I control my blush and give him as much sass as my tired soul can muster. “Why? Did you get tired of watching it? What were you doing—scoping out the place so you can steal it from us?”
He laughs, pissing me off.
“Steal it? Please. You and your father owe me a lot of money. A lot.”
“I only owe the bank,” I insist, knowing I’d never agree to deal with anyone else no matter how good looking he is.
He shakes his head, and reality seeps into my bones. I gasp. Could his brother be the guy who accosted me outside the other day? Oh my goodness a wave of nausea rolls through my stomach.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Those supposed bank documents aren’t legitimate. He lied. The loan came from the Bianchi family. No payment on the loans means one of two options: the business is ours, or bodies get buried and the business is still ours.”
The color leaves my face and I shake my head in disbelief. He’s no classy professor from Northwestern or some prestigious college around here; instead, he’s a common criminal. “So you’re a thug.”
“I’m a businessman, and I don’t take kindly to crooks.”
“Says the guy who robs people of their businesses.”
“Just for your information, if you default on a loan, the bank does the same fucking thing I am doing, except I’m not trying to take it from you personally—only your father’s control of it. You can keep your precious coffee shop. I’m just trying to recoup the losses.” He inches closer, leaning his hands on my desk and staring into my eyes with his sexy glasses that I want to smack off his gorgeous face.
“What do you mean? What do you want?” Does he want me to pay him back on my knees or something like his asshole brother?
“I’ll be handling the books from now on, and your father is no longer allowed to step inside this business or what he got will be a hell of a lot worse.” He pauses and then growls, “What the fuck is that?”
That’s when I remember I rolled my sleeves up when I overheated while I was cleaning up the back. I follow his gaze to the purplish yellow bruise that still shows the outline of a handprint. “Nothing.”
His eyes heat with dangerous anger and as much as I should be terrified of this man, I know he’s not pissed at me; he’s concerned. “Don’t tell me it’s nothing, Ivy.”
“I’m surprised you remembered my name.”
“I haven’t forgotten it. My manners, on the other hand, I left those somewhere else where you’re considered. Let me try this again. My name is Niccolò Bianchi, and I am the accountant for the family and our financial institution. I’ve obtained the rights to this company via your father, who, I might add, wasn’t pleased about giving them to my brother and myself, but considering he owed us a fortune and we took you into consideration, this is the best we can do.”
“What do you mean you took me into consideration? So your goon of a brother can take it out on my pussy?” I challenge, pressing my hands on the desk and glaring at him.
He laughs with a dark look on his face. “If you ever mention my brother and your pussy in the same sentence, I’ll take you over my fucking knees. Tell me where you got this bruise, and I will explain further.”
“No can do.” Holy shit. My panties are soaked with that jealous warning.
“I’m assuming you either have a violent boyfriend who will be dead by the end of the night, or your piece-of-shit father did this.”
“What does it matter to you?” Why am I turned on by that threat of killing someone who hurt me?
“Because when it’s all said and done, I own you.” Oh, so I’m his property and he must not like anyone touching his things.
“You don’t own me. That’s fucking illegal.” He looks even less moved by that tidbit, which I should have expected, considering his profession.
“Yeah, somehow I don’t give a fuck. Now, you can sit on my lap while I go over these documents, or you can sit your pretty ass over there and let me sit at the desk. We’ll enjoy the first, but it’ll defeat the purpose of my being here, so please have a seat and don’t think of leaving. One of my guards is standing outside just in case.” I have no intention of leaving until he does. For all I know this place could be ablaze and he’d collect the insurance money. Fuck, has the insurance premiums been paid?
This isn’t how I dreamed of our relationship going. Then again, I had a crush on a guy who I believed was an upstanding citizen, educating the masses not a violent criminal. “Wow, so I’m just supposed to drop down on my knees for you and do your bidding?”