GianMarco by Eve Vaughn Read Free Book Online Page B

squashed those feelings as best as he could and kept his guard up until he’d achieved
     his goal.
    When Maggie had rushed out of the office, he had caught the glitter of tears she had
     tried to hide from him. The deep pain he had felt within her had hit him with such
     force that he had taken a step back. He felt low, but he’d had to do it.
    “Marc, are you listening to me? After all the trouble we’ve had with keeping a proper
     admin, why would you run her off like that? You can be a dick sometimes, but that
     was brutal.”
    GianMarco hated to admit Oliver was right. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so harsh.
     At the very least he didn’t have to make her think he found her unattractive. “Look,
     I’m sorry. Just chalk it up to another frustrating couple of weeks.”
    “Still not cool, man.” Oliver let out a sigh and racked his hands through his hair.
     “I suppose your brother is still sending you on those suicide missions. You and your
     brothers are nuts, playing secret agents on the side.” Oliver shook his head.
    “You know nothing about what I do and the less you do the better.”
    Oliver shrugged. “I know you go away for chunks of time to play vampire, and it’s
     always after a call from your brother. I also heard you talk to him on the phone about
     some dangerous missions. What else am I supposed to think?”
    One of the quickest ways for Oliver to get under his skin was mentioning Underground
     business. Normally, Oliver respected his wishes not to discuss it but it seemed his
     friend was spoiling for a fight. “First of all, I don’t play a vampire, I am one.
     Second, you shouldn’t speak of things you know nothing about or else you’ll get more
     than you bargained for,” GianMarco warned.
    Oliver’s face went bright red. “Are you threatening me?”
    “No. I’m simply telling you as your friend that I do not want anything to happen to
     you.”
    “What about you? If what you’re doing is so dangerous, then, aren’t you in even more
     danger than I am?”
    “I’ve survived six centuries. I can take care of myself.”
    “You’re not doing anything illegal, are you?”
    “By whose standards?” GianMarco wished to change the subject.
    “Don’t be a smart-ass. You know what I’m talking about.”
    “I won’t discuss this anymore with you, Oliver, for reasons I’ve already stated, but
     just know, as long as you mind your business; it will not harm you or this agency.”
    “I don’t care about the damn agency as much as I care about you, Marc. Just be careful,
     okay?”
    “I try to be,” he spoke with a finality he hoped Oliver would pick up on.
    Oliver sighed in defeat, and changed the subject. “So, what are you going to do about
     Maggie?”
    “What the hell are you talking about? What do you expect me to do? She quit.”
    “Don’t be a bigger asshole than you already are. You made that poor woman run out
     of here and she looked to be on the verge of tears.”
    “What exactly do you want me to do about that? If she doesn’t want to work here, I
     can’t make her. It’s a free country, is it not?” He turned away to walk to his office,
     but Oliver was close on his heels.
    “Oh, no, you don’t. You are going to go after her and tell her that you’re sorry for
     being such a jerk. And you will tell her I didn’t say those things about her either.
     If you really don’t want her working here, I will respect that and we can hire someone
     else, but I think she is at least owed an apology. Maybe you can offer her some kind
     of bonus for having to leave in such circumstances.”
    GianMarco stiffened as pain-stricken eyes flashed through his mind.
    “Why do you care so much? It’s not as if she’s been here long enough for you to form
     an attachment.”
    “So what? She’s a human being, and you hurt her feelings. She’s not some cold vampire
     like you,” Oliver accused.
    GianMarco turned to face his friend with a glare. “If you make one more