Page 74 of Matteo

His fingers find my hand, and it’s like I’ve been touched by electricity. Heat rushes through me, sharp and sudden. I suck in a breath. There’s so much arousal, so much awareness, just from his fingers lightly grazing my skin.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he says quietly. “I don’t even know since when. Since the wine bar. Since we got trapped in the elevator. Since you joined. And last night, last night was too much, with Joel stuck to your side like glue.”

I giggle, but I don’t know what to say to him, even though my heart sings. It feels like it wants to do the Mexican wave inside my chest, like something jubilant and wild rises inside me.

“I thought it was just me,” I whisper.

He cocks his head, like this is a surprise.

“Yeah,” I say softly. “I thought it was just me. I was hoping you'd come to the drinks, and when you didn't, I was disappointed. I was waiting for you …”

I lower my voice and glance out of the window, feeling paranoid that people might see us, but everyone has their head down and is engrossed in their work.

“You were disappointed?” he echoes.

I turn to him.

“I wondered… did I mess something up? But, you know, I couldn’t face you.”

A knock at the door, makes us jolt apart, like we’ve been caught doing something illicit. And even though we haven't, it still feels like it.

I quickly walk away and sit down.

Matteo opens the door.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

It's Alex.

His gaze flicks briefly between us before settling on Matteo.

“There’s been another tech issue.”

My body tenses in anticipation.

“What kind of issue?” Matteo asks.

Alex steps into the office.

“We've had another permissions issue. One of the senior analysts was suddenly locked out of several systems this morning.”

Matteo's expression hardens. “By whom?”

“That’s the problem.” Alex shakes his head. “According to the logs, nobody made the change.”

A chill crawls down my spine.

Matteo glances at me.

The same thought flashes between us.

Another anomaly.

Another event without an obvious cause.

Chapter 19

MATTEO