Chapter Sixteen

~ Janos ~

"Make sure to have copies of the updated cost analysis for everyone at the conference."

"Of course, sir." Lester tapped away at his tablet for a moment. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"Is there any new information on the investigation?"

"No, sir," Lester replied. "There have been no new leads or letters."

"I'm expecting one any day now," I replied. "This bitch said she would be sending details on where to take the money by the end of the week and we're almost there."

"Are you really going to give in to blackmail, sir?"

I sighed as I set my pen down and then pinched the bridge of my nose. "I don't want to, but I'm not sure I have any other choice." I dropped my hand from my face and looked up at Lester. "I don't want something happening to this baby."

My words weren't exactly truthful, but Gianni had suggested I play along with the blackmailer until his grandmother got back to him. That also meant keeping everyone except Gianni and family members out of the loop.

I needed to call my grandmother before she found out about Gianni and the baby. I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't tell her first—I smiled as I glanced down at the platinum ring on my finger—especially now that we were engaged.

"Sir, sir!"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay, sir? I called you out to you, but you didn't hear me."

Daydreaming. It'll get you every time. "I'm fine, Lester."

"You were smiling, sir."

My eyebrows lifted. "Am I not supposed to smile?"

"You never smile, sir."

Never?

"I smile," I insisted. Maybe I didn't smile in the past like I was now, but I smiled.

"You smirk, sir. You never smile."

Huh.

"Well, now I smile."

I might keep smirking though.

Lester gave me a peculiar frown as if he wasn't quite sure I had all my oars in the water. "Yes, sir."

"What time is the conference meeting?" I asked.

"Three o'clock, sir."

"Set it for two." If I could get off work early, maybe I could pick Gianni up at his apartment. He was supposed to start packing today. He also had to break the news to his roommate that he was moving out.

I wish he was moving directly in with me, but he wanted to stay with his parents until we officially told everyone we were engaged. I didn't like it, but I understood it.

"I have an appointment on the fifteenth at two o'clock. Clear my schedule for everything after noon on that day." It would be my first prenatal care appointment with Gianni. I wasn't going to miss it.

"Anything I need to be concerned with, sir?"

"It's a personal matter."

"Very good, sir." Lester handed me a tablet. "These are your appointments for the next week. Is there anything I need to change?"

I slowly looked over each day, making sure I was meeting with people I actually wanted to meet with. It didn't make sense to meet with people that couldn't help me get ahead in business, although some people tried.

I was a real estate developer to make money and create a better world for everyone. I was not here to line other people's pockets. If it so happened that cooperation between companies made us all money, great. If not, I was paying for someone's services. I didn't owe them a damn thing except a paycheck.

"Is that a ring on your finger, sir?" Lester asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear any jewelry before besides your watch and a set of cufflinks."

I smiled once again as I glanced down at my ring. "It is."

"Is it a family heirloom, sir?"

"No, my fiancé and I bought it a couple of days ago."

Lester's mouth dropped open. "You're engaged?"

"I am."

"When are you getting married?"

"We haven't decided yet. We just got engaged. We have time. Besides, I don't want to rush. I want to enjoy the process."

Lester's voice sounded a little stilted as he said, "Congratulations, sir."

"Thank you."

I glanced up a few minutes later when Lester received a phone call. He answered it, nodding several times before saying, "Thank you. I'll take care of it right away."

"Problems?" I asked when he hung up.

"No, sir. The copy machine usually used for printing out material for the conference meetings jammed up. I just need to arrange for maintenance to come up and fix it."

I glanced at the clock. "Better hurry. The meeting starts in an hour."

"I'll get right on it, sir."

I watched as Lester hurried out of the room as if his shoes were on fire. While it was important to have all the pertinent documents on hand when having a meeting, I didn't think the building would fall down if we didn't.

Lester needed a raise or a vacation. He was good at his job, but that man was a little high strung.

I finished up the paperwork I was working on just as my alarm went off to let me know it was time to go to my meeting. Lester hadn't come back yet so I sent him a quick text asking him where he was. I wasn't surprised in the least when he returned my text within seconds, letting me know he was still working on the problem and would have it fixed as quickly as possible.

The man was very efficient.

Grabbing what I needed, I headed for the conference room. I refused to let this meeting take any longer than necessary. I wanted to be done and out the door by four o'clock at the latest.

When I reached the conference room, only a couple of people were there. After greeting them, I sat down in my designated chair at the head of the table and pulled out my cell phone and sent Gianni a quick text.

"Getting ready for a meeting. Are you getting ready to tell Tony the news?"

A few moments later, Gianni texted me back. "Yes."

"Good luck. If you need anything, just call or text. And I do mean anything. This meeting is going to be a snooze fest."

"I shouldn't need anything, but I'll keep that in mind."

I smiled and set my phone down on the table where I could easily see it. When I looked up, more people had entered the room. Everyone was staring at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I am smiling."

They all hastily looked away.

Lester wasn't back yet, but... I opened my laptop before stating, "Let's get this meeting started."

* * * *

"Hey, Tony, you got a minute?"

Tony glanced away from the television to look up at me. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

I sat down in the chair next to the couch and clasped my hands together. "I wanted to officially give you notice that I'm moving out. I'll pay one month's rent, of course, but I'm moving just as soon as I get my stuff packed."

Tony frowned and then suddenly clicked off the television and sat forward. "You're moving out?"

I nodded.

"Why?" he asked. "Is it something I did?"

"No." I shook my head. "Do you remember that man you met last week?"

"Your boyfriend?"

I held up my hand, flashing my new engagement ring. "Fiancé."

"Ah." Tony started to smile. "That's why you're moving out."

Well, it was one of the reasons.

