“You weren’t standing out here the whole time, were you?”I asked as he opened the door for me.
“No.Harlow messaged me when you were leaving.How was it?”He started to reach for my hand, then smoothly turned it into a gesture for me to walk with him toward the building.
“Good.She’s nice and asked if I wanted to go shopping tomorrow.”
The way people in the lobby greeted Konni, but simply glanced at me in passing, highlighted how insignificant I was next to him, and his mom’s words about walking into his world with nothing ran through my head.Money wouldn’t lessen the gap between our worlds or make me feel less aware of it.It’d probably do the opposite because of where it’d come from.
“How was your meeting with Lianna?”I asked when we were in the elevators alone.
“Brief,” he said.
I glanced at him, wondering what that was supposed to mean.
The elevator reached the executive floor, and I half expected to see Lianna there when the doors opened.Thankfully, no one was there.
Konni was stopped on the way to our area, which gave me time to get to my desk, put my purse away, and check with the other three to see what I’d missed.
“Nothing interesting,” Bomir said.“How was your lunch?Was she nice?”
I froze for a second.
How did they know?
“He’s trying to make you think he’s all-knowing when he’s not,” Marius said.“Mr.Steele was nervous and asked us questions.”
Marius quickly ducked back behind his monitor at the sound of Konni’s approach.
“Do you have a moment, Ms.Elmantas?”
Was there even a point in addressing me formally anymore?The Snack Pack knew I’d met his mom.
I nodded and followed him into his doorless office.
We’d only just reached his desk when his phone started to ring.He glanced at it, and I saw “Smother.”
“Answer it,” I said.“She probably wants to tell you I misunderstood her welcome gift.I thought she was trying to pay me to leave you.”
His brows rose even as he put her on speaker.I glanced back at the door, regretting its removal a tiny bit.
“Hi, Mom.How did it go?”
“She is absolutely perfect, Konni.I love her.But you need to give her a better sense of security.She thought my welcome gift was a payoff to leave you, the poor thing.”
I shrugged at him.
“And she didn’t take it.She said there was a reason, but didn’t say why.I want to come over for dinner tonight.You said she liked my lasagna.I’ll make chicken parmigiana this time.I’ll be there at six, okay?Love you.Bye.”
The call ended without him saying a word.
He shot me an apologetic look.“Mom’s coming over for dinner.”
“So I heard.Are her calls normally that one-sided?”
“Only when she’s determined to get her way.I can cancel, though.She’d understand.”
“No, dinner’s fine.Does she know where we’re staying?”I asked, aware the trio was probably listening.
“Yeah.I let her know after she told me to do better.”
