Alia sat at her desk, typing away restlessly. She stifled a yawn and quickly took another swig of her bitter black coffee. Her dark eye rings were extra heavy today, all thanks to the stunt her new employer did last night.
If she had any idea what would happen in Matteo’s house, she would have just taken her chances and stayed at the police station instead― the police station wasn’t comfortable in the slightest, but she would not have spent the night tossing and turning over Matteo’s words.
’Perhaps you would like to volunteer?’
Why on earth would he say sothing as outrageous as that?
Her cheeks colored as his words swam through her mind, leaving confused desire in their wake.
Back then, she had squeaked and hastily put as much distance between them as possible, sleeping at the furthest end of the bed that one tiny roll would have sent her plumting down to the floor.
Matteo rely smirked, then gathered his pillows to sleep on the couch. Alia had held a hand to her racing heart and tried to tell herself she was happy, not disappointed, with this turn of events.
Things were clearer now when she was working in the office in the light of day. Never had she been so glad that her first reaction was to stay away.
Matteo had tried to fluster her by asking her what she overheard, but he never gave her a proper explanation― and Alia had definitely heard the word ’liar’ echoing through the house from the mysterious woman’s lips.
Matteo claid he didn’t have a girlfriend or a wife, but only he knew if he was actually telling the truth!
After all, Caleb had claid that he was a poor penniless orphan, and look how far off the mark he was.
Maybe Matteo simply liked to claim he was single so he could play around with his employees. He didn’t seem to be that type of man, but after Caleb, Alia had no trouble believing in the worst of people.
Alia’s eyes darkened at the thought. Was that the reason why he had hired her for so much money― to make it impossible for her to leave?
Well, he was right.
She could not afford to leave, but she could remain professional. Alia patted her cheeks and gave herself an internal pep-talk. She would remain calm and professional and she wouldn’t overstep the boundaries between a boss and their employee. In fact, perhaps they should be chaperoned at all tis, as though they were characters living in a regency novel.
Her conduct would be impeccable, graceful, yet firm. There would be no allowing him to take liberties―
"Good morning," Matteo greeted her as he walked towards her desk, causing her to jump in surprise.
"Good morning, Mr. Montgory," Alia greeted, standing up so hastily she nearly knocked over her coffee mug.
Her boss looked disgustingly well-rested; there was no hint of exhaustion on his face. On the contrary, he seed to be radiating fond amusent as he gazed down at Alia’s tired face.
Clearly, he had lost no sleep whatsoever after saying such things to Alia. Alia sucked in a breath; this man was playing with her!
"I brought you breakfast since you haven’t eaten yet," Matteo said, and Alia’s eyes widened as he put a few boxes of takeout on her table. There were plump bagels and buttery croissants, salmon sandwiches, and smoked sausages.
"You left too early before I could ask you what you wanted, so I got you a bit of everything," Matteo continued. "I hope sothing here strikes your fancy."
Alia could only let out a weak laugh. She had fled from his apartnt the mont the first rays of sunlight crossed the horizon, quickly taking a cab back to her father’s place so she could get a change of clothes before going to work, so of course she hadn’t eaten.
"Thank you, Mr Montgory," Alia said, quickly racking her brain for ways to reject his kind offer. Surely it wasn’t normal for bosses to buy their employees a verifiable buffet for breakfast. "But I’m not really hungry now. I’ll eat later. You can take so of it. I won’t be able to finish it all―"
Her stomach, uncaring of where the food ca from, rumbled greedily, easily calling her a liar.
Matteo raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you can. Eat your als. I cannot have my secretary starving."
"There’s a lot of work―" Alia protested weakly, but Matteo leaned over her desk and peered at her screen.
"This can wait," Matteo said, in a tone that brooked no argunt. "Eat first."
Alia gulped. There was no way to get out of it now. "Yes, Mr. Montgory," she said weakly. "How much do I owe you?"
If she paid him back, then technically he wasn’t buying her stuff for free. He was just helping her buy breakfast. Alia could accept that.
But Matteo frowned as though Alia had cursed out his family. "You owe nothing. I bought this for you."
Then, he turned and stalked into his office. The door closed with a loud slam, leaving Alia alone with piles of food on her desk. She fought the urge to bang her head against the table. Just great― now she had all this food, and her new boss was also upset with her!
Before she could decide how to deal with this, a loud voice cut through the air.
"Alia! Oh my gosh― why do you look so haggard, girl?"
Alia glanced up and stifled a sigh. It was Aubrey, whom Alia quickly learned was one of her nosier colleagues. She claid to be in charge of accounting, but from what Alia had noticed in the past week, Aubrey seed to be in charge of office gossip.
"I didn’t sleep well," Alia said simply.
She didn’t want to give Aubrey ammunition for her gossip, but she couldn’t outright ignore her either. This woman had been in the company for a long ti, and she seed well-liked by the other workers. Alia was in no hurry to offend her and end up ostracized.
"I guess our boss had sothing to do with that," Aubrey said with a wink. Then she gazed down at the food and let out a low, impressed whistle. "Why, his morning-after manners are certainly sothing to write ho about!"
Alia choked. Oh god. Did Aubrey think she slept with Matteo?
Reviews
All reviews (0)