But he hadn’t kissed her since that time in his office. He’d been very careful to drop her off in front of her building but never walk her up, or asking to come up and have a drink. She thought he might be waiting for her to make the first move, but she couldn’t, too afraid of what might happen if they were alone together. They’d been alone in the hallway that first night and had almost made love against the wall. Then they’d been alone in his office and she’d been unable to sleep that night, thinking about what might have happened if someone hadn’t knocked on his door. What would happen if they were alone together now? If she indicated even the slightest interest in being alone with Marco?
Sighing, she pulled her long, black boots off and tossed them to the end of her bed, then slid her stockings down. She didn’t have the energy to take off her soft, green cashmere sweater dress so she simply laid down on her bed and pulled the fluffy comforter over her legs. Within moments, she was asleep.
The phone ringing woke her up and she glanced at the clock, wondering what time it was. It was already dark outside but since it was early fall, that might mean anything from five o’clock in the evening to the wee hours of the morning.
She was still too tired to see the clock, so she just answered the phone, trying to hide the sleep in her voice. “Hello?”
“Zoe, are you okay?” Marco’s concerned voice came through to her sleepy brain.
“I am now.”
“Then come answer your door.”
“Who’s at my door?” she asked, sitting up and looking around.
“I am.”
Zoe almost dropped her cell phone. “Why?”
“Because I have your dinner with me. And it’s hot. So if you don’t let me in, I’m going to start eating it myself.”
Zoe couldn’t help but laugh at the image of the extremely large, scarily sophisticated Marco sitting in her hallway chowing down on some takeout food. “I’d like to see that.”
“No you wouldn’t. Let me in. I have wine too.”
She couldn’t resist him when he was being charming and witty. Or maybe he wasn’t all that funny to others and she just had an odd sense of humor. “I’m on my way down.”
She slipped her feet into fluffy pink slippers and then descended the stairs. Opening the door, she braced herself for that electric feeling and, sure enough, he didn’t disappoint. At the first sight of Marco, all the fuzziness in her brain dissipated.
He was standing in the hallway with two large paper bags, obviously from some upscale grocery store. He stepped into her doorway and kissed her lightly, looking down at her with a dark look in his eyes. “You look delicious,” he said, then stepped past her. “I love the shoes,” he quipped as he placed the bags on the counter in her kitchen.
Zoe was still tingling from the kiss but she watched him carefully, leaning against the door. “What brings you here in the afternoon? Don’t you have some company to take over or buy up? You only own half of New York City. I wouldn’t want to be the one to slow you down on your acquisition of the other half.”
His look was admonishing and she laughed. “I have many assets outside of New York, my lovely. And the reason I’m here is because I called your office about tonight and your assistant told me you had left work early. When you didn’t answer your cell phone, I came over to find out where you were.”
“And the food?” she asked, peering into the bag to see what kinds of surprises he’d brought but he pushed the bags out of her reach. “Two simple reasons; I’m hungry and you’ve lost weight. I’m here to fatten you up.”
Zoe looked down at her dress and realized that it did look a bit too loose. She sighed as she pushed away from the counter. “So why won’t you let me see what’s in the bag?”
He pulled the wine out and tore off the metal top. “Tell me what’s wrong first.”
She crossed her arms over her stomach and looked at the wine bottle, unable to hold his gaze. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think something is wrong?”
He chuckled and shook his head as he pulled down two wine glasses from her cabinet. Zoe wondered how he knew exactly where she kept them, but had to focus on him instead of letting her mind wander. He was in his “genius-mode” she thought. She’d seen it several times over the past few weeks when he was discussing business. There was just a look about him, an excitement to discover something that made his eyes a bit more intense. She’d thought it was a turn-on when he’d directed that look at someone else but now that he was sharpening that gaze in her direction, she was terrified.
“Why would you think something is wrong?”
Marco wasn’t sure if he wanted to shake her or kiss her until she was delirious. Maybe start with one and end with the other, he considered. Trying for patience, he handed her a glass of rich, red wine and waited until she’d sampled the excellent vintage before continuing. “Zoe, why are you afraid to trust me?” he asked softly.
Zoe’s eyes darted up to his, then quickly away. She wandered over to the sofa and sat down, pretending to enjoy the wine. “Marco, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m fully capable of handling the business.”
He studied her carefully, considering the best way to approach her so she wouldn’t be hurt. He took the chair opposite her and watched her features. “When I grew up, I used to watch my father carefully. I always knew when he was doing legitimate business or something a bit more nefarious because of his body language. He was a great poker player, but being on the sidelines and allowed to observe, I learned a great deal more than my father might have wanted me to know about. The most useful thing though, was to watch him interact with his deputies. They were all terrified of him, worried that if they messed up even in the smallest detail, my father would snuff them out.”
“He never did, did he?” she asked, fascinated despite her abhorrence for violence and criminals.
“Of course he did. Although I wasn’t sure how that order was conveyed, I knew the pecking order and when someone didn’t show up for a meeting, I knew that he’d been taken care of.”
“That’s horrible.”
“That’s the mafia. And I didn’t like it either.”
“So are you telling me that if I don’t get things straightened out, you’re going to snuff me?” she teased.