Chapter 3

ROME

“Good morning, Mr. Langston,” Carly greeted me with a huge grin on her face. She even opened the door to my office.

“Morning.”

But that was not what surprised me. My desk was arranged and neat. The files were aligned, and the pencils were in the holder. Even the magazines on the coffee table were perfectly set, like the one you see posted on Instagram.

“Your coffee and you prefer black, right?” She took the coat off of me.

I stopped her. “Storm, you are not my maid. I won’t ever ask you to take off my coat, buy me coffee, take my dry clean, send flowers to my girlfriends—”

“Girlfriends?” She shut her mouth quickly as if she wasn’t supposed to react.

I turned to her. A brow arched at me. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” I didn’t know why I had to defend myself. Somehow, it was the right thing to do.

“Oh, because I just heard—”

I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. “You get my point.”

“I was just messing with you.” She raised