She’d been so stupid. How did she manage to justify such an irrational decision?
The answer teased her, floating at the edge of her mind, but she shot it down without examination. It didn’t matter. She fucked up, and it was time for damage control.
Chapter Twenty
ANTONIO GLANCED AThis phone when it rang, and ambivalence filled him when he saw his father’s picture on the screen. It was the only dark spot in their recent accomplishments. He had to tell Dad he wasn’t coming home to run the family business. It would be better to share the news now than wait until he was in Milan. His father would be furious, but with any luck, Antonio’s telling him now would mean Dad’s anger passed before Antonio visited in a week or so.
Knowing all of that didn’t stop him from pressingDecline. Guilt wormed its way into him. He’d never missed a call from his family before.Tomorrow. After the board meeting, when everything was tied up and the company was officially out of the woods, Antonio would tell him.
He frowned at his phone when the notification light flashed for new voice mail, and tried to ignore the remorse spreading inside him.
He forced himself to turn back to work. What had been doing? Oh. Wondering why Emily never showed up. She had the meeting this morning with Grant, but he expected her in after. They agreed she wouldn’t tell them anything about her discussion with Grant, but what was keeping her from letting Antonio know she was running late?
His desk phone rang, displaying Justin’s name. Antonio hit the speaker button. “Yeah.”
“Lunch. Now. Cancel whatever you’re doing. Be in my office in two minutes.” Justin’s voice was tight.
Antonio wanted to ask what was up, but he had a feeling he’d have an answer if Justin was going to talk. “I’ll be right there.”
Antonio found Justin pacing in the middle of the room. He barely glanced up when Antonio entered.
“What’s going on?” Antonio felt fidgety simply from watching the display.
“They fired Emily.”
“Jesus Christ.” Antonio sank into a nearby chair, as he processed the words. “Did she call you? Grant? Do you know why?”
Justin gave a warped chuckle. “As a matter of fact... Grant had what he believed was significant reason to believe she was sleeping with me. Not his words, but definitely his meaning.”
“Only you?” Antonio couldn’t find a more intelligent question. Why hadn’t any of them expected this? Because no one got caught when they did things like this. Stupid assumption. Not that this would have changed his desires or actions.
“Because you’d want to make it worse by having both of our names on the list? You were never mentioned.”
That wasn’t comforting. Next steps. If Justin was freaking out, they had to figure out what to do. “Have you talked to her?” Antonio asked.
“No. I tried. I called her and left a message.” Justin dragged his fingers through hair that already stuck up at multiple angles.