Chapter Thirteen
Carly
Two days. That's how long it's been since the last time Gio was at the club. I don't know why I keep looking for him. He's my boss. I shouldn't want him. But I'd be a damn liar if I said I didn't. The man could make me wet with a look. And when he calls meBella? Oh, fuck. Talk about melting the panties off a woman.
“Ciao, Boss Lady. Me and Gio were supposed to go through the inventory but he's gotten tied up with something. Care to give me a hand?”
I'd just entered the club when Tony called out to me. What I wanted to do was be home with my son but here I was. It was Camille's night off and I wasn't calling her in unless I had to.
When I'd left the apartment, Eli was running a slight fever but Risa was supposed to call me if it got worse. Days like today I wished my mama was still here. She'd gotten remarried two years ago and moved to Florida with her new husband, leaving me struggling even more. “Sure thing, Tony. Just let me put my shit in the office.”
“No problem, Boss Lady.”
“Everything okay, Carly?”
We'd been at the inventory for almost an hour and I knew I'd been pretty quiet. “Just worried about my son. He was running a slight fever when I left for work but his sitter is supposed to call me if it gets worse.” I pulled my phone from the pocket of my pants. “That's why I have this with me instead of leaving it in the office like I usually do.”
“Shouldn't you be home with him?”
The look Tony gave me made me bristle. “I don't have the luxury of not coming to work, Tony. Camille has the night off tonight. It's the first one she's had in two weeks. If his fever gets worse, then I'll call her in to cover, but not until then.” I watched as Tony held his hands up as if to appease me.
“Sorry, Boss Lady. Not my place.”
“No, I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you. That doesn't change what I said, though. Camille needs this night off with her kids.” Something in Tony's eyes made me arch a brow. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. There's a look in your eyes right now. So spill it.”
“I didn't know Camille had children.”
“Well, she does. Their asshole father skipped out on them, leaving her to provide for them by herself. She's earned a day off.”
After that, conversation died off and we finished with the inventory in silence.
“Either my math is off or we're missing some stock.”
“I got the same numbers you do, so your math isn't off. We're missing stock. The question is, was it already missing before Gio took over or did it go missing over the last couple of days,” Tony countered. “Damn, I knew I should have gone over everything the first night.”
“Chances are it happened before the club changed ownership. If it didn't, we'll know it now and we can address the problem.” It would mean one of the others was taking booze home at the end of the night and that shit would stop.
Two hours after the doors opened, my phone rang. One glance at the number had me scrambling for the back of the building and my office. “Risa? What's wrong?”
“Hey, Carly. It's Eli's fever. It's spiked to 102.6. I've tried everything I can think of to get it to come down and nothing is working.”
“Shit. Okay. Get him ready to go. I'll be home as soon as I call Camille to come in.” I hated having to call her. Absolutely hated it. I hung up, but before I could call Camille there was a knock on the office door. “What is it?”Please don't let there be a problem.
“Hello,Bella.”
“Gio? What are you doing here?”
“Have you forgotten I own Dangerous Curves?”
“That's not what I mean. I didn't think you'd be stopping by any time soon. You haven't been here in a couple of days.”
“Did you miss me then,Bella?”
The smirk he gave me made things low in my body tighten. Fuck. “As much as I enjoy the flirting, I don't have time for it. I was just getting ready to call Camille.”
