“I have a client who owes me a significant amount of money, and she came to pay off his debt.”
My eyes narrow, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. “Who’s this client?”
“Gregory Taylor.” Tomasso pauses for a second before continuing. “His son is dating my daughter.”
“Interesting,” I murmur.
“I told her no and sent her away, but I will say, her offer was tempting. She was going to letmename my price. I know the girl comes from money between whatever her parents left her andthat fashion company she has. I could’ve been made a very rich man.”
“You already are a rich man, Tomasso,” I say, annoyance filling me at his greedy words.
“There’s no such thing as too much money,” he chuckles out. His cocky tone has me reacting.
“Greed isn’t a good look on anyone. You’d be wise to keep comments like that to yourself,” I state.
He clears his throat. “Of course. My apologies.”
“Why does Liana want to pay off Gregory Taylor’s debt?”
“From what I gather, she’s a romantic. My daughter is dating his son, which I do not approve of. You know how things work in our world. I plan on picking out a husband for her when the time is right, and it sure as hell isn’t going to be some athlete that’ll end up washed up in the next decade.”
“Athlete?”
“Yeah. The boy is CU’s star tight end. He’s expected to go early in the first round of the draft this year.”
“So what does this all have to do with Liana?”
“Alessia and Liana have formed a… bond, I guess. She’s been interning at Liana’s boutique, and I suppose she confided in her about her relationship woes, which include me wanting to use her boyfriend to throw some games once he’s in the NFL so I can win some bets.”
“You’re going to rig games now? You seem like a man who would be above something like that.”
“I’m going to get my money one way or another. I might as well have some fun controlling her boyfriend while I’m at it.”
I’m silent for a moment, clicking my pen in an antsy, habitual kind of way while I think about the situation.
A smile tugs at my lips.
Tomasso said Liana and his daughter have formed a close friendship. They must be if she’s willing to offer to pay for herboyfriend’s dad’s debt. So if she’s willing to do that, then let’s see just how far she’ll go to help her out.
“I appreciate all the information, Tomasso. I’ll be in touch soon.”
I hang up the phone, then sit back in my chair and bring my hand up to rest under my chin. A small chuckle escapes my mouth.
Liana DiMaggio just showed me her weakness… and now I’m going to exploit it.
6
LIANA
Ihaven’t told Alessia about my failed attempt at trying to pay her boyfriend’s dad’s debt. She hasn’t been in the boutique the past few days because she’s been working on a project for one of her classes.
“Is there a reason you’re staring at that mannequin,” Izzy asks.
I whip my head in her direction. “Huh?”
She nods to the mannequin I’ve been standing in front of for far too long. “You’ve been standing there for several minutes and haven’t put one pin in that mannequin.” She crinkles her brows, pushing herself up from her desk, and walks over to me. Glancing at the mannequin, then back to me, she says, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
