Page 18 of Bulletproof Baby

There's no way I want to be anything like Hera. It makes me consider Cecilia's words. I have to take my feelings for Lia seriously if I want things to continue between us. I don't want Lia looking at me like some obsessed lunatic. There's so much going on, I feel my brain stretching in too many directions.

When I hear a firm knock on my door, I look up to see Armande waiting with a file open in his hand and eyes glued to it. It's just what I need to stop letting this personal development in my love life distract me from the work ahead.

"Are you coming in?" I ask him.

"No," he says, refusing to look up from whatever report he's reading. "We have a two o'clock meeting in the conference room. Don't tell me you forgot about the Wellingtons."

I did forget. It's been a busy couple of days for me.

"Who are they and why do they need to see me?" I ask him for a refresher.

Armande groans, closing the file and glaring at me. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of this meeting, too. Val, listen, I know I gave you a hard time earlier today, but don't let new pussy get to you. We still have a company to run and a few hundred people depending on things running like clockwork."

"Relax, Armande. I've put in enough hours and time building this company. If I'm not present one fucking Monday morning, we're not going to file for Chapter 11."

"I'm just pointing it out before one fucking Monday turns into a month of Mondays. Pussy has been the downfall of actual empires?—"

I stop him. "No, the pursuit of it has been the downfall. I'm not pursuing something that I've already conquered."

"Great, then that means you'll be ready for that video conference this evening? We have two teams in the middle of a Southeast Asian rainforest. Things seem to be getting complicated securing travel out of there for them. We assured our client safe passage by river. The canal's under attack by pirates, or something."

I nod and understand. "Fine. I'll reach out to some of my embassy contacts to see what we can do. Maybe we can get a private plane out there or something."

"Unless it's a stealth bomber, no fly zone. You know that, Val. Get your shit together. You dropping the ball here is actually life and death. We secure people. Not objects, not properties, people. I'll check in with you at the end of the day. You can let me know if I'm handling the Southeast Asian transport crisis or if you can actually pull your weight on that today."

Armande walks out of my office and I know he's upset, pissed even. He and Cecilia are right. I'm too distracted. This is only one reason why I can't be bothered with Lia. Still, I can't see myself just walking away from her. Perhaps one more night to get her out of my system will do the trick.

I pull out my phone and dial Lia's number. It only rings for a second before she answers.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Barrone."

"Are you busy right now?" I ask her.

"Just having a late lunch with my parents. Can I give you a call back?"

"No. Actually, I want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night if possible."

"Dinner?" She lets the word linger in the air as if there's anything to think about. Why wouldn't she want to have dinner with me? I literally ate her pussy until she came down my chin.

I reply with sarcasm. "Yes, you know that meal most of us like to eat after a long day. I want, no, I need to see you again."

She sighs. "I told you that I don't think that's a good idea and I told you why."

"I don't care about what Saul wants you to do or what he told your family about this weekend. All of that's being taken care of. I just need to see you, Lia. Are you going to make me beg?"

"No, you don't have to beg because my answer is no, Valentino. Please, uh, respect that." Her voice is shaky, as if something's wrong. I can hear voices in the background encouraging her to take me up on my offer, but Lia's adamant. I know why she's saying no, but the problem?

I rarely take no for an answer.

9

LIA

One of the last things I want to do is admit when my parents are right about anything. The simplicity of our situation when Valentino explained it let me believe all our problems would go away by speaking to Cecilia. There's hope brimming that we can end this madness after months of giving Don Caputo our hard-earned money.

However, staring at Don Caputo as he sits behind the desk in our office trailer worries me about whatever he has planned. The ability to outright defy the orders of a don isn't granted to many. I should be worried about my life, but there's a part of me that senses Don Caputo won't get rid of me until my usefulness has run out.

"That was very stupid of you, Lia," Saul says with disdain. "If I tell you to do something, you'd better do it."