What I didn't care for was the fact that she'd really just walked out on me. I stood up, ready to tell her she couldn't really be thinking she could leave, but she walked out of the door as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
If she thinks I'm going to go chasing after her, she's delusional. I sat back down in my chair and stared at the doorway as I stroked my hand over the coarse dark hair on my jaw. Abigail would be back. Even if she didn't need the money, and she did, Abigail wasn't the type to walk away from me and mean it. I would give her some time to cool off.
Instead of focusing on how good she looked in the form-fitting outfit, I turned my attention to my computer. There was a lot of work that needed to be done, appearances that needed to be kept up, and I couldn't sit around thinking about Abigail.
I couldn't.
Even if she was hot as hell and made me want to pull her into my lap. Whenever she was around me, I found myself distracted. I couldn't afford distractions right now.
My brothers had recently gotten married and started popping out kids. Now they were on my ass to do the same. Part of it was that it was a really great cover. A family man was a lot more credible than a guy who ran around on his own, getting involved in shady shit. The cops were really starting to look into us, and we needed all of the cover we could find.
The second part, and they impressed this on me daily, was that I was always on my own. Work at the law firm, then with them, home, sleep, repeat. I rarely spent time without people, and it had hardened me. I couldn't stand nonsensical chit-chat and the bullshit that came with dating. Why couldn't they understand that I liked being on my own?
A knock yanked my attention to my office door. Speak of the devil. My oldest brother, Marco, strolled in and sat down in front of my desk. He adjusted his jacket and glanced at me.
"Where's Abigail?" He raised a brow. "She's usually rushing in here after me to see if I need anything."
I didn't want to tell him that I had let Abigail walk out. Being the youngest meant everyone liked to treat me as if I were a baby, and I didn't need him picking apart my decisions. I was a grown man.
"I gave her the day off. She wasn't feeling too good." I shuffled some papers around on my desk. "What's up? Did you just feel like stopping by, or did you have business to discuss?"
He shook his head. "No, no business." He laced his fingers in front of him. "Mom's back in town, and she wants to see us for a family dinner at the house."
I groaned before I could stop myself. I loved my mom, but if anyone was riding me to get married and settled down more than my brothers, it was her. I ran a hand down my face.
"I think I'm going to be a little too busy here tonight to make it." I glanced at my monitor and feigned interest at the barrage of emails that I'd received. "I need to work."
Marco shook his finger and stood up. "Oh no, not this time." He planted his hands on my desk and leaned down. "You can't keep getting out of doing things. Ma wants you at the party, and you'll be there. That's an order."
I groaned. I hated when he pulled the whole 'that's an order' bullshit on me. Just because he was the one in charge these days didn't mean he was going to be able to push me around forever. It was a pain in the ass.
He turned on his heels and paused before he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, and bring a date. You do have one, right? You said that you were seeing someone."
I swallowed hard. Oh shit. I had told him that when I just wanted to get him off of my back. Over the past few weeks I'd made up little lies about my "girlfriend." The last time I'd brought her up, we'd been getting serious. Too bad she was completely fictional.
"Yeah, I'll see if she's free." I nodded.
"Make sure she's free. We're all dying to meet her."
Finally, my office door closed. I laid my head on the cool wood of my desk and let out a long, deep groan. Great. I was screwed. There was no way I could show up without anyone, but I couldn't just bring someone who knew nothing about me either. No, I needed a plan. I needed someone who knew me.
I grabbed my phone and stared at the address that I'd saved on it. Without thinking, I rushed out of the office and down to my car. It had been a while, but I was sure she would be home by the time I got there. I finally reached Abigail's place, but no one answered. I waited around, ready to get out of there when I saw her climb off of the bus down the street and hurry toward her apartment. When she saw me, she froze, her eyes widening before she frowned.
"What are you doing here?" She breezed past me and dug around in her purse as she headed for the elevator.
"I need to talk to you." I slipped my hands into my pockets and followed her inside. She pressed the four on the wall and finally fished out a set of keys.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" She glanced up at me, her eyes narrowing. "Did you realize that quickly that you can't survive without me?"
I lifted a brow. "I never said that." We stepped off of the elevator together but stopped at her door, where she spun on her heels and folded her arms over her chest. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
"No." She tapped her foot. "Look, Piero—"
"You're the only one that calls me that. Just call me Peter."
"I’ve worked for you for a long time," she said, completely ignoring me. "And you didn't want to help me at all earlier, so why are you here?"
I sighed. I knew winning Abigail over was going to be hard. She was one of the few people who didn't mind standing up to me, especially when she was pissed. I pulled an envelope out of my pocket and handed it to her.
"I have a job for you. If you do it, then that's just a part of what I'm willing to pay you."
Abby's anger changed to confusion. She opened the envelope and gasped. Quickly closing it, she looked up and down the hall and then let us into her place. She dropped her things off on the dining room coffee table and shook her head.
"Are you crazy? What are you doing running around with this much cash on you in this neighborhood?" Abigail pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you need me to do? And if it's illegal, I'm going to tell you right now the answer is no."
"Do you ever stop talking?"
Abigail's mouth dropped open again. "Piero! You don't have to be an ass."
I grinned. "You know that's not true." I folded my arms over my chest. "It's nothing illegal. I need you to pretend to be my fiancée and marry me."
Abigail's eyes widened. "Are you doing drugs? What are you talking about?"
I sighed. "My family expects me to bring someone with me to dinner soon, and they want me to get married, settle down. Since I don't want to do either of those things, I need someone who can pretend to be my fiancée and then marry them. I think that should be you."
Abigail blinked. "Why me?"
I shrugged. "You know me in and out. I don't have to hide who I am with you like I would have to do with someone I hire." I nodded toward the money. "And we both know you can use the cash."
She frowned. "That's not fair. You can't use my situation against me."