Her Roman Holiday (24 page)

She would simply have to get over him.
 
It might take a while, but eventually, she would be able to go a few minutes without thinking about him.
 
Then, a few hours.
 
Eventually, a whole half day.

Calia didn’t even try to imagine a time when she would be able to go a whole day without thinking about him.
 
Baby steps.

After unlocking the door to her own, private office, she booted up her computer, got herself some coffee and settled in for the day.

She was startled by the shrill of her telephone.
 
A glance at her watch indicated that it was almost eleven a.m.
 
Though she vaguely recalled nodding her greetings to several of her co-workers as they popped their heads into her office to say their good mornings, she had been working for almost five hours straight.

The phone rang again and she yanked the handset off its cradle.
 
“
Hallo, hier ist Ryan.
”

It was the front receptionist.
 
“You have a visitor.
 
I’m sending him through.”

Calia wasn’t expecting anyone, but before she could ask for more details, the other woman had disconnected.
 
Calia stared at the handset in bemusement, before returning it to its cradle.
 
Presumably, it was someone from one of their client companies, though until now, they had never stopped in without an appointment
—
usually with one of the more experienced analysts on staff.
 
Calia would be invited in for introductions and to listen in on the meetings as an observer.

“Calia.”

She had to be imagining things.
 
All these long hours were finally starting to get to her.
 
Because she was certain she had just heard his voice.
 
And now, looking at the doorway, she could see him.
 
Standing there, watching her with his hypnotic, silver eyes.
 

She blinked and shook her head.
 
The apparition remained.
 

So maybe it wasn’t her imagination, after all.
 

“Gio,” she said, experimentally.
 
He waited.
 
She frowned.
 
“What are you doing here?”

He shrugged.
 
“Taking a tour of my latest asset?”

Her mouth dropped open in angry astonishment.
 
“Oh, for God’s sake
—
that sets a new standard of arrogance, even for you.
 
Not to mention being presumptuous and demeaning.”

He looked at her as if she had gone mad.
 
“I am talking about this office.
 
This company.
 
One of my subsidiaries bought it a few weeks ago.”

“Oh.”
 
Her eyes slid away from him, and she lapsed into embarrassed silence, before the absurdity of the exchange struck her and she let out a reluctant chuckle.
 
“Right.
 
Of course.
 
They did mention something about a change of ownership when I started here.
 
I didn’t realise it was one of your companies, though.”

Another silence.
 
Then,
 
“How are you, Calia?”

She made herself look straight at him, forced a smile onto her lips.
 
“I’m fine thanks, Gio.
 
How are you?”
 
The question came out sounding more sarcastic than she intended.

She allowed her gaze to roam over him.
 
He looked tired
—
but still too sexy for her own peace of mind, damn the man.
 
It hurt to see him again.
 
Physically.
 
Emotionally.
 

She really hadn’t expected it to hurt this much.
 
Then again, she hadn’t expected to see him again, either.

He ignored her question, the beginnings of a frown forming between his brows as he looked at her.
 
“You have lost weight.”

“Oh, it’s just this office
—
something about the lighting, I think.
 
It makes me look skinny.”
 
Could she manage to sound more fatuous if she tried?
 

The scowl darkened.
 
“Will you stop it?”

“Stop what?
 
Making polite chitchat?
 
Sorry
—
here I thought that was why you decided to stop by on your way to wherever.
 
To make stilted conversation with an ex-lover.”

“You know that is not why I am here.”

“I know no such thing.”
 
She let out a slow breath.
 
“All right, Gio.
 
So you’ve evidently got some kind of purpose in mind.
 
Why not get to the point?”

“You are not making this easy.”
 
He stepped into her office and closed the door.
 
“We have things to discuss, Calia.
 
It is not over between us.”

The breath squeezed out of her lungs and she went completely still, staring at him.
 
Willing him to be saying what she wanted him to be saying.
 
About them.
 
And about the possibility of a future together.

“Well?” he prompted, after several moments.
 
“Are you not going to say something?
 
One of your sarcastic little rebuttals, perhaps?”

She shook her head.
 
“Not now.
 
This is too important.”

“Did you mean it when you said you were falling in love with me?”

She swallowed, hard.
 
“I might have been understating things a little.”
 
Though she dearly wanted to look anywhere but at his face, she forced herself to hold his gaze.
 
“I had already fallen in love with you, in fact.”
 
Why did she sound so breathless all of a sudden?

He was about to speak, when she shook her head.
 
“No.
 
Please,” she said.
 
“See the thing is, Gio, that doesn’t change anything.”

He glared at her.
 
“It changes everything
—
how can you not see that?”
 
He moved forward into her cramped office, his body radiating impatience.
 
“You trusted me enough to fall in love with me.
 
Despite everything.
 
And while I was busy denying my feelings and trying to find excuses to hold you at arm’s length, you were honest enough, with yourself and with me, to admit to them.”

“Let’s not overstate things.
 
I was only honest about them once I figured I had nothing to lose anyway,” she said dryly.

He reached across the desk, tracing the line of her jaw with his finger.
 
His touch was electric.
 
He held her gaze, a rueful smile touching his mouth.
 
