Page 46 of Matteo

Something that would have brought her to my attention had I not met her before the old man hired her. There's something slow and steady about her. In the way she gets absorbed in her work, and how she shuts out everything around her. It starts to unsettle me in ways I'm not prepared for.

That first day when I saw her eating a sad lunch at the desk, it bothered me more than it should have. She elicits a protectiveness in me, and I feel responsible for her in a way I'm not supposed to.

It's impossible trying to keep my distance and stay focused, and I find myself looking for excuses to pass her desk or catch her when she isn’t paying attention.

She's someone I can’t quite read or ignore, and that's why I'm here, now, sitting opposite her, eating a panini I have no real appetite for.

“So, there’s nothing else?” I ask. I’ve never trusted the old man, but my current dilemma is such that every instinct tells me to be wary of Elizabeth, while every other part of me seems determined to ignore those instincts entirely.

She lifts a shoulder. “Not unless you want me to invent problems so you can keep talking to me over lunch.”

A laugh slips out before I can stop it. “Good to know that's all it takes.”

Is she flirting with me?

Chapter 14

MATTEO

Elizabeth knocks on my open door and I call for her to come in. She’s still working on the audit, and seems to get on with her work. I’ve done my best to leave her to it.

Done my best being the key phrase. Because it hasn’t been easy. Part of me keeps finding excuses to drift past her desk, to check what she’s doing, to ask pointless questions just to hear her talk.

I’m wasting time I don’t have, because there’s too much going on in my life right now and I can't afford to be distracted.

This is not me, and I'm so glad my brothers work above the ground, where I have little to no chance of them seeing me.

But I see how every hot-blooded guy turns and gapes at her as she walks by.

Joel is like an irritating little lapdog.

Elizabeth is distracting. More than she should be, and the last thing I need is distraction, especially from a sharp, stubborn, beautiful little tech nerd with a nose piercing and too much intelligence for her own good. I’ve noticed that, after her first week at work, when she was toeing the corporate line, she’s now reverted to her own style.

She wears sneakers, dark jeans and t-shirts or baggy sweatshirts. I guess I don't set a great example for business attire. The grads wear trendy hoodies, chinos and pristine white sneakers. Elizabeth's outfit of choice is not too different from mine.

I've noticed she also has leather bracelets. Funny, I didn't notice them in the elevator on that first day. Like her dyed hair, she must have tried to hide them. She also now wears her nose ring most times. I straighten as she steps in, my eyes drinking her in. She wore suits only for a few days.

“I’ve found something I think you need to know about,” she says.

“What is it?”

She sits down. “There are a few anomalies that keep recurring.”

I sit up. “What kind of anomalies?”

“The same systems keep showing up in reports that shouldn't be connected.”

I frown. “What does that mean?”

“It could mean nothing.” She flips through her notes. “Or it could mean there's a relationship between the incidents we're seeing that we haven't identified yet.”

“You're not sure?”

She hesitates. “About the pattern? No. But the more I look into this, the less these incidents feel independent.”

My stomach tightens. “Meaning?”

“Meaning there may be another way into the system that we don't know about.”