Page 44 of Out of Office Nights
His eyes flickered darker. ‘Why do you think? My father went from having no heirs to having three in the space of twelve months. Something or someone was bound to fall through the cracks. I’ll give you three guesses who that someone was.’
‘Teo—’
He shook his head and surged to his feet. ‘Save your pity,tesoro. I relish the challenge.’
She watched him leave the living room. Only then did she let herself exhale. To let the tears fall.
To warily approach the possibility that this feeling moving through her wasn’t just about her work. That this rebirth very much involved her emotions too and specifically Teo Domene’s visceral effect on them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
He left soonafter bringing her coffee and freshly made croissants, delivered by his staff. She told herself she welcomed the reprieve.
She gathered the ashes from the now dead fire and disposed of them. Then she showered, napped for three hours and cleaned her little house.
The first few buzzes of her phone she ignored, revelling in this rejuvenating peace. But the buzzing continued, insistent, until she snatched it up to turn it off only to pause.
At first, she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. The image on the screen preview was grainy at best, taken at night with the figures unfocused. A blessing, she realised when it dawned on her what she was looking at.
An image of her and Teo. On the beach last night.
The Playboy Prince’s New Plaything?
Ice froze her veins, her heart dipping to her toes. But just as she was wading through worst-case scenarios, another thunderbolt struck.
Playboy Prince Axes Creative Director
No.No, no, no!
It took three tries to click on the article, then anguished seconds to realise the article wasn’t about her.
Teo had fired Cristobal at some point in the last twenty-four hours, without telling her. Before or after he’d kissed her? Beforeor after he’d dared her to let him touch her in ways that still took her breath away?
Was she next on the chopping block? Her insides dipped and dived as she read the article one more time. If the picture on the beach was accurately identified as her, old gossip would be given new life.
Questions were straining to bursting point when Teo knocked on her door just after sundown. She yanked the door open, barely able to contain herself. ‘What the hell did you do?’
‘Specificity is a skill I value greatly,cariña.’
‘You fired Cristobal?’
His eyes narrowed as he stepped in and shut the door behind him. ‘I didn’t realise you were so attached to him.’
‘Stop it. You know what I’m talking about!’
‘I don’t. Are you under the misapprehension that I should’ve consulted you first?’
His chilled mockery stung her hard. But she kept her chin up and her hands on her hips as she faced him in her living room. The place where he’d made her feel more special than she’d felt in an aeon. Had it all been an illusion?
‘Consulted me? No. As you’ve reminded me infinite times, this is your show. But would it have killed you to tell me so I didn’t read about it on the news?’
‘It wasn’t meant to be announced yet,’ he stated laconically. ‘Someone obviously leaked it.’
She exhaled, feverishly gathering her composure as his gaze zeroed in sharper.
‘That’s not all that’s bothering you.’
She’d given up being astounded at how well he read her. ‘There’s a picture…’