“I wasn’t even honest about them then,” he said.

She closed her eyes, something shaking deep inside her.
 
“Just say it, Gio
—
but only if you mean it.
 
I can’t stand this.
 
I really can’t.”

His hand touched her chin, gently urging it up.
 
“Open your eyes, Calia.
 
Look at me.”

After bracing herself, she complied.
 
His gaze was tender, his expression warm.
 
“I love you, Calia.
 
More than I thought it would be possible to love anyone
—
leave alone an outspoken, opinionated, sarcastic career woman.
 
Someone who refuses to accept that I am always right.
 
Someone who calls me on it when I am being arrogant or unreasonable.”

Her throat felt tight, but she decided to speak around it anyway.
 
“Not that you’re ever arrogant or unreasonable….”

He smiled tenderly.
 
“And you were right, Calia.
 
I was too angry to see it at the time, but once I cooled down, I realised that everything you said was true.
 
After what happened with Paolo, I did jump to conclusions
—
conclusions based, not on what I knew about you, but on my past experiences with other women.”

He moved around the desk and swiveled her chair to face him.
 
With gentle hands he urged her to stand.
 
“I will not do it again,
tesoro mio
.
 
I was a fool to do it in the first place
—
and a bigger fool to try to brush it off later.
 
It is just that I have been so used to getting my way, with minimal inconvenience on my part.
 
And certainly, without any need for soul searching.”

Calia touched his face.
 
“I love you, Gio.
 
But I don’t know how we could make this work.
 
I have a career
—
and giving that up would be like relinquishing part of myself.
 
I still want children, of course.
 
And when they came, they’d be my number one priority, but I would still want to work.”

“One of the advantages of having near-unlimited resources is that these sorts of logistics are made all that much more straightforward.”
 
He touched her face.
 
“I happen to have an apartment in Frankfurt.
 
A very nice one, in fact.
 
One with an exceedingly comfortable bed, I will add.”

She frowned, still puzzled.
 
“So how
—
?”

“We will divide our time between Frankfurt and Rome,” he said simply.
 
“My apartment here is a penthouse.
 
I will have a helipad installed.”

Her mind was still reeling with this sudden development.
 
Was it really Gio, here, telling her that he wanted to be with her?
 
That he was willing to turn his life around in order to do so?
 
She shook her head.

“If that is meant as a refusal, I will warn you that I do not give up easily.”

She smiled.
 
“It’s not, of course.
 
I just can’t believe it.”
 
But it was slowly starting to sink in.
 
A tight bud of joy began to unfurl and blossom somewhere inside her chest.

 
He cupped her face in his hands.
 
“What I couldn’t believe was how angry you made me when you walked out.
 
And how, in the days afterwards, when I began to calm down, everything seemed empty and barren without you there to share it with.
 
I ached for you, Calia.
 
So come now, put me out of my misery
—
tell me you’ll marry me.”

She gave him a mischievous look.
 
“I might
—
if you ever got around to asking me.”

He laughed, suddenly looking younger, and roguishly handsome.
 
“Is that what you were waiting for?”
 
He dropped to one knee with a flourish.
 
Taking her hand in his, he planted a tender, sensual kiss on her knuckle, before looking up to her, a smile gleaming in his eyes.
 
“I love you more than I ever imagined possible.
 
And I need you, my love
—
to give me perspective on things.
 
We may not always agree, but I promise to always love and respect you.
 
Will you marry me, Calia Ryan?”

Calia held her hands against his cheeks.
 
“I’m going to call you on that, you know.”

“I am counting on it.”

“Of course I’ll marry you, Gio.
 
Now get up, before my knees start to hurt in sympathy.”

He rose and pulled her into his arms.
 
Heaven.
 
She rested her head against his chest for several moments, reveling in the feel of being exactly where she was.
 
Exactly where she belonged.

After a few moments, she sighed.
 
“If we’re going to be dividing our time between here and Rome, I hope they’ll be amenable about giving me flexible hours, because this is a great job.
 
I think I could learn a lot, working here. I’ll have to talk to my boss about telecommuting or something.”

He cleared his throat, and when she looked up, he was watching her with the hint of a smile.
 
Only then did she remember what he had told her earlier.
 
She chuckled, shaking her head.

“Right.
 
Of course.
 
Technically, in a way, I guess you’re actually my new boss.”

He shrugged.
 
“In a way, yes.
 
At any rate, I am confident a compromise will be reachable.”

“But I don’t want extra privileges.
 
I don’t want anyone to think that I’m going to use this as an excuse to slack off work or something.”

He rolled his eyes.
 
“I think you will be giving me a run for my money in the workaholic department.”

She grinned.
 
“Maybe I will.”
 
Then, she tilted her head, looking up at him with a frown.
 
“So how did your subsidiary end up buying this firm, anyway?
 
I refuse to believe it’s just a coincidence.”

“And I would not try to pretend it was.
 
I had all the information I needed about the firm in that contract you had given my lawyers.”
 
He gave her a wry look.
 
“I had some people look into it, and the numbers seemed solid.
 
It seemed like a good acquisition for our investment and insurance subsidiary.
 
Besides,” he added with a grin, “I needed an excuse to see you again.”