Page 78 of Love Among the Ruins
Linus laughed, giving another wolfish smile. “She is taking my job, no?”
He was suddenly defensive. “She’s not taking your job. She’s not. Don’t say stupid things like that.” Linus had a problem with Eleni, and Dominic had a problem with that.
The man nodded, a half hearted acknowledgement. “I can come with you for the next meeting,” Linus suggested.
Eleni would be out of action for a while, and if Galatis had another meeting soon, Dominic had no option but to take Linus with him the next time.
“Let’s go over last quarter’s figures,” he said, prompting Linus to open the folder.
They had barely gone through the first few pages when his cell phone rang. Seeing Eleni’s name spring up, he grabbed the phone and answered it on the first ring. “Yes?” and in a lower voice, “What’s wrong?”
“Why would you say that? What do you think I’ve done, burned down the house?”
His mouth twisted. “You have a strange fascination with death.” From the corner of his eye he watched Linus diligently looking at the paperwork, but he didn’t put it past the wily man to be listening carefully to his conversation. “All is well, I trust?”
“Yes. Nothing is wrong. Don’t raise your blood pressure unnecessarily.”
Her silky voice soothed him. He got up and paced around the room, getting as far away from Linus’ supersonic hearing as he could. “That’s a relief to hear.”
“You sound uptight, Dominic. What’s wrong with you?”
Something about her tone, her demeanor, her voice, was lighter. Relaxed. Friendly. As if being at his place, being away from work, had changed the dynamics between them.
“All is good,” he answered, holding the phone closer to his ear, glancing over his shoulder to find Linus turning the pages of the folder.
“You can’t talk. Are you in a meeting?”
“That would be affirmative.”
She giggled, the sound rich and flowing, like a river. A boon to him after his day so far. “Have you been nice to Miranda today?”
He wiped a hand over his face. “I believe so.”
He chuckled to himself, hardly believing the conversation they were having. “How many painkillers have you taken?”
“Two. Why?”
“They seem to be having quite an effect on you.”
“I’m relaxing and taking it easy, like you told me to.”
“Good.”
“You’re even less talkative than usual,” she remarked. “Who’s in there with you? Is it Linus?”
“Yes.”
“Let me guess. He’s there, at your desk, staring up at you.”
“Not sure. It’s difficult to assess.” He needed to hang up. As much as he was being careful, he wasn’t sure what Linus was hearing. But he didn’t want to hang up. This was ... nice. Easy. Addictive.
What he needed after the morning he’d had.
“You’re standing with your back to him?” she asked. He could almost see the grin on her face, could hear the teasing in her voice. “Your psychic abilities are frightening.”
“I should add that to my skillset, along with the waitressing.”
He cleared his throat, killing a laugh. “I’m in a meeting, so if there is anything ...”
