Billionaire Boss, M.D.(25)
“And that you grew up without said father.”
“You...” Suddenly the lump was back in her throat. It was ridiculous, when she’d never really considered herself unfortunate, but imagining the boy Antonio had been growing up fatherless...hurt.
It was clear he wasn’t going to elaborate. Which was fine by her. Though curiosity burned inside her, she didn’t want to learn anything that would make her stupidly ache more on his behalf.
To assuage the pain she suffered now, she gulped a big mouthful of silky champagne. “That sort of barely puts us in the same genus.”
He toasted her with his flute. “At least it’s a step up the ladder toward us occupying the same evolutionary status.” Taking a sip, he put his glass down. “But we do share far more than that. We’re both doctors—”
“Who’ve trodden diametrically different paths, have opposing approaches, and reached incomparable results.”
Undeterred, he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him in this volleying rhythm between them they seem to have perfected. “We’re both unyielding—”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m sitting here having lunch with you in this top secret hideout for billionaires and spies and not watching my sitcoms as I wanted.”
“And that’s why you made me bow to your demands without any of my own objectives realized in return.”
Her lips twisted. “So you say.”
“So it is. This round is all yours.” He beckoned to the maître d’ without taking his gaze off her, a new heat entering his eyes. “But don’t think you’re going to win every time.”
His warning made it sound as if their interactions would continue beyond this lunch, or her going back to work.
A thrill of disbelief, dread and expectation buzzed through her all during their ordering process.
As soon as the maître d’ left, Antonio sat forward, his eyes growing somber, worsening her condition. “There’s just one thing I’m confused about.”
She took another sip to relieve her drying mouth. “You get confused like mortals?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes this time. “No, I don’t, actually. But you affect me in unprecedented ways. You confuse the hell out of me. Therefore my inability to understand how you would seek the father who abandoned you. I have firsthand knowledge of how you can do without anything or anyone. Not to mention how unforgiving you are.”
“You describe me like such a well-rounded sociopath.”
“I describe myself, too. More things we have in common.”
“Things of which I have a drop while you have an ocean.” She fell silent until the waiters placed soup in front of them and left. “But you’re right, as usual. I had no intention of seeking him out. I lived my life without him and his family, and I never wished to change that. It took him months of persistence after my mother’s death until I finally agreed to see him.”
That earlier strangeness returned, deeper now, as if that piece of information disturbed him. Which made no sense.
Suddenly famished, for food or other things, she sought the refuge of the soup and changed the subject.
For the rest of what turned out to be the most incredible meal she’d ever had, they talked about so many other things, never again broaching anything personal.
After lunch he insisted on taking her to another place for coffee. Another place where he was treated like a god, and where she almost felt it was sacrilegious for her to be. And again, the place had only them.
She finally had to comment. “You emptied the restaurant at your exclusive club, and this place, too, for only us, didn’t you?” He only nodded. “Why? Do you have something against eating in other people’s presence?”
“I ate in yours quite successfully, as I recall.” He leaned back in his seat, regarding her with that intentness she’d come to expect but would never get used to. “I wanted you to relax without intrusions or distractions.”
“I am known for being around human beings without any adverse reactions.” She shook her head, picked up her cappuccino cup, the finest china she’d ever touched. “But you’re way stronger than I am. Apart from the evident ways.”
“Care to explain that statement?”
“You can stomach all this over-the-top luxury and sycophancy. I wouldn’t be able to, even on an occasional basis. It’s actually one of the reasons I’m so reluctant to get any deeper into my father’s life. Like you, he lives in a rarefied world where I can’t belong.”
* * *
Antonio stared at Liliana and again felt everything spinning even further out of his control.