The Claim (10 page)

Enzo’s face went purple. “I am
not
paying that old bitch anything.”

Anna sent him a blank smile. “Then be prepared to be very publically corrected about what you should and should not do with employees. I don’t think I can be of any more help to you.”

She turned back to her computer and typed hard, attempting to dispel the faint trembling in her fingers from quite violent irritation at the man’s presence.

Enzo slammed the letter on Anna’s desk.  “You have no idea who I am, do you? Things like this get people like you hurt.”

Anna slowly got to her feet. “I’m going to ask you once. Leave.”

He smirked. “Talk to your client. Ask her who the Vitale family is. What they do. See if that will jog her memory.”

She circled her desk to the door and held it open in invitation. “I don’t think you have two brain cells to rub together for a spark enough to understand what I am saying. Get out of my office, please. Get some solicitors. Give my client what she wants. Goodbye, sir.”

Enzo finally took the hammer to the head and headed to the door. “Whatever she’s paid you or Rocco Mamione, it’s not enough. They’re a family full of pathetic losers who’ve always rode on others’ coattails. All I did was cut her off. You’ll see you’re backing the wrong horse. I hope you see sense before it’s too late.”

“Bye, little man,” Anna said firmly, slamming the door behind him. Fine. She’d take the hint. Stuffing the bear under her desk and out of sight, she picked up the phone. “Mamione, you’ve got some explaining to do. My office. Now.”

Rocco took the mango juice with him. He had a bad feeling the after effects of Beppe’s wonder drug were about to repeat on him.

“Afternoon, Ms. Taylor,” he said quietly.

Anna opened her mouth and then frowned at his glass. “Cure?”

“If you really want to help me, feel free to lock your door and let me make love to you.” Anna’s lips parted and for the first time in a long time, she seemed to be at a loss for words. He calmly drank the juice, waiting for her to prepare some sort of response.

“Do you think I’m going to say ‘why not?’”

“That’d be nice.” He grinned. “Your little smart skirt would look very enticing around your waist.”

Anna rubbed her eyes. “You know what, you’ll be really sorry if I complain to HR about sexual harassment.”

“Ah, that.” He nodded. “Prior relationship doesn’t count?”

“No,” Anna said bluntly.

He couldn’t help it, his eyes went straight down to her chest and saw two rather obvious points of disagreement. “Fair enough, Ms. Taylor. What have you summoned me for?”

“Did Enzo Vitale come and see you a while ago?”

Rocco’s stomach flashed with fear and rage. “He came to you?”

“You could have warned me. Spiteful little prick. What’s his problem with you? He basically called you and Nonna bottom feeders.”

Rocco paused. Whatever he told her from now on would put her right between him and any interested parties. “Give me some new client forms to sign.”

“What?”

“Privilege. That way if anyone asks you, you’re protected.”

She stared at him. “Rocky, it’s that bad?”

He nearly laughed. She hadn’t called him Rocky in years. “I know what you value, and this will make sure that nothing I tell you will compromise your integrity.”

“So you think I can’t keep a secret? That I’ll be down the nearest police station to shop you? Am I really that untrustworthy?”

He placed the glass on the floor and stood up to catch her arms in his hands. Rubbing soothingly, he bent to catch her eyes. “It’s because you’re a good person. Who doesn’t need to know outside the protection of client-solicitor privilege.”

He felt heat at either side of his waist and looked down to see that she had her palms braced on his torso. “No. Tell me or not at all.”

“It’s not just me, Annie. It’s my family, my nonna, my mum, my dad. It’s my friends, Beppe included. I can’t risk all of that on—”

“On whether I’ll use it to get back at you?” she released with a disgusted breath. “You really don’t know me. I don’t think you ever did. When I was at the police station that night, I lied. Before I even knew what was going on, I lied. Because I thought I could help you.”

“And I don’t want you to do that again. I watched my mother sacrifice everything for my father. Her own family, her religion. I couldn’t let you do that for me.”

“This isn’t talking, Rocco, this is you putting me in an impossible situation. It’s also showing me that yet again, it’s family first for you and everything else on the other side of the world, in darkness.”

“Annie, do you know that you were followed by the police for two weeks after I was arrested?” He watched her pupils enlarge. “If you didn’t know, then you wouldn’t have to lie. Not to help me.”

He felt her making fists in his shirt. “You should have given me a heads-up. A choice.”

His hand drifted over her butter-soft curls. “Yes, I realise that you’re all for autonomy, but this job is hard enough to keep secrets without doing it for your boyfriend as well.”

“You’re such a dick,” she fumed. “You weren’t just my
boyfriend
—I loved you!”

That spark, that hint of the passion she’d felt for him was like a knife in the gut. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong type of hangover, but it was a long time coming. He kissed her. A kiss to do all the talking for him. Where he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulled her into his body and pressed his lips to hers. The kind of kiss that made her soften, moan and curl her arms around his neck, let him kiss her until she kissed him back.. With a growl, he parted his thighs and cradled her against his growing erection. Too long. It had been far too long since he’d touched her. He felt for the clip in her hair, released it and threw it somewhere across the room. Not waiting to hear even a murmur of a protest, he simply kissed her harder. Just as he thought he was making things better, Anna pulled back and gave him an eye-watering slap.

