LOVE BEYOND DUTY

– Lines

tellano International offi

or if the entire floor sensed the tensi

he undercurrent swirling in the air. Conversations were clipped, laughter was holl

contracts for the Henderson deal, when sh

sistant, her lipstick-red smile the picture of charm but her eyes, s

counting the seconds until Jessica looked away. She wasn'

he sharp line of her pencil skirt and the black heels she'd reluctantly borrowed from Marta's niece. Her focus was on the

s voice purred, the kind of s

eak stride. "I

g her words. "Funny thing... the last three 'temporary' secretaries Leonardo's

t enough to meet her gaze.

rapping around them like a cloud. "Or maybe yo

d. Her grip tightened on the files until the edg

when you start thinking you belong in a world you don't. Trust me, swe

ike me

m, deep, calm, and cutting thr

roze mid-

doorway to his office, hands in his pockets,

ing her features into practiced i

ze flicked to Sofia for a fraction of a second before settling back on

htened. I was onl

his tone dropping, "isn't in need of your p

at followed wa

. "Understood." She turned on her heel,

the quiet hallway. She hadn't realized h

taking the stack of file

hey were darker than usua

eople like that get to y

but the heat in her ch

ent longer, unreadable, before he

rom the encounter. She tried to focus on the contracts, but her mind kept replaying the way he'd s

istance, Leonardo Castellano had just

y that mattered so

he almost missed it when Leonardo leaned

ht," he said. "The Henderson deal

pped up. "La

at you might want to order dinner. I don'

artbeat quicken for reasons that

e in his office. J

into his world, Sofia wondered if she