He's waiting outside his door, and one look at that ridiculously handsome face and I forget how to breathe.
Damn him.
“You came,” he says with a grin, but his eyes take me in with such hunger that I feel my body thrum with need. No, I refuse to be aroused by this man. Not that I have much of a choice. He's taken control of my own body, the same as he did my computer.
“The key, Lorenzo. Before I break your legs.”
He chuckles, but not in a mocking way. I mean, I couldn't beat him even in my dreams, but the way I feel, I probably could land a punch if I time it well. And the way he’s looking at me, he’d probably let me.
“Five minutes,” he says, nodding to the open door. “I just need five minutes, Fiona. And if you hear me out and you're still not convinced, then I won't just give you the key. I'll give you full unrestricted access to my entire system, including all data, credentials, and control.”
I gasp, my eyes going wide in shock. No one, especially not someone like Raziel, would be reckless enough to do something so crazy. He would essentially be handing me the keys to ruin his life. The keys to twenty-five years of his work.
“You don't mean that,” I whisper.
I don't move when he takes my hand. “I do,” he says. “That's how much I'm willing to risk to get you back, Fiona.”
“Two minutes,” I say, a little dazed, and I let him pull me into his apartment. His words leave me too shocked to react much as he takes me to his office. The sight of his computer running should piss me off, but I'm still stuck on his promise. He inputs a few commands, and it stops.
“Natalie is Estella's niece,” he starts, his hand still gripping mine before I can tug it away. “My stepmother has been wanting us to meet for months, and my father—wanting to make Estella happy—pressured me into the lunch. I felt like I couldn't refuse without insulting her, and I didn't want to cause tension in the family.” He pauses. “But I went with every intention of telling Natalie I was already with someone. I was going to explain and apologize for wasting her time.”
I turn away, trying to tug my hand from his, but it's a firm grip. “You could be lying to me,” I say, my heart aching, afraid tobelieve this man. “How do I know you're really telling the truth and not just making up a story?”
“Because Natalie is also in a relationship.”
My head whips back to his. “What?”
“The second I sat down, I told her I was involved with someone. And she looked relieved.” He pulls out his phone, tapping on it. “Turns out, she’s in love with someone else too—a woman. But she wasn’t ready to come out to her family yet, so she’d been going along with these setups to keep the peace.”
He turns the phone toward me. It’s a photo of Natalie at the same restaurant—but now she’s sitting across from another woman, their hands intertwined on the table, both of them smiling.
“I told her to call her girlfriend and invite her to take my place. I paid for their meal and left.” He swipes to another image—a text message from Natalie with a heart emoji: Thank you for understanding. You gave me the push I needed. Good luck with your girl.
“That’s why she kissed my cheek,” he says quietly. “She was thanking me.”
“Dating?” I ask, my eyes widening in surprise. “They’re dating?”
“Yes,” he says, his grip loosening, and I feel his fingers caress my wrist. “She was afraid to come out to her family, so she let them set all these blind dates for her, but when I told her about you, she sent me this picture. She's as interested in me as I am in her, which is…not at all.”
“Oh,” I deflate.
“You sound disappointed,” he laughs.
“I am,” I say, kicking his desk. “I had all this pent-up rage and now I don't know what to do with it.”
Lorenzo moves closer, his finger brushing hair off my face. So tender. Gentle—it makes my heart ache with affection. “Does this mean I'm forgiven?”
“There's nothing to forgive. It's my own fault for jumping to conclusions.”
“Still, it wouldn't have come to this if I'd told everyone about us.” I shiver when he traces a hand down my cheek. “They all know not to set me up with anyone now. You're all I want, Fiona O'Shea. The only woman who's ever made me feel this way. It's my fault for making you doubt that even for a second, but I need you to know now that there's no one else. There never will be.”
“What are you saying?”
He smiles, leaning forward and brushing his lips softly over mine. “That I love you. I'm in love with you.”
“I… Raziel…” I gasp when he scoops me off my feet and lays me on his desk, his eyes filling with heat.
“Fuck, baby, you know how I get when you call me that.”
