Terror holds me hostage as a memory resurfaces.The one time I visited my father’s office on a whim was right before I started high school.His secretary was at lunch, so I opened his door unannounced and walked right into a scene from a horror movie.
My father and four of his fellow lawyer buddies had beat the new attorney to a pulp.As I ran out of the room, my father’s vow to make the man’s life a living hell rang in my ears.
All because he was gay.
Matteo isn’t like my father.He wasn’t bigoted in high school.I pray he isn’t now.
Too much depends on how he responds, so I sit frozen in terror as he shifts his gaze to his personal assistant.
Chapter 10
Matteo Ricco
Mr.Brunswick is gay.The man I kept by my side for over half a decade is attracted to men.
It doesn’t matter.He has been nothing but professional and efficient since I plucked him off the streets seven years ago.Literally.With my plans too big to manage on my own and my resources limited, I went in search of a diamond in the rough, and I found it in Liam Brunswick.
Now he owns ten percent of shares on top of a salary that would make God happy.He stays working because he’s as invested in this company as I am.
He kept his sexual orientation a secret for seven years, but Brook gained his trust within a day of meeting him and freed him of my assumptions.
The tension in Brook’s body triples.I peel my shocked stare away from Mr.Brunswick and meet terrified chocolate orbs.Memories swim in her eyes, but no matter how hard I wrack my brain, I can’t figure out what it has to do with me.
I turn quizzical eyes back to my personal assistant.He shrugs.
“So what if you’re gay?Brook could make anyone go straight, but she’s mine,” I growl.
For the first time in seven years, Liam Brunswick huffs and gives me an exasperated stare.
Confusion joins the tension wafting off Brook.I lift her chin with my knuckle.
“What are you so afraid of, little rabbit?Mr.Brunswick knows the ins and outs of my schedule.I couldn’t fire him even if I wanted to, and he knows it.Look at him,” I say as I nudge her chin toward my right-hand man.
Mr.Brunswick’s cool expression proves my point.
“But… don’t you collaborate with my father?”Brook asks.
“No, I don’t,” I answer.
“But your father does?”
Her insistence must have a point, so I bury the exasperation running through me.
“He may have earlier in life, but we don’t share much about our businesses with each other.What’s his is his and what’s mine is mine,” I say.
Skepticism shines clear in her eyes.
“And you don’t have any connections with my father?”
“No, I don’t,” I repeat.
She blows out a breath and relaxes, but her body begins to tremble.
“What did he do, little rabbit?”I ask.
“Sit down, Liam.I don’t need the first aid kit, but I do need off your lap,” she says.
She’s too fucking resilient.Despite the terror shaking her body, she has the audacity to make demands.