“What the—”

“That’s been six years stewing, mate, you know that,” she retorted. “I’ll get the forms.”

She pushed him away, straightened her skirt and left the office. Rubbing his cheek, he didn’t know whether to be genuinely worried or start laughing.

“My hair is fine,” she grumbled at her secretary before she came back and placed the forms in front of him. Rather than sitting next to him, she put the desk between their bodies. Rocco struggled not to smile and instead filled out the forms. Once he’d signed the last page, he shifted them toward Anna and told her everything. Beginning to end. To her credit, she didn’t ask questions but like a good lawyer, she waited with her fingers steepled against her mouth until he’d finished.

“Is your dad out of prison?”

“Came out about eight months ago. Doesn’t know what to do with himself. He still keeps to the prison routine and only really goes out to go to church. He’s found Christ again.”

“I didn’t know he was missing,” Anna said dryly. “Do you know why Imogen said what she did?”

Rocco released a pent-up breath. “It didn’t occur to me at the time. But my boss made sure she was compensated.”

“How?”

“Half a million pounds.” Anna rubbed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “Let me guess, she told you she came into money? Some long-lost aunt died or something?”

“Grandfather.” Anna sighed. “But you know this is your fault as well. You should have trusted me.”

He leaned across the desk and pulled her hand away from her face. “I know.”

Gently, he stroked his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. It was blissful just to be able to touch her again, although he was very appreciative that it didn’t involve violence on her part. There was a knock on the door. Anna pulled her hand away. Bernie popped her head around the door. “Sorry to interrupt. Mr. Mamione, your next appointment is waiting for you.”

“I’ll be one minute, thank you, Bernie.”

The woman blushed a little and then closed the door. Anna collected the forms and placed them inside a folder, before shoving them into her desk drawer. “I’ll put them in my safe later on. I didn’t write anything down.”

“It’s fine.”

“Just so you know, this doesn’t really change anything.”

Oh, his poor, sweet deluded Anna. “Yes it does. Because it means we can start over.”

“But it’s all—”

“Arguing with me, as much as it turns me on, isn’t going to make a difference. Whatever I need to do, whatever mountains I have to move, time machines to build, humble pies to eat, I’ll do it. I love you. I didn’t stop.” Ever eloquent, Anna made an “o” shape with her lips. He grinned. “Think on it.”

Chapter Eleven

Struggling with the stupid bear, Anna headed for the lift. In the aftermath of the madness with Enzo and Rocco, Anna was behind with everything. God, Rocco. With the kiss, and the laying his soul bare for her and the goddamn kiss. E-mails had piled up and defences that needed to be drafted had shamed her with their existence on her to-do list, while that kiss replayed in her head. To make matters worse, she’d committed to a seminar for HR the next day. So she had freaking homework. She hated homework. What she wanted to do was have a hot bath, a glass of wine and a Tweet moment. Have some alone time to fully appreciate just how easily Rocco’s lips alone could bring her to a peak of pleasure. Who was still at the office at nine thirty at night? She used the bear’s butt to press the lift call button.

“Going home so late?” The bear did an involuntary star jump at Rocco’s appearance. Jesus, he really was affiliated with the devil.

“Where the hell did you spring from?”

“Charles’ office. We were having a chat. I’ve decided I like his office better. He’s not keen on swapping, but I can convince him.”

Anna frowned over the bear’s ears. “You weren’t hovering about?”

“I’ve got work to do and I do prefer home to this place. As Mr. Bear there will soon appreciate. I’m quite glad you haven’t thrown him out of the nearest window.”

“And you know he’s a he because?”

“It’s a sorry bear,” he mocked, “it’s going to be a
he
.” The lift doors opened and he stepped to one side to let her in first. To be honest, she didn’t want to be alone with him, now that she could still taste his kiss and recall a thousand others before it.

“You shouldn’t buy me gifts,” she said abruptly.

Rocco raised his eyebrows. “Why ever not?”

“Because you’re acting like a guilty man,” she warned. “Why would I ever take another gift from you if I feel you’re trying to make up for something you’ve done wrong?”

Rocco stared at her for a stark second before he turned and pressed the stop button. The lift came to a juddering halt, lights flickering off and on.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she hissed at his back. The telephone in the lift rang, and calmly he answered it. “No, no idea what happened. Ten minutes? We’ll be fine. It’s just two of us. All right.”

He placed the phone down and turned back to her. The look on his face made Anna clutch the bear defensively in front of her. “What are you doing?” she repeated.

Nothing in the way he approached her made her feel any wiser about getting into a confined space with him. He removed the bear from her arms and chucked the poor thing to the other side of the lift. Her file case and bag suffered the same fate. That look did not bode well for her, that one there, where his eyelashes cast dark shadows over his cheekbones. Satan would be proud of his advocate.

“What would you like from me instead,
Tempesta
?” he asked softly, edging her back into the wall of the lift with the hard width of his body.

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. His eye line was level with her mouth. No, no, no. “And move yourself away somewhere! I want to go home. You’re causing me grief.”

He lifted his gaze from her lips to her temple. “Good,” he claimed, pushing a curl from her forehead with a thumb.

“What?”

“Good. I’m glad I’m causing you grief. It means you’re thinking about me.”

“Not that way, mate.”

He shook his head. “Annie. You have a duty to uphold your integrity. What you just said was an affront to your profession.”