Forever Lies

7

“Yeah. Hung himself just a day after I talked to him. Not sure how that will affect my price negotiations. If that cousin of his takes over, it’ll be a nightmare.” My dad had never been particularly empathetic, so his comment didn’t surprise me. “Frederico?” “Yeah, that man’s a lunatic,” my dad grumbled. I decided their talk wasn’t overly-sensitive, so I poked my head around the corner. “Excuse me, am I interrupting?” I cautiously cut in. “Alessia—my favorite marketing pro!” called Uncle Sal. “You aren’t interrupting at all, come in.” “Hey, Uncle Sal! What are you doing up here?” “I was nearby and thought I’d steal your dad for lunch. How have you been?” He rose from the chair he’d been occupying and gave me a hug, kissing my cheek like he always did. “I’m great, just had some paperwork for Dad.” “Enzo, this girl of yours is going to run you out of a job soon!” he joked with a warm smile. “We shall see—she has a way to go yet,” he said coolly. My dad had remained seated behind his desk, not including himself in our exchange. Sal waved him away like my father’s comment was rubbish. “This one’s a hard worker. I have no doubt she’ll be sitting in this office soon enough.” “Alright, let’s head to lunch before you have me forced into retirement.” My dad slowly rose and walked to where his jacket hung on the wall. “Alessia, you can leave the paperwork on my desk. I’ll have a look at it when I get back.” I offered the two men a tight-lipped smile as they said goodbye. I had no delusions I would be invited to lunch. Whether it was because I was still a child in their eyes or merely because I was a woman, I wasn’t sure, but whatever the reason, I was not a welcome addition to their party. A part of me desperately wanted my father to take me under his wing and include me in things like the occasional lunch with associates. My father had never guaranteed me any position at Triton, and there were times like this when I wasn’t sure he truly considered me an option to replace him. Unless he outright told me there was no chance, I wasn’t giving up hope I could rise in the ranks and would continue to do everything I could to make that happen. OceanofPDF.com 3 Luca I had never wanted to f**k someone in an elevator more than I had wanted to f**k Alessia. I wasn’t convinced she wouldn’t have let me. The way her lips parted, and her breathing became shallow when I was close to her had been ample evidence of how deeply I affected her. I hated to admit it, but her effect on me wasn’t far off. The red dress she’d been wearing clung to every curve of her beautiful body like the glossy coating on a candy apple. I had wanted to peel back that layer and see the sweet flesh underneath—she promised to be delicious. There were no obvious panty lines. The image of her wearing nothing underneath had my d**k swelling as if I was a thirteen-year-old kid again. Alessia’s thick, dark hair, had been pulled up loosely on top of her head. The style drew my eyes to the delicate column of her neck, not helping the situation in my pants. Her eyes were dark brown and unusually expressive —I could see each and every thought and emotion as it crossed behind those wide, intelligent eyes. The woman was sophisticated, gorgeous, and dripping with a surprising amount of innocence. That guileless innocence warred with her desire—she had clearly been torn—both drawn to and scared of me. She hadn’t let the fear win out. Most people, even when they had no clue who I was, withered in my presence. A part of Alessia had wanted to withdraw, to cower in a corner of the elevator and keep her eyes downcast, but she hadn’t. She stood tall, and even more intriguing, she had held my eyes. It was surprising how few women or men were capable of that feat. The woman was even more enticing than I had expected. Sure, she was gorgeous, which was why I’d zeroed in on her to begin with, but there was something else about her that called to me. She seemed to possess the unusual combination of backbone with a natural inclination to submit. I found most often women with fortitude had trouble surrendering control, and submissive women were often too weak to hold my interest. There was a sweet spot right in the middle where a woman was strong and confident but also able and willing to bend her will to a man. It made me naturally curious just how far a woman like her could be bent. She would probably argue with my assessment, seeing herself as a strong, independent woman. However, her instant response to my commands was more telling than any argument she could make—her innate tendency was compliance. If I wanted to get close to a woman like her, I would need to play my cards just right. Too much force and she’d run. Not enough, and she’d lose interest. I would have to set the stage carefully to draw her in. It was a good thing I loved a challenge. Interrupting my thoughts, my phone began to buzz in my pocket. I hated the damn thing, but it was a necessity—I did most of my business over the phone. “Yeah.” “Our guy’s report came back—the handwriting’s a fake,” said Rafi, one of the few people I trusted in the world. He’d had it rough growing up, and I’d done what I could to help him, which meant he’d been my shadow ever since. “It’s all connected—it’s got to be them,” I murmured. “We just have to pinpoint who he’s working for.” “I’m not sure how much time you have before all hell breaks loose.” “I’m on it.” I hung up the call and attempted to stretch out the tension that coiled in my neck. This job could make or break me. There were people at the very top expecting me to come through—disappointing them was not an option. The last time I had to worry about disappointing anyone was when my mom had still been around. There was Ari, but she’d probably have thrown a party if I disappeared off the face of the Earth. Proving myself to her had never been an issue. Ma was different. There was nothing worse than seeing her eyes shimmer with sadness when I’d gone off half-c****d or failed in some way to live up to my potential—the potential she saw in me. I’d been a dumbass kid who thought my mom would be around forever. In two seconds flat, that childish delusion had been shattered. One minute, I was a normal kid, itching to graduate high school, the next, my world became unrecognizable. There was no longer anyone to keep me in line. The only thing that mattered was revenge.