PunishingPhoebe (2 page)

The tense arrangement of his features
suggested he still bore anger from the exchange with his father, but he sounded
calm as ever when he spoke. “As soon as you’ve finished lunch, I’d like the
Giovanni file on my desk.”

“Right away.” Phoebe managed a weak smile.
“I’ve lost my appetite.”

He nodded, his expression softening
slightly. “As have I.” With a single nod, he returned to his office.

She watched him go, attempting to suppress
her disappointment. They had been so close to acting on their attraction. If
not for Salvatore’s intervention, they might be entangled in a passionate
embrace this very second.

A long sigh escaped her when she left her
desk to fetch the requested file. Maybe it was for the best. She knew firsthand
how difficult it could be to work alongside someone whose attraction was out in
the open. She didn’t need that kind of scenario again. Yes, she had learned her
lesson about office relationships working with Danny Seaton.

That treacherous voice in the back of her
mind insisted on tormenting her again by posing a question she was unable to
banish from her mind for the rest of the afternoon. If she really intended to
avoid an affair with Luca, why was she still imagining what it would be like to
make love with her boss?

* * * * *

Phoebe hadn’t realized how on-edge she had
been until she left Androtti’s later that afternoon. As soon as her sensible
sedan cleared the underground parking garage she exhaled and her stiff
shoulders relaxed. The events of the afternoon had cast a pall over both of
them. She just hadn’t allowed herself to acknowledge the new level of tension
between her and Luca until safely away from his presence.

She pointed her car in the direction of her
sister’s dorm, though all she really wanted to do was go home to a hot bath and
try to pretend the day hadn’t turned out as it had. She didn’t want to feel
uncomfortable around Luca, but he had seemed to avoid her for the remainder of
the afternoon. If she had to identify the reason, she might have tentatively
settled on embarrassment from Salvatore’s behavior, but that wasn’t quite
right. Had she imagined the flashes of guilt she seemed to read in his
expression the few times work had necessitated they interact?

As she approached the two-story building
one block from Anya’s college campus, Phoebe tried to force the thoughts from
her mind. Her distress would transmit easily to her sister, and she didn’t need
to pick up on her negative emotions. Anya needed positive support for the
forthcoming doctor’s appointment.

Anya was waiting for her at the entrance to
the building, conversing with a fellow student. He was a handsome young man,
with sunglasses that gave his face a lean, sexy look.

Phoebe honked twice and Anya waved in her
direction. She held her breath as her little sister negotiated the stairs with
careless confidence. It took every fiber in her being not to get out and guide
her sister to the car as Anya tapped out the path with the white cane in her
hands. Though she had only been using the cane for a few months, it seemed a
natural extension of her body. Phoebe wished she had adapted so well to the
quick deterioration of her sister’s eyesight as Anya had. It was still in her
to protect her from everything that could pose a danger, but her sister
preferred to do things on her own.

Once she was settled into the passenger
seat and safely belted in, Phoebe let out the breath she had been holding,
greeted her sister and turned the car in the direction of Anya’s
ophthalmologist. As she drove the few blocks to his office, they chatted about
Anya’s latest class. Phoebe was thankful she didn’t ask about work since Anya
had an uncanny knack to pick up on the slightest change in tone. Her sister
loved to tease her about her “crush” on Luca and Phoebe was in no mood to evade
or deny the teasing allegations today. Nor did she want to relate what had
happened with Salvatore, knowing it would outrage her little sister. She needed
to keep her stress levels down.

Parking was tight but Phoebe angled into a
spot on the street. She bit her tongue to avoid uttering a protest when Anya
bounded from the car before she had even finished parallel parking.

“I’ll see you in there.”

“Okay.” Phoebe waited until Anya cleared
the curb before angling her car the rest of the way into the space. She might
have watched her sister until she made it inside the office if not for an
impatient honk behind her. As she turned off the ignition, her cell phone
beeped to alert her to an incoming text message.

After assuring herself Anya had made it
inside, Phoebe retrieved the phone from the pocket on her purse and flipped it
open. In two seconds, she had the message on her screen.

Phoebe, come in ASAP. Major crisis with
Giovanni merger.

Experiencing a twinge of guilt, Phoebe
closed the phone without answering Luca’s summons. It was clear he needed her,
but Anya needed her more right then.

By the time she entered the
ophthalmologist’s office, Anya was already on her way back. Phoebe slipped in
behind her sister and the nurse. As they went into the back office, she winced
at the sight of a new painting hanging on the wall. Anya would have loved the
pixilated painting of a floral arrangement partially obscuring a Victorian
maiden, if only she could have seen it.

