The deafening silence is replaced with the echoes of the crack of my hand against his face.
“Get out,” I say.
“Liana—”
“I said,get out!”
I’m vibrating with anger as I walk over to the door and open it for Massimo to leave. He doesn’t move at first, but after a few silent seconds and my lack of eye contact, he walks toward me.
Before he exits, he stops in front of me and looks over. I stare straight ahead, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of my attention.
“You know where to find me when you change your mind,” he says.
I snap my heated gaze up to his. “If you think I’d ever change my mind about something like this, you clearly have no idea who I am. Now get the hell out of my store and never come back.”
Massimo’s cocky grin pulls at his lips, but he doesn’t say another word as he leaves, taking the suffocating feeling with him.
What the hell just happened?
7
LIANA
Ibarge into the office, slamming the door shut behind me. Leaning against it, I close my eyes and let out a long breath.
“Uhh, is everything okay?” Izzy asks from behind her desk.
“Oh, yeah, just perfect.” I stomp over to my desk, my heels clicking against the floor, and drop my iPad on top of it.
“Did it not go well with the customer?” she asks.
“Screw the customer.”
“Ooookay.” She gets up from her desk and takes a seat across from mine. Her eyes are wide, looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “What happened out there?”
“Nothing.” I turn on my iPad, hoping she’ll take the hint and let it go.
“Don’t do that,” she says, but I ignore her, scrolling mindlessly through my email until she puts her hand over the screen.
I slowly raise my gaze to her. “Do not ignore me. Something happened with whatever surprise guest you just had, so out with it. Who was it?”
“Did you make contact with the manufacturers in Sicily?”
Izzy sits back and interlaces her fingers, placing them on top of her belly. “Of course I did. I’m just waiting for a response back. Now, instead of trying to change the subject, why don’t you tell me what happened out there.”
“I’d really rather not.”
“And I’d really rather not have to go out of my way to pull the security footage to see who has you all rattled.” She raises a brow at me, and a small smirk tugs at her lips.
I roll my eyes. “Fine. It was…”
She raises her brows.
“It was Massimo Bonetti.”
Izzy’s eyes light up in what I expected to be confusion, but instead looks to be… excitement? “Massimo Bonetti, huh?” she says, sitting up in her seat. “Do tell me more.”
Definitely excitement.
