Maya smiled. "Your mom would be proud of you."
The words hit harder than I expected, making my throat tight.
"I hope so," I said quietly.
My phone buzzed with another text from Dez.
My Man, My Man, My Man
Your uncle just left the building. He looked pissed. Everything okay?
I smiled. Of course Dez had someone watching the building. Of course he knew exactly when Vincent came and went.
Everything's fine. He tried to push a bad contract again. I shut him down.
That's my girl. Want me to have a conversation with him?
No. I can handle him. But thank you for offering to break his kneecaps.
I was thinking more like a stern talking-to, but I like your version better.
I laughed, the tension from Vincent's visit finally easing. I'd fire Vincent, clean house, and take back my company once and for all. But first… a wedding. I pulled up the final to-do list Gianna had sent me this morning. Seventy-three items, color-coded by priority and deadline. My sister-in-law-to-be was terrifyingly organized.
But as I worked through the list, confirming final details and checking off completed tasks, I felt excitement building. Thiswas really happening. I was about to walk down the aisle toward Dez. Toward my future. Toward everything I'd been too afraid to want until he'd shown me it was possible.
My phone buzzed again.
My Man, My Man, My Man
Stop working and go home. You need rest before the wedding.
It's only three PM.
And you've been at the office since six AM. Go home. Take a bath. Relax. I'll bring dinner tonight and we can go over the seating chart like civilized people instead of you stress-eating at your desk.
How do you know I'm stress-eating?
Because I can see the empty wrapper from that chocolate bar you keep in your desk drawer. Top left, behind the files.
He couldn’t, but that was neither here nor there.
Go home, Angelina. That's an order.
You can't order me around at work.
Watch me. I'm calling Maya right now and telling her to kick you out.
"Don't you dare—" I said aloud though he couldn’t hear me.
My office phone rang. Maya's extension.
I picked up. "Traitor."
"Mr. Moretti says you need to go home and rest." She didn't even sound apologetic. "And I agree. You've been working too hard. Go home, Ms. Castellano. Everything here will be fine."
I sighed. "Fine. But I'm taking my laptop."
"No you're not." Dez's voice came through the line. "Leave the laptop. Leave the files. Go home and rest. That's final."
