Page 11 of Mario

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“And if some of that is confidential?” Lorenzo asks.

“I’m an attorney. Confidentiality comes with the territory.”

Mario’s gaze is steady. “And if some of it is complicated?”

The way he says it tells me he does not mean complicated.

There it is again. That sense that something’s lurking beneath the surface. A locked door in a beautiful office. A second set of books.

I should feel alarmed.

I do.

But alarm is not always a reason to leave. Sometimes it is a reason to read the contract more closely.

“Then I would expect you to tell me enough to keep the company protected,” I say carefully. “And I would tell you when silence becomes a liability.”

Mario’s eyes narrow slightly.

Lorenzo’s pen stops moving.

No one speaks.

That was the line, then.

I found it.

Good. Better to know where it is.

Mario rests his forearms on the table. The movement is small, but it brings him closer. His suit jacket pulls slightly across his shoulders.

I notice.

I wish I did not.

“You are direct,” he says.

“Direct saves billable hours.”

Lorenzo laughs again.

This time, even Benjamin smiles.

Mario’s mouth curves just barely.

It is not friendly, though.

It is so much worse.

It is attractive.

My entire body registers that fact before my brain has a chance to object.

Heat moves through me.

Not a blush, though.

Much lower than that.

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