Chapter 2

“Emma? Mr. Carrero wants to see you.” A small childish voice comes up behind me, causing me to flinch and drop my duster. My heart suddenly stops as I inhale heavily, pushing back my hair which is stuck to my face from the exertion of my enthusiastic cleaning, my eyes widening in disbelief.

What? Jake? He’s here?

My brain reels a moment with a lurch of possibility before sense smacks me in the chest sharply, kickstarting rapid heartbeats.

No. Giovanni, of course!

I feel like an idiot. With a tight smile, I turn smoothly to acknowledge the girl, pushing down signs of my overreaction and trying to calm my crazily thudding pulse. She’s one of the receptionists, petit, with blonde hair and big boobs, like most of Senior’s female staff. He’s sickeningly singular about the women in his employ, finding those whose looks are less like the woman he’s married to and more like the ‘bunnies’ of the Hugh Heffner world.

“Okay, where is he?” I ask. Despite my irritati