Page 11 of Burning Rivalry

It had to be instinct that held my mouth shut. The fire blazing in my gut urged me, pulled me through the room, and demanded satisfaction. Nobody got away with putting me on the spot.

A pair of blue eyes followed my every step, but I ignored Claudia’s pointed stare in favor of retreating to my office. The closed door did nothing to make me forget she was out there, considering herself God’s gift to bakers by browning some fucking butter.

It took inserting AirPods in my ears and digging into a pile of invoices for the new restaurant to get me through the following hours. The girl might not have known it, but the only reason she was alive right now was because I’d stepped back from being head chef, giving me the chance to retreat to a locked room rather than being face-to-face behind the line. I might have had no choice but to request she leave for the night. Loudly.

By the time I’d sorted the invoices and reviewed updated timelines for completion, my playlist had run its course. I slid one of the pods from my ear, listening for sounds beyond the closed door. The kitchen was mostly quiet an hour after service had ended. No doubt anyone who’d left before now thought twice about knocking to say goodnight. Maybe they had, and I’d missed it. Either way, it was for the best.

If Claudia possessed half a brain, she would’ve made a quick exit for fear of my wrath. Sadly, she didn’t have the sense—either that or she’d waited on purpose—determined to test my self-control.

Only she and Lucas were left, chatting quietly by the ovens. He took a backward step away from her, like a guilty man. Fresh fire bloomed in my chest before I could help it. “Anything wrong?” I asked him.

He shook his head, lifting a thick shoulder. The guy would have looked right at home at the front door of a busy club, standing a head taller than most of the customers, ready to toss troublemakers out on their asses. Right now, his tanned complexion went a little pale. “Nope. Have a good one.” That didn’t keep him from glancing toward Claudia one last time, then quickly exiting through the back door.

Leaving the two of us. I’d let her take the first shot to see what she thought she was working with before eviscerating her for going behind my back.

Her tongue darted over her lips before she ventured, “Your family seems very nice. Your nonna is lovely.”

“They are,” I grunted, remembering how they’d bonded by joking about me. My anger began to simmer, verging on a boil. “She is.”

Her soft, sharp sigh revealed her frustration. “Just get it over with, okay? I know you’ve been waiting.”

“You’re lucky I’ve been waiting. I could’ve done this while the rest of the staff was present.” The pressure in my chest spread, tightening my throat, putting my head in a vice. “Now that we’re alone, I want you to tell me where the fuck you get off putting me on the spot.”

She scoffed. “Because it’s all about you. It wasn’t about me wanting to⁠—”

“Enough!” The volume of my voice made her shrink back, eyes bulging. “I don’t want to hear it. You chose tonight to present that new… what did you call it? A riff? Because you knew you could get away with it in front of them.”

“Did you bother tasting it?” she snapped, her volume reaching mine. I liked it, perversely enough, knowing she had fire in her. It added color to her cheeks and left her chest heaving with every quick breath. I didn’t realize I was staring until my dick twitched, forcing me to get my shit together.

“I did, which you’d know if you weren’t so busy basking in adulation.”

“Oh! Forgive me!” She touched a hand to her chest, drawing my gaze again. Dammit. “Was I soaking in the appreciation and praise of people whose opinion matters? I can see now why you’re so bitter. You’re dead set on hating me and everything I do.”

That wasn’t true. Was it? “Do not put words in my mouth,” I warned, taking a step closer the way a moth floated close to a flame that might kill it. There was no resisting the pull she had on me and how it intensified when things heated up between us.

She instantly pulled back, her chest rising and falling with each shallow breath as I stood close. “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “A child could see straight through you. Quit the gaslighting.”

I was going to fire her. There was no other way around it. No way I could coexist with this woman without blood being shed. “I expressly requested⁠—”

“You requested nothing. You ordered,” she spat. “You bullied. You did not request. And I am sorry…” she continued, biting off her words through clenched teeth, “… but I will not stifle myself creatively because you’re too afraid to take a few chances in this kitchen. You wonder why your brand is on the decline? Why don’t you take a look at how stale and repetitive your menu is?”

With a bitter laugh, I asked, “You haven’t been here a full week, and I’m supposed to take your opinion seriously?”

“I know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh right.” I snapped my fingers, chuckling. “I forgot. You’re an expert. Somebody put you on TV, and you know everything there is about building a brand and maintaining it for years.”

Her face darkened, and her eyes blazed like the fire crisping my insides. “You know something? If someone was trying to sabotage you, I can understand why.”

Motherfucker. I sucked in a breath, reeling inside but unwilling to reveal it. She knew how to hit below the belt. There was crossing the line, and there was dancing her way over it. The girl had full-on waltzed.

She knew it, too, falling back a step, even gasping softly like she couldn’t believe herself. “I’m… I shouldn’t⁠—”

Slicing my hand through the air, I cut her off. “I’m not interested in hearing whatever it is you’re trying to say. You’ve already said more than enough.” I struggled to contain myself as it was, fighting against revealing how deeply those words sliced through my core.

Her throat worked. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For what I said. Not for the tart, though.”

The stubborn little thing. I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream as she stood at her full height, which wasn’t saying much, and glared up at me in defiance. She had heart, grit, and I would have appreciated both in anyone but her.