Page 33 of Mario
The space is too quiet. The view is too beautiful. The air still carries that faint, clean scent that seems to exist everywhere in this building, like polished stone and expensive cologne.
I press my palms flat on the desk, close my eyes for one second, and take a few deep breaths.
When I open my eyes, the empty business card holder on the desk catches my attention.
I take one of my cards from my briefcase and slide it into the holder.
Murray Legal Group.Victoria Murray
The sight of it steadies me a little.
That is who I am here.
That is who I need to remain.
My laptop powers on. I connect to the docking station, open the sealed envelope, and begin the process of logging into Conti’s secure system.
Five minutes later, there is a knock at the door.
I look up, expecting IT.
“Come in.”
The door opens.
Not IT.
Mario Conti stands in the doorway.
Dark suit, white shirt, no tie. Same impossible stillness. Same dark eyes moving over me as if he has all the time in the world and every reason to use it.
My pulse, traitorous and apparently fine with being unemployed, immediately reports for duty.
“Ms. Murray,” he says.
The accent hits me right where it shouldn’t.
I keep my hands on the keyboard.
“Mr. Conti,” I say. “Good morning.”
Chapter Four
Mario
She is sitting behind the desk in the office I chose for her with both hands on the keyboard and a look on her face that tells me I am not the person she expected.
Good. I like that.
“Good morning,” I say.
Her chin lifts slightly. “I was told you were in the building.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you were told the truth.”
