Page 64 of The Prices We Pay
Dante reaches for her hand and pulls her into a sitting position on the edge of her desk. Looking around the room, I locate her satin pants draped over the back of a chair and hand them to Dante. Something about the sight of him tenderly sliding them up her legs has my heart beating over time in my chest.
He grabs her under the arms and stands her flat on the ground. He pulls the pants up the rest of the way but doesn’t button them. “Enz, will you grab her shirt for me too?”
Grabbing it from the back of the chair, I hand it to Dante. Gently, he slides it over her arm and buttons each button with care before tucking it into her pants and buttoning those as well.
“Wait, where are your panties? Oh my god, please tell me you walk around work with no panties?”
She shakes her head and laughs. “Dante took them. I have the sneaking suspicion he doesn’t want to give them back.”
My eyes widen mischievously as I look at my friend. He simply shrugs and pats his pants pocket. “D, my man. I never would have taken you for a panty thief. I like it.”
Aaaand there’s the eye roll I’ve been waiting for.
He plants a soft kiss on Joe’s forehead before walking across the room to grab his shirt. “Shit.”
He holds up his clearly destroyed button-up, and I bark out a laugh. Joe looks at him apologetically. “Sorry, I got a little carried away. I didn’t really think about the fact that you’d have to put it back on.”
“Don’t be sorry, Amore Mia. I have extras in Luca’s office. Enzo, can you—”
“On it!” This is too fucking good. Dante sees me reaching for the intercom button on Joe’s desk phone, but before he can reach me, I press it. “Hey, Vita Mia.”
“Amico, would you mind bringing one of D’s extra shirts in here?” The odds that anyone would see him walk down the hall into Luca’s office are slim to none. He could probably go get it himself. But this is a much more entertaining option.
“Ummm, okay? Be right there.”
Joe chuckles under her breath as she grabs a hair tie from her bag, throwing it up into a stylish bun rather than attempting to brush it, all while Dante pins me with a glare. But as much as he wants it to intimidate me, it doesn’t have its intended effect because all my eyes do is wander the expanse of his large chest. I can feel his eyes on me as mine trace over his tan skin, lingering for a moment on each of his tattoos. He doesn’t have nearly as many as I have, but they’re impressive nonetheless. A large piece stretches across his chest. It has longitude and latitude lines, with chords of thick rope woven between them. On one side, there’s an intricate-looking anchor and compass, and the other has the Navy emblem. And while I can’t see it at the moment, I know he has a sleeve down the entirety of his right leg.
I’ve always known Dante was attractive. I’m a tall man at six-foot-three, yet he still has a couple of inches on me, and his body looks like it was sculpted out of marble. But what’s more than that is the way he looks at you, like hereallylooks at you. His stare feels like it strips you bare. Like hecan call your bullshit from a mile away and see into the very depths of your soul. And as much as I constantly flirt with him to get under his skin, I know a part of me does it to get his attention. Because I’m addicted to that look. I crave the way I feel beneath his stare.
Luca entering the room breaks my concentration. “Do I even want to know why Dante needs a new—”
With Dante’s shirt in hand, Luca’s eyes ping-pong between Joe’s disheveled desk, the items all over the floor, and the three of us. It only takes him a moment to pick up on what happened between the two of them, and when he does, he smiles.
Without a word, he walks across the room and hands Dante his shirt. Only when Dante’s dressed does he finally choose to comment. “So, you guys had a fun lunch break, I see?” His amused gaze finds mine. “I’m assuming this is why Clara isn’t sitting at her desk?”
“Sent her home when I heard what these two were up to. Gave our secretary a well-deserved half-day.”
Josephine looks between us, a hint of nervousness covering her face. “Are the four of you really sure you’re okay with this?”
Dante, Luca, and I all share a look of agreement. Luca makes his way to her. Swiping a strand of hair from her eyes, he answers, “As long as we have you, we’re perfect. Are you okay with it?”
She exhales a breath of release and kisses the tip of his nose. “Perfect.”
Faintly, the sound of the elevator dinging echoes down the hallway, and a minute later, one of the teenage interns from the mailroom stops at Joe’s office. “Oh, you’re all in here,” he says, clearly excited that he won’t have to waste his energy walking all the way down the hall to drop our mail off in our respective offices. Gathering three stacks of mail, he walks through the room, placing them in mine, Luca’s, and Josephine’s hands, completely unaware of what just transpired in here. “Mr. DeLuca, there’s one for you too.”
“Me?” Dante asks, confused.
The kid races back to his cart and then back to Dante. “It was dropped off at the front desk, and they just gave it to us to deliver with the mail.”
“Thanks, Andy.” Luca gives him a polite smile, and the kid beams at the fact that the CEO knows his name.
He practically skips out of the room as he heads back down the hall, quickly placing a pile of mail on Clara’s desk before he goes.
“You knew his name?” Joe asks incredulously.
“I make it a point to know all of my employee’s names, Vita Mia.”
“Guys,” Dante barks out. Concern is instantly evident in his voice. All of our heads snap in his direction. Holding up the envelope, he asks, “This look familiar?”
