No Strings Attached

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A fist raps against my office door, gentle but firm. Standing by the window, my eyes nervously move from where Giovanni sits on the couch to watch Norman enter the room, still wearing a coat sprinkled with snow.

His attention deters at the sight of Giovanni. He falters, clearly stunned by the extra guest. Giovanni stands, setting aside his computer.

"Norman."

"Mr. Martinelli." Norman's eyes finally meet mine. "I expected to speak with you alone, Scarlett."

"I think it would be better if we spoke... as a unit. So no lines go uncrossed."

"At this point, every line has been crossed," he snaps, glancing to the door. "We will speak in the conference room then. I will meet you both in there."

He exits the way he came in, but my feet remained glued to the ground for a moment, unwilling to step ahead.

He's clearly angry. Very angry.

Giovanni looks at me. "Scar, it'll be fine."

"I feel like I'm about to lose my job."

I take Giovanni's outstretched hand, gratefully, and he makes the effort to pull me towards the door.

"I've never actually seen him angry," I observe.

"You're not going to lose anything."

He lifts our entwined fists up, pressing his soft mouth to the delicate skin between my thumb and index finger. When we arrive in the conference room, spotlighted beneath the LED overhead, we pull apart. I have no clue why we had to do this here, why this couldn't be done in my office.

Giovanni and I take seats across from Norman, who is focused on his very active cell phone. The longer he takes to raise his head, the more nervous I get.

"Norman, we can explain–"

"An explanation is just an excuse."

"No, an explanation is an explanation."

"Yeah, well I have a few questions before you explain." He sets down his phone and finally looks between us. "Was this a onetime thing? These pictures–could there be more?"

"This wasn't casual," Giovanni says.

"How long has this been going on?"

Remain calm, Scarlett. Remain calm. "The first weekend he and I met."

"So, you've been lying to me for months, then."

"We were keeping it as private as we could—"

"Obviously not private enough."

Giovanni inhales. "Whoever did this trespassed onto my property at my brother's insistence. We were inside the house. I don't know how they got over the gate, but my windows are supposed to be shielded by the street."

"Supposed to be doesn't help me right now, Mr. Martinelli. Do you have any idea of the scale, the ricochet that has occurred because you both couldn't keep your hands off one another?" He stands up abruptly. "Do you know where I've been all day?"

I don't think I want to know.

"I've been in California at Connor Maynard's home... pleading with the man to keep to our agreement."

Giovanni glances between us. "What agreement?"

"The one that I've been nurturing and building for nearly a year. The one where he funds the entire expansion of this firm. Where this company becomes a multi-corporation and I send my Vice President to California to head that firm."