Amedeo, Her Italian Billionaire (8 page)

“I’ve found a place you can work. Did Amedeo get you situated with paperwork?”

“He’s going to send it down here for me to sign.”

“Okay, but you can get started?”

“I can. Do you have my user ID and password?”

“You’re all set. You’ll enter the system as a user that only Amedeo and I recognize. I’ll know when you’ve been in because my staff will report to me, but they won’t know who you are.”

She nodded. She’d never had such unlimited access. It was a little unnerving. “You’ll be able to track what I’m doing?”

“Yes.”

“Where am I not allowed in case I go there accidentally?

Carl laughed. “Anything to do with finance. You can’t go write yourself a check.”

She chuckled. “That’s where I was going first.” Not that she needed to. Amedeo was offering her double her usual fee. She sobered. “Does Amedeo often use outside help?”

“No, but this is a unique case. He doesn’t hand out jobs to anyone if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I am.”

Carl shook his head. “Amedeo is serious about his business. He wouldn’t bring you in unless he trusted you and thought you could do the job.”

She wasn’t completely reassured. “All I need now is to log in and for you to show me where you think this person has been. I can assess if any damage has been done. And I can contain him or her.”

“That sounds great.”

“Will I have offsite access?”

“No, that’s not negotiable. You’ll have to come in to get onto our system. Amedeo doesn’t even have offsite access.”

“Wow. That’s secure. I’m surprised someone got in,” she said.

Carl shrugged. “Most likely some kid who just wanted a challenge.”

“They can be the worst. Some snot sitting in his dorm room with nothing to do,” she said. “I’ve fixed a few of those.”

She logged into the system to check around. She saw the back door the hacker left, but she wasn’t ready to close it. He or she would know that they’d been found. No, she had to be stealthy and quick.

If the person was in here now, they’d see her and hopefully to the interloper, she’d look like an employee. Carl had said her login would work that way. She hoped he’d done it properly. Otherwise the hacker might leave mines for her to stumble on and blow up the system. That would be bad both for Amedeo and for her.

“Have you worked for Amedeo long?”

They sat in an office down the hall. She didn’t mind if Carl wanted to watch. She appreciated the company.

“Since he started this company.”

She nodded. “He spoke highly of you.”

“He spoke highly of you. How do you know each other?”

She didn’t want to start gossip, nor did she know how much Amedeo had said to Carl. “Uh, we ran into each other in a bar.”

Carl smirked, but let the subject drop. She’d bet that Amedeo often picked up women in bars. Usually they didn’t look like her. At least not based on what his ex-fiancé looked like. She was a tall, leggy blonde. Violet was not. Why was Amedeo so enamored of her? She wasn’t his type.

She’d have to keep remembering that. This was all temporary. They would see each other once the baby was here, but they wouldn’t be lovers anymore. She sighed at the idea. It might be months before she would have sex again. Maybe years. She’d have to get as much as she could before he was repulsed by her large belly.

It would probably happen. If Tory was Amedeo’s ideal, then Violet didn’t stand a chance. Certainly not pregnant and cranky. Her time was limited so she might as well make the best of it.

Despite not wanting to rely on Amedeo, she had no choice. She had no means of income other than freelancing. No health insurance. No place to stay other than Amedeo’s house. Why had she agreed to that?

Once again, her pregnancy brain struck.  She had a feeling that these moments of lucidity were going to be few and far between.

*

Amedeo looked at his phone and realized that it was almost six. He hadn’t seen Violet all day. His assistant had grabbed some lunch for him, but he didn’t know if Violet had eaten. She must be starved.

They could go out. He was too tired and keyed up to cook. He’d take her some place nice, but not so nice that they would be underdressed. He’d ask what she wanted. That would be the thing to do. If she didn’t have a preference, he knew where he’d bring her. He had a few places he liked that were small and intimate.

They could talk about the baby.

He found Violet in an office, all alone. The rest of the IT department must have gone home.

“Hi.”

She looked up at him startled. “Hi.” She studied him. “You ready to go already?”

“It’s six, Violet. Time to eat. Did you get lunch?”

“Yes, Carl hooked me up.”

“Good.”

At least his employee was taking care of her. Even if the man didn’t know their story, Carl probably suspected there was more to the story than Amedeo had let on. His employee wouldn’t ask, but if he did tell him the truth, would be discreet. He had no doubt of the man’s loyalty to him. Amedeo knew how to pick employees.

“I need five minutes,” Violet said.

“That’s all I’ll give you and I’m timing you,” he said.

He settled himself on the chair opposite her, but didn’t stare. No matter how much he wanted to. She stuck her tongue out at him, just a little. Her brow was creased from concentrating. He played a game on his phone instead of reading emails. The emails could wait until he wasn’t hungry anymore. He might not give the person the answer they wanted.

His phone dinged when the time was up. Violet looked up at him. “Time?”

“Yes, Violet. Time. We need to get you some food. I can hear your stomach rumbling from here,” he said.

She packed up her laptop then followed him out the door to the car.

He picked an Italian restaurant. This was New Jersey so you could find one on any street corner or strip mall. All of them were delicious because a bad one would close quickly. He didn’t order wine since Violet couldn’t drink any.

She ordered the veal. He asked for manicotti in meat sauce.

“No wine?” she said.

“No.”

“You don’t have to go without on my account. I’m not a big wine drinker at all. I don’t miss it.”