"Wow, you're really getting married. I thought for sure you'd stay single for the rest of your life."

"Hey!"

"Oh, come on, Gianni. You never date. You hardly even go out. With as much time as you spend in the lab, I was pretty sure you'd end up married to a Petri dish."

I wasn't that bad.

"So, when's the big day?"

"We're discussing it," I replied. "Janos says he'll accept any day I choose, but I'm in no hurry. Maybe a summer wedding."

Tony's brow furrowed. "Janos?"

"Yes, Janos Kostas, my fiancé."

Hadn't I made that clear?

"Janos is a pretty unique name."

"It's Greek." I imagined in Greece it was pretty common. Here in America, not so much.

Tony's brow furrowed. "I've heard that name before."

"Yeah, when I introduced you to my boyfriend a few days ago."

Tony shook his head. "No, that's not it."

I had no idea what Tony was talking about.

"Do you think you'll be able to find a roommate?" I asked. "I hate leaving you in the lurch like this."

Tony waved a dismissive hand at me. "Don't worry about it. There are a couple of residents at the hospital I can talk to. Finding a roommate that understands our crazy schedules is not easy. I'm sure one of them would jump at the chance."

That was good.

I chuckled, knowing he was right, and the gestured toward the hallway with my head. "I'm going to go start packing."

"Have fun."

I snorted. "Wanna help?"

Tony grinned broadly. "Not a chance in hell."

Yeah, I didn't think he would.

I got up and started for the hallway only to stop when someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," Tony said as he got up. "You go pack."

Right.

I took a step only to stop and turn when I heard Tony groan. "What's wrong?"

"It's my asshole ex-boyfriend."

I frowned. "What does he want?"

I had yet to meet this man, but Tony seemed to dislike him a great deal. After hearing that the man had been sniffing in my underwear drawer, I wasn't too fond of him either.

Tony shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"Ignore him then."

"He'll just keep knocking."

This guy sounded like a real winner.

"Go doing your packing thing. I've got this."

"Are you sure? I could stick around."

I wasn't sure I wanted to leave Tony alone with this guy.

Tony made a shooing motion with his hands. "Go, go."

I frowned, but did as Tony said and started down the hallway toward my bedroom.

"What the hell do you want, Doug?" I heard Tony snarl as he yanked the door open. "I thought I told you never to come around here again."

I heard a mumbled reply followed almost instantly by Tony's loud shout. I spun around and ran back down the hallway. I heard a crash before I reached the living room.

The sight that met me quickly explained what had happened. Tony lay on the floor in front of the bookcase. Several books and decorations were littering the floor around him.

I turned and opened the hallway closet, pulling out the broom that was kept in there. I would have preferred something a little stronger, but I'd take what I could get.

"Get away from him!" I shouted as I lunged at the guy, swinging the broom as hard as I could. It hit him, but it didn't seem to faze him one damn bit. When I went to swing at him again, he grabbed it before it could connect, ripped it out of my hands, and threw it across the room.

I stumbled back, frantically searching for another weapon. It wasn't so much that I couldn't protect myself, but more that I was worried about the baby I was carrying. If I got hit in the stomach, it could be devastating.

"Get out of here before I call the police!"

The man smirked at me, letting out a vicious sounding laugh. "You think they can stop me? I've been planning this for far too long to let a couple of glorified mall cops stop me now."

Wow, bitter much?

I did the only thing I could think of and darted out of the room, running toward my bedroom. I hated leaving Tony alone with this freak, but I needed to get to a phone and mine was on my nightstand in my bedroom.

I raced into my bedroom and slammed the door closed just as Doug reached it, quickly turning the lock. For good measure, I pushed my dresser over in front of the door.

I hurried over and grabbed my cell phone, dialing the police.

"Police, fire, or medical?"

"Police," I replied. "My name is Dr. Gianni Galeazzi. Someone just broke into my apartment and attacked me and my roommate. My roommate is unconscious and I'm barricaded in my bedroom." I glanced toward the door, wincing at the pounding noise. "You need to hurry. This guy is really pissed about something."

"Police are on their way, Mr. Galeazzi."

"Doctor Galeazzi," I replied automatically.

"Yes, sir."

"Sorry. Habit."

"I understand, sir."

I jumped when I heard a loud crashing noise. My eyes rounded in shock when I saw half of the door smashed in. "He's breaking through the door."

"Do you have anywhere you can hide or anything you can defend yourself with, Dr. Galeazzi?"

"No." I glanced around my room, but nothing looked like a weapon.

Wait.

"Maybe."

I ran over to my nightstand, dropping to my knees before yanking the bottom drawer open. I kept a small emergency first aid kit in there. I grabbed it and opened it. It took me a moment to find what I was looking for.

A small sense of relief filled me as my hand closed around a scalpel. It might seem weird to some people to keep something like this in their first aid kits, but not me. I never knew when I might need to cut someone open.

Now was a perfect example.

"Okay, I have a weapon, but you might want to dispatch the paramedics. If I am forced to protect myself, it's going to get messy."

"Dispatching paramedics now, sir."

This lady was good.

I swallowed tightly when Doug broke off another piece of the door. "Does this thing record?"

"All emergency dispatch calls are recorded, sir."

"Great, I need you to record something for me."

The woman's voice was more solemn when she spoke again. "Go ahead, Dr. Galeazzi."

Tears sprouted to my eyes, my fear that I wasn't going to make it out of this alive riding me hard. "Whoever hears this, tell Janos that I love him and I really, really wanted to marry him and that I was looking forward to raising our baby together."

"Baby?" the dispatcher asked. "Is there a baby there, sir?"

Technically?

"I'm three months pregnant."

"You're going to be fine, Dr. Galeazzi. The police are almost there."

I didn't think they were going to get here in time.