Page 9 of The Prices We Pay
And his tattoos…my god.
I can’t quite see what they are from here, but they start at the elbow of his left arm and make their way down the back of his hand to the tips of his fingers.
I don’t know what it is about a hand tattoo, but it gets me every time.
His face is finally out of my line of sight, and time seems to speed up to its normal pace.
Is there something in the water at this building? Because, holy shit.
Wiping the metaphorical drool off my chin, I look at the sign on the wall and walk down the hall towhere it says the conference room is located. However, as I walk toward the direction of the meeting, I notice I’m following him. He continues to walk past every room until he’s at the end of the hall, opening the exact door I need to go into.
I pull my eyes from his deliciously juicy ass and back up to his face when he notices me out of the corner of his eye. He gives me a genuinely friendly smile and sweeps out his arm through the door as I approach him.
“After you.”
I don’t think I can handle this many gorgeous men in one room. Let’s just hope the COO is ugly and balances the scale a smidge.
By no means am I a shy woman, but I’m not lying when I say that the men I’ve met in this building the last two days are some of the most beautiful men I’ve seen in my entire life.
“Thank you.” I softly smile up at him and grip my laptop tighter to my chest as I enter the conference room.
My eyes immediately gravitate toward Luca, who’s sitting at the head of the largetable. The thick black-framed glasses he’s now wearing reflect whatever he’s frowning at on his computer. Dante’s large frame is folded into the chair, directly to Luca’s left. Both he and Luca are sitting in identical chairs, yet Dante’s looks like it’s made for a doll house.
“Our guest is here, boys. Look alive,” the blonde says from behind me as he moves around the table to sit in the chair next to Dante. An intense look passes between him and Luca, but before I have time to question it, the fourth man in the room speaks up. My eyes snap to his, and I can most definitely confirm that he is not ugly.
“It’s you?” Enzo asks.
“It’s me.” I wave my hand, clutching my laptop awkwardly.
Luca pinches his brows and says, “The two of you know each other.”
“Yes.”
“No,” I answer at the same time as Enzo. “I mean, we met in the lobby for a minute yesterday. He saved me after I so rudely tried to run him over.”
Dante tries to hide what I’m assuming is a rare smile while Luca looks at Enzo in exasperation.
Silence fills the room before blondie asks, “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing,” the three of them answer at the same time.
“Please, Josephine. Have a seat.” He gestures to the chair next to Enzo.
Suddenly feeling like it’s a million degrees in here, I set my laptop down and unbutton my blazer. Once I get seated, Enzo leans into me and speaks softly, even though everyone in the room can hear him anyway, “So, Josephine, huh?”
I can’t fight the pull at my lips. “COO, huh?”
He sits up straight and proudly pulls at the lapels of his suit jacket. “Don’t quite fit the bill, do I?”
“No, you definitely do not.”
Not that I mind in the slightest.
I’m actually rather impressed that a man who looks like him holds such a high position of power in such a successful company. Even though my appearance is nowhere near as drastic as his, I knowI’m not what people expect me to look like. It gives me hope that I could truly fit in here.
“Enz. Would you let her be?”
“I suppose.” He winks a mischievous sage green eye at me. “For now.”