He shrugged. “I’d like to talk.”

“That never sounds good.”

He chuckled. “Sorry. It’s not bad. I just think we need to finally talk about this baby.”

She nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Well, have you made a decision about raising this child?”

She took a deep breath, her gaze bouncing around the room. “No, because I’m not sure it’s real to me yet. I don’t feel the baby move, so I guess I’m not ready to make a decision.”

“I see. Well, I’ve made some decisions of my own. I’m setting up a college fund for him or her. No reason to wait.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do, Violet. I want to see my child succeed. He or she will need college.”

“He.”

“You know for sure?”

“No, I just have a feeling,” she said.

“Okay. Then I guess until we know for sure, the baby is a he.”

“Right.”

“Have you thought about names?”

“No. If the baby is a boy, it will make it harder for me to pick. There haven’t been any male role models in my life that I want to name him after,” she said.

The waitress brought rolls, butter, and olive oil. Amedeo poured some onto a plate between them then put pepper on it. He handed her the bread basket. Violet took two slices, dipping them into the olive oil before devouring them.

Guess she was hungry.

“I have some ideas. We have a few family names we pass down.”

“Okay. Not sure I’m ready for that discussion. Maybe we should wait until we know it’s a boy for sure.”

“Okay.” He chewed his bread then swallowed. “Are you planning on taking some time off when the baby comes? I can spend some time working from home at that time.”

She rubbed a hand down her face. “Amedeo.”

“Yes.”

“I’m hungry and tired. Can this wait until I’ve eaten?”

He smiled at her. “Of course. I’m just a man of action.”

“I get that, but right now I could eat this table.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

She ate another piece of bread. Thankfully the waitress arrived with their food. Violet dug into it. She ate with gusto and Amedeo found it refreshing to have dinner with someone who did more than push food around her plate.

Violet stopped. “What?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re staring at me.”

“Most of my dates eat salad like they have to make it last for a year. You actually eat.”

“I’m pregnant and I’m not your date.”

“We’re lovers.”

“Yes, but that’s different.”

“You don’t think I can take my lover out to dinner?”

She shrugged. “I think the expectations are different.”

“How?”

“Still hungry, Amedeo.”

He waved his hand. “Go ahead. We can talk later.”

He wanted to laugh, but he didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. He was just amused by her forthrightness. He always knew where he stood with Violet. That was good. He found it a nice change from most women who tended to tell him what he wanted to hear. Not that his ego minded that, but if he was going to be hooked to someone for the rest of his life, it might as well be someone he can communicate with.

***

With her stomach full, Violet found a renewed energy. When Amedeo suggested they do some baby shopping, she jumped at the idea. Now they were in a baby superstore.

“Who knew there was so much stuff?” Amedeo said.

They paused just inside the door of the big box store. Amedeo took her hand. “Maybe we should find someone to help us. Maybe there’s a checklist.”

“Have you seen your brother’s nursery?”

“No, but I may have to pick his brain.”

“Might be a good source.”

She held his hand like a life line as the shelves and shelves of clothing and accessories overwhelmed her. A woman came up to them, smiling. “May I help you?”

“We’re looking for items for a baby,” Amedeo said.

They’d come to the right place. At least Violet hoped. If they couldn’t find it here, it probably didn’t exist.

“I’m Janice. I can help you find what you need. Is this for a shower?”

“No, we’re having a baby,” Violet said.

“When is the baby due?” Janice said.

“Don’t know yet for sure,” Violet said and realized how stupid that sounded.

Janice’s smile didn’t dim. “I’m assuming you have time, but are on top of things.”

“Yes. I’m a man of action so we might as well figure out what we need,” Amedeo said.

“Follow me.”

Amedeo put a hand on Violet’s back, nudging her to go after Janice. She did and he kept his hand in hers. He was her anchor, even though she knew he didn’t have any more knowledge on this subject than he did. She couldn’t imagine what this would be like if she were doing it alone. Why did women choose that? This was all bearable with someone else in the picture.

Even if he would never love her, he’d love her child.

Janice motioned for them to sit at a desk while she took the chair opposite them. “We have a check list for you to start.”

She put a paper in front of them that was filling from top to bottom. Bottles, diapers. The other side had questions to answer. “I didn’t know there was going to be a quiz.”

Janice just kept smiling. What they must look like to her. Violet wasn’t even showing and they didn’t have wedding rings on. That probably wasn’t as uncommon these days as it used to be.

Amedeo took the list in his hand, reading it over. “Wow.”

“Yes, it’s overwhelming, but you don’t have to purchase it all now. You can take your time over the coming months. A lot of people order the furniture first and the bedding once they choose a theme.”

Violet glanced at Amedeo whose eyebrows were raised. “Theme?”

Janice pulled a large binder out of a drawer. “Here are the bedding themes.”

Violet bought her sheets at Walmart. Was her kid going to have satin ones? She blinked at the book as Amedeo flipped the pages. “Any ideas?”

She shook her head. “Maybe we’re doing this too soon.”

“It can take a few months for the bedding to arrive,” Janice said. “The sooner the better in terms of ordering it.”

They may have to make a decision right now. “It’s not like it affects the child’s future.”

Amedeo nodded. “I think we’ll wait on this for a few weeks. What can we purchase now?”

“Diapers,” Janice said. “You will never have enough. Five or six a day at least. More if you breastfeed.” She turned her attention to Violet. “You are going to breastfeed right?”