Page 45 of Baby Surprise for my Brother's Best Friend

I hesitate. Then type,

I don’t know.

Because how do I say I’m unraveling without sounding like a cliché? Like every carefully stitched part of me is coming undone, thread by thread, breath by breath, while I sit here pretending I’m still whole.

How do I explain that I watched a man who terrifies me, who infuriates me, make me feel like the only person in the room that matters?

I don’t hit send. I just let the screen dim in my hand, the weight of everything pressing down harder than I expected.

A knock rattles the frame of my home office door twenty minutes later.

I glance up from my screen, already on edge, and there he is. Alessio.

No swagger. No smug half-grin. Just him, standing in the doorway with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans and something unreadable in his eyes.

“You look like you’re either about to murder someone… or pitch a million-dollar campaign. Should I be scared or impressed?”

I arch a brow, trying not to smile. "Depends. Are you planning to behave today, or are you going to make me work for it?"

There're a few beats of silence, until he breaks.

“I didn’t know they’d say those things. At the gala.”

I set my pen down slowly, folding my arms.

“They weren’t wrong.” My voice is low but sharp, each word laced with defiance I don’t quite feel.

My heart clenches in spite of myself.

He nods once, jaw tight. “Maybe. But with you, it wasn’t for show. I held your hand because I didn’t want you to feel alone.”

That lands harder than I want it to. Because I did feel alone, until his fingers found mine. Until that dance, that moment.

I study him, searching for the man I keep trying not to see. The one who looks at me like I’m more than a PR problem solver or a challenge to conquer. “You’ve got a reputation, Alessio.”

“Right or wrong, I earned it. But I never faked what happened with you.”

Our eyes lock, and it hits me all over again, how badly I want to believe him.

Which is exactly why I can’t.

My phone buzzes again, breaking the spell.

I glance at the screen. Denver.

Denver:

We’ve got a problem.

That gets my attention fast. I swipe to call him.

He answers on the first ring. “I’m here.”

“Talk to me.”

“I’ve been fielding calls all morning. As I said before, the gala did help, but it wasn’t a knockout win to those two investors. And those two are the biggest hitters with the most to lose if the Marchetti and Salvatore merger flops.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “What do they want?”

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