And so back she went, head bowed, and when she knocked on his door, Angelo called out, “Come in, my Lane.”
Naturally, everyone heard him, and Lane cringed at the way the male executives coughed and their secretaries gasped.
She hurried inside, asking, “What is—”
“Close the door, tesoro.”
Oh. Right. She whirled back, closed the door, and when she turned to face Angelo again, he was right in front of her. She gasped…and then she gasped again as he stalked forward, forcing her to back away until her back hit the door with a thud. “Why,” she asked breathlessly, “did you ask for me—oomph!”
His kiss forced her brain to an untimely nap while her body took over.
When he lifted his head, he murmured wickedly, “That’s it, Ms. Petersen.”
She blinked at him.
He stepped away. “You may go now.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh, that’s the only reason you made me—”
He raised a brow. “Are you implying my kiss is unimportant?”
“No,” she denied right away. “But you know what I mean. Everyone was staring and—” She saw the smirk on his lips and gave up. Of course he knew what she meant, and of course that was all part of the plan.
“Sadist.”
“Masochist.”
She watched him walk back to his seat, with not a strand of hair out of place even though he had made both of them come in three minutes flat. Gorgeous, sexy, sadistic, and he was…hers.
He took his seat, and the moment he did, it was like seeing Angelo transform into a stranger, a powerful CEO that even now made her swallow nervously.
“I’ll go now,” she mumbled.
“Ms. Petersen?” Angelo murmured just as she turned away.
She turned to him, thinking he would tell her something work-related because of the way he addressed her.
But instead, all he said was, “I love you.”
Oh.
She opened her mouth to answer, but he frowned. “Please refrain from saying anything personal in nature.”
She closed her mouth.
He gestured to the door. “You may leave now.”
It was only when she had stepped inside the elevator did she realize he had not wanted her to see his reaction if she told him ‘I love you’ back.
The memory made Lane roll her eyes as she leaned back against the seat. Angelo had ordered her to go home ahead of him, and now she wished she had found the courage to defy him. She missed him so much.
She took a bottle of tea from the cooler, the knowledge that it came from Angelo making her feel just a bit closer to him.
She took a sip then closed her eyes and let the memories warm her.
Sadist.
But her heart thrilled to the word.
He was such a sadist, but she knew that at the end of the day, she would never ever trade him for the world.
Not even when the world wanted her to.
When she woke up, they were home, and the thought made her lips curve.
Home.
Wherever Angelo was, that was home now.
She stepped out of the car.
And froze.
Her entire family was waiting by the front door, and one look at their faces told Lane that they knew everything about her and Angelo.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Signor Valencia, Attorney Morgan here.”
Angelo didn’t answer right away, making sure to double check with security that Lane had indeed left the premises before telling the receptionist to allow his lawyer in.
“Sit down, Graham.”
The lawyer nervously took a seat.
Ah.
He only had to read the expressions on the lawyer’s face to know that the worst happened, and Angelo inhaled heavily. He didn’t care how things would impact him, but he did care about how it would those people whose only crime were to allow someone like him in their lives.
“Give it to me straight,” he said quietly.
Graham swallowed. “Signor Valencia, I am sorry. We were too late.” The attorney didn’t quite know where to look as he delivered his report. He knew his words were probably like a death knell to Angelo Valencia’s ears and could only hope that the Italian tycoon wasn’t the type to kill bearers of bad news.
Graham was good – damn good – at his job, but when one was up against a psycho – and his boss’ ex-lover was certainly one – it would always be like fighting a losing battle. The woman hadn’t cared about the legal implications of her actions, hadn’t cared that she would be heavily fined and sent behind bars.
All she had cared about was getting revenge, and that was exactly what had happened, Graham reflected grimly.
Every appalling detail of Anthony Carras’ sexual deprivation revealed to the media, together with lurid revelations about Angelo’s sexual preferences.
Margarita had made his employer sound like a deviant, a monster, and because Angelo Valencia wasn’t saying a thing to contradict it, Graham knew that it would soon be the whole world against him. It was always like that, he thought cynically, with people more inclined to gobble up gossip as truth rather than wait for facts.