Page 14 of Matteo

“Have you tried slowing down your breathing? In for five, hold for five, then out for five?”

Before I can answer, he starts counting, holding up his fingers slowly. We breathe in for five, hold for five, then breathe out for five.

He’s a great guy, is what I conclude, when, minutes later, I start to feel calmer.

We’re both facing one another. Both leaning on the wall. My hands are pressed together tightly. He’s folded his arms, showing off more tattoos. I bet he’s inked all over.

“You checking me out again?” he teases, offering a smile that unsettles me. It’s the stress of the situation and he’s only trying to be nice, I tell myself.

But I huff out a groan. “You wish.”

“I’m being serious. You were looking at my arms.”

He caught me red-handed and I can’t deny it. “I was … I was wondering where in maintenance you work.”

“Nowhere important. I’m just the janitor.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” He frowns. “Being judgy again?”

“No. No. I just had you down for working in … I don’t know.”

He’s put me in a bind. Eyes, brown or dull green, I can’t work out which, stare at me in consternation. He must think I’m nasty. A real judgmental piece of work. “I thought you worked in tech or something. I’m not judging you, I promise.” I’m supposed to be thinking about my presentation, and the awesome opportunity I had.

Have, Liz, not had. They can’t turn me away for being late when it was a fault in their elevator.

The guy’s expression relaxes, and he stares at me for a moment before casually running a hand through his hair. It’s long and tousled, curling slightly at the ends near his neck and it falls perfectly over his forehead.

He has the type of hair and style that some would call messy.

I’d call it hot.

Chapter 5

MATTEO

She thinks I work in maintenance.

That’s a first.

Rio would die laughing.

Enzo would find it highly amusing.

I’m going to play along with it. I can see she’s scared, even if she’s trying to pretend otherwise.

The lights flicker again before going out completely and now we’re in pitch darkness. She must be terrified. I whip out my cell phone, fumble around with the buttons until I manage to turn on the flashlight, then point it at the control panel. I hit the intercom. “Hey! The lights have gone out.”

The usual crackle, then silence. A few seconds later, “We’re on it.”

“You said that fifteen minutes ago.”

“Almost there, sir.”

There’s nothing I can do, and I need to let them get on with it. Thankfully, a few seconds later the lights flicker back on again. I turn around to see the woman on the floor. Her eyes are closed, her bangs falling over her face. She’s also taken off her shoes and her belongings are lying beside her. She has her knees bunched up and her arms folded tightly around them.

She’s more scared than I first thought. I crouch down in front of her. “Hey.” I touch her arm lightly. “It’s going to be okay. You’re not alone. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”