Phoebe tried to cling to hope as they were
ushered into an exam room. Maybe her sister would one day see again and be able
to have a normal life, to finish her studies in art history and re-enroll in a
regular university, instead of the one she currently attended, tailored for the
needs of the blind and visually impaired.

Dr. Collins’ arrival interrupted her
private thoughts, and she managed a smile for the middle-aged man. He took time
to shake both their hands and exchange small talk before performing a brief
exam on Anya. Phoebe held her breath when he sat down on a stool and opened the
file on the counter.

“Last week’s test results are back.
Nothing’s changed, Anya.” He sounded genuinely regretful. “The vision in your
right eye remains at 20/400 and 20/600 in your left.”

“So, no further degeneration then?” Anya
asked with false cheer.

Phoebe easily detected the disappointment
in her sister’s airy tone. “But no improvement.”

“There wouldn’t be, Ms. Sanders. As I’ve
explained, Retinitis Pigmentosa doesn’t spontaneously regress. All we can hope
to do is halt the progress of the degeneration of the retina.” Dr. Collins
shook his bald head. “There isn’t a cure.”

“There must be something you can do. Anya
is young. Her vision has only been affected for the last year or so.”

“She’s only noticed symptoms for the past
year. The RP has been destroying her retinal cells since the day she was born.”
A sigh escaped the ophthalmologist. “The only possible cure remains the
procedure I’ve discussed with you before, and the odds aren’t that favorable.”

Phoebe nodded, feeling a familiar sense of
defeat crushing her. The cost of enrolling Anya in the clinical trial through a
private facility in Boston was astronomical. Even if they could somehow
convince the clinic to take Anya without cost, her sister would still need full
living expenses and medical assistance during the months of treatment. She just
couldn’t afford it.

She tuned out the doctor as he and Anya
wrapped up the appointment. It took every ounce of willpower not to cry when
she walked beside her sister a few minutes later, subtly guiding her to the
car.

“I feel like pizza,” said Anya as she
slipped into the car. Her hand unerringly found the seat belt, and she seemed
to function as well without her sight as she had with it, but Phoebe knew the
toll it had taken on her to lose her sight so rapidly.

“Sorry, kiddo, but I have to go back to the
office. You can order in, can’t you?”

Anya frowned at her when she had settled
behind the steering wheel. “You work too much, sis.” She shrugged. “Well, next
time. You can drop me at Papa Luigi’s on your way back to Androtti’s.”

“That’s so far from your dorm.”

“Six blocks. I think I can cover that
distance without dropping from exhaustion.” The dry note in her voice did
little to cover the exasperation Anya was trying to mask.

“What if you get lost?”

“I won’t.”

“You could be injured—”

“Enough,” she said sharply. “God, Phoebe,
you’re my sister, not my keeper. I’ll be fine.”

Phoebe bit her tongue, managing a tight,
“Okay.” She understood Anya’s need for independence, but couldn’t stop worrying
about her. It had become habit to take care of her sister since their parents
died, and having her sister go blind in the span of a year didn’t make it
easier to let go of her responsibilities.

Anya didn’t speak again until she pulled up
in front of the kitschy pizza parlor. Her tone was light and mellow, the same
as always. “Thanks for the ride.”

She struggled to match it. “Sure.” A husky
note entered her voice. “Take care.”

“I will.” Unexpectedly, Anya leaned over to
press a kiss on her cheek. “You take care as well.”

“I don’t think dealing with merger issues
will endanger me.”

“But resisting your boss’s charms might.”
With a giggle, Anya made her escape from the car before Phoebe could respond.

She accomplished the drive back to the
office in good time. Her mind continued to worry at how to get Anya into the
trial, but she forced herself to focus on the Giovanni merger and everything
about it she could recall while swiping her card to enter the building. The
elevator ferried her to the top floor quickly, and by the time she stepped out,
she had on a professional face.

As she walked down the marble hallway, the
clicking of her heels echoing to remind her she was practically alone in the
building, Phoebe wondered if she had been summoned into the office for
something other than the Giovanni merger. Was Luca about to make a move? Her
stomach churned with a mix of apprehension and excitement when she walked into
the office.

It was immediately clear she had been
called under false pretenses, but not for the passionate reason she’d hoped.
Salvatore was an imposing figure, even in the wheelchair, framed as he was by
the late afternoon light spilling in through the office’s sole window. “Miss
Sanders.”

She frowned. “What’s going on? Why are you
here?”

“I’m here to get rid of a problem—you.”