“Don’t you feel like things are going to slip out of your fingers at any given time? Like it’ll all… go away?” He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t allowed myself to get close to anyone. Ever. I just…” He sighs and looks away.
I reach for his hand and grip it firmly. “I know. It’s hard for me, too.”
When he turns back to face me, his eyes are watery and twinkling.
“I miss them.”
My vision clouds slightly at the mention of our parents.
“I miss them, too.” I squeeze his hand. “But I have you. And you have me. And now Nathan.”
He wipes under his eyes and lets out a loud sigh. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I’d thrown myself into work after they died. I never fully digested it until recently.” He looks at me and gives me a small smile. “I’m thinking about stepping down and making Anderson CEO of Gather.”
I tense up immediately. “Why would you do that?” Luca’s eyebrows shoot up at my protesting voice. “It’syourcompany. If you sign it over to him…” What kind of company would he turn it into if he had not only majority control, but full creative control?
Luca sighs. “Nat, give him a chance. I can tell you don’t like him,” he starts, frowning.You could say that again. “And I haven’t made any decisions yet. I’m weighing a few other options. Anderson is a good guy. I promise.”
I shake my head. “You keep saying that, but I’ve yet to see any evidence of a decent human being. I don’t trust him.” Last night comes flooding back to me. “He yelled at me about Corinne.”
Luca’s eyebrows are knitted together in confusion. “Corinne? From the restaurant group?”
I nod, and my brother’s curious expression doesn’t sit well.
“He didn’t tell you?”Interesting.
Luca narrows his eyes. “What happened?”
I explain how she’d found me at the bar, and how Anderson had yelled at me a couple hours later. I leave out the last part of the conversation, even though it still gives me goosebumps to think about.
The way he touched my robe, like he was daring himself to untie it. The way his fingers trailed down the front of my body… how it had electrified my body. The look on his face when he took my mask off, as if he were grateful to see me so stripped of my protective barrier.
Still, he’s an asshole. One minuscule moment of decency doesn’t make up for the way he acts in any other situation.
“He’s constantly insulting me and insinuating that I’m not qualified enough to be doing this job,” I add. “Which is why it bothers me that you always defend him.”
Luca looks at his watch and then plucks his phone from the table. He angrily jabs a text out, and then he sighs and looks at me.
“I’m not going to blame you, because I do think Corinne unfairly targeted you, knowing you were… a new hire,” he fumbles, wincing a little as my eyes narrow in on him. He holds his hands out. “Look, you didn’t know what to say. I didn’t verse you. But I don’t blame you. It wasn’t meant to be. She was obviously on a timeline we couldn’t compete with.”
His laissez-faire attitude surprises me, but only because it’s such a stark contrast to what Anderson told me last night.
You fucked this up for us, Natalia.
It’s like he and Anderson are on two completely different wavelengths.
“Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear. And I’m sorry.” I roll my eyes. “Anderson was super rude about it.”
Luca smiles and sips his coffee. “Here’s what you should do if it happens again. Offer to buy her another drink. Say we’re taking the night to think about it and that we’ll let her know first thing in the morning.” He reaches out for my hand. “Now you know. I’m sorry Anderson was rude to you. He can be fiery. Two peas in a pod, I suppose.”
I pretend to vomit. “That’s insulting. I’m nothing like that jerk.”
Luca peers at me skeptically. “Are you sure?”
I open my mouth in shock. “Iloathehim, Luca. He’s so arrogant.” The waiter brings our food, and we began to eat. “Doesn’t it bother you that he didn’t tell you about last night?” Imaybe fanning the flames by saying it, but Luca deserves transparency.Especiallyif he’s contemplating making him CEO. “Is that really the kind of person you want running Gather? What else is he hiding from you?”
“I trust him. I told you that already.” He gestures to his phone. “I sent him a text. He should be here any minute.”
I resist the urge to leave before I’ve finished breakfast. I must really abhor him if I’m willing to let him come between me and my food.
