event arose, however. I won’t be able to wait for you. Ares is with Joseph until you arrive, but then he’ll have to go to work too.”

“And Mrs. Lisa?”

I hear his sigh. “She missed work today. It may happen occasionally, so I will need you to work during the day in those cases. When I have your employment contract drawn up, I will tell my lawyers to triple your current salary for situations like this.”

“It’s not necessary . . . “

“Yes, it is, but that’s not why I called. I wanted to let you know that I’m trusting my most precious possession to your hands. Joseph is my world, Cecily. Don’t let me down.”

Cecily

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Fluffy?”I ask, laughing and pointing to the fat cat sitting on the floor next to Joseph.

He nods his head in agreement, and I don’t think anyone could have chosen a better name for the cat. The animal is cute, and apparently lazy, but it seems, like me, absolutely in love with the boy.

It’s already five in the afternoon, and I can truly say that it’s been the happiest day I’ve had in years.

Thirsty, anxious, I try to memorize every second with the little boy, every little thing he gives me: a laugh, the games he likes, and even how he gets dirty when he eats, since he no longer wants help and makes a mess during meals.

I didn’t feel the day go by. I want to repeat it endlessly. This first experience in my new job only made me certain that I’ll do everything possible to never leave Joseph’s side. The idea of leaving after checking that he is okay no longer appeals to me.

The problem is that the more I know about my boss’s relationship with his adopted son, the more I understand that I have to move the pieces of this game very carefully.

Something tells me that Dionysus is not the kind of man who gives second chances, which means that the moment he decides to exclude me from his life, it will be for good. And that will mean that I’ll never have access to Joseph again.

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