Page 26 of Hello Goodbye Amore

CHASE DRAGGED himself into the office on Tuesday.

Antonello’s door was closed, which indicated he wasn’t in yet, and that was unusual.

Antonello usually beat him into the office.

Chase checked the time and sat down at the desk, where he pulled out his laptop and checked emails.

Thankfully there were only a few automated reports from the weekend, which he scanned and cleared before getting a start on the week’s tasks.

His job was to see to it that everything went according to schedule and to keep everyone working together and management up to date.

On the surface it didn’t seem like much, but it meant he spent a lot of time writing emails in an attempt to try to stave off questions and phone calls, or worse, meetings that wasted everyone’s time.

Dave ran most project meetings, with Chase reporting progress on his pieces of the larger project, and he wanted to be ready.

He was just finishing some materials for Dave when Antonello thundered into the office. Chase heard the receptionist greet him, and Antonello ground out a good morning before stomping into his office, closing the door harder than he needed to.

Chase opened their connecting door and poked his head in. “Who pissed in your Cheerios?”

Antonello responded with a spate of Italian that Chase did not need translated to know that something was very wrong and that it had to do with his mother.

“She met me when I got home, demanding to know what I was doing in Rome. Apparently she had invited the daughter of one of her charity acquaintances for lunch on Sunday, and I wasn’t there. ”

Chase shook his head. “Didn’t you tell her you were in Rome?”

Antonello shook his head. “My father knew, but….” He sighed.

“I don’t feel the need to tell my mother where I am and what I’m doing.

I have my own wing of the house, and I come and go as I please.

” He glowered at Chase. “I basically run the entire family business, and I don’t need to inform my mother about every move I make. ”

“Okay.” Chase stepped back. There was definitely more to this than Antonello was saying, and he wasn’t going to pry, but he figured his mother’s matchmaking was beginning to drive a real wedge between them.

“She wanted to know why I brought you and Ricky to Rome.”

This could be interesting. “And what did you tell her?” Damn, sometimes he was just wicked.

“That you were a business associate and I took you to Rome to show you around. Which was true.”

Chase nodded and stepped closer, then shut the door. “And us only using one bed—was that business?” Chase had been teasing, but Antonello clearly didn’t take it that way. He turned to Chase in complete shock.

“You know it wasn’t. My feelings for you personally have nothing to do with business.

When we’re here, we act professionally at all times, but when we’re…

when it’s just us, then everything is different.

” He swallowed, and Chase wondered just how different Antonello felt.

Weeks ago they had decided that they would be professional and nothing more.

But that seemed to have flown out the window.

Now Chase wasn’t sure where things stood with Tio.

Were they friends with benefits, or was something more happening?

He had more than his own heart to think about.

Ricky was becoming attached to Mr. Nello and asked about him all the time.

If things went badly, then it would be more than just him who had the potential to get hurt.

“Duuuude…,” Chase said, harkening back to their college days whenever he’d explain to Antonello that he was being played. He needed to get this conversation back onto more solid ground.

“Stronzo,” Antonello swore without heat, his expression softening. “I have never taken business associates to Rome before, and I have certainly never….” Words seemed to have escaped him.

“Slipped anyone the big Italian sausage while you were there?” Chase teased.

Antonello glared at him before shaking his head. “You Americans.”

“I seem to remember you have a thing for them, especially around the pool at night.” He kept his voice low, and Antonello growled at him. Chase smiled and turned to leave his office. “I guess I should ask if things are okay now with your mother.”

Antonello shrugged. “I have no idea. I told her again that she needed to back off and leave me alone, but somehow I doubt she will. My mother is on a mission, and I really have no idea how to get her to stop.”

Chase knew a surefire way to get her to back off, but that would involve Antonello telling her the truth, and Chase wasn’t sure that he was ready to do that.

Maybe he never would be. It was difficult to see Antonello being pulled like this, but there was nothing he could do about it.

This was a decision Antonello had to make for himself.

MAYBE THIS thing with Antonello was getting out of hand, and maybe he had let himself go too far down the rabbit hole.

He really liked him—hell, he knew it was more than that, but he was afraid to use the word, even to himself.

What surprised him most was how quickly his feelings developed and how easily he pushed everything else aside, including his concerns about the past. Maybe he needed to give himself a chance to think.

The past weekend had been wonderful, and Chase had found that the more time he spent with Tio, the more his feelings grew and the more he liked being the center of his attention.

It was like a damned drug. The problem was that he wasn’t sure he was ready for Antonello rehab.

He absently checked his emails and forced his mind through his tasks at hand, picking up his phone when it rang late in the morning. “Morning, Dewey,” he said when he saw the name. “What’s up?”

“The verification here was completed over the weekend. I just sent Glorioso our signoff, and we have built a number of prototypes, and those are being tested in the lab now. We used the remainder of the pieces that were sent earlier.”

“Okay. I’ll speak to them about getting more shipped as soon as they are able.” There was little else he could do. “I’ve also been going over the rest of the engineering specs, and I saw a few changes.”

“Yeah. I had Dave make them. They’re really small.” Dewey seemed proud of himself. “I think we can incorporate them going forward.”

“But they will mean redesigning the most important components, including the piece from Glorioso that you’re just about to sign off on.

” Chase kept himself calm. Dewey thought he was a brilliant engineer, but he was sloppy and didn’t look at the entire picture.

All he wanted was fast, which didn’t work in their business.

The FDA and other agencies would see to that.

“Also, if those changes are made, it will affect how the unit performs, and the FDA isn’t likely to approve it.

” He was trying to politely explain that changes to design couldn’t be made on the fly.

“I sent the same information to Dave, and he hasn’t raised any issues,” Dewey countered.

“Okay.” Chase looked up as Antonello stuck his head into the office.

Chase smiled and then rolled his eyes. “But unless you want to completely start over on this end, we can’t make those changes.

We’d have to go back to the drawing board and redo everything here, and any savings would be eaten up by the changes that would be made over here. ”

Dewey groaned. “Fine. Just ignore my suggestions. I’ll let Dave know to disregard them.

Stick with the design you have.” Chase could tell that he was not happy, and he knew Dewey would somehow manage to get even with him.

“I’ll speak to you at the staff meeting tomorrow.

” Dewey hung up, and Chase met Antonello’s gaze.

“Dodged a bullet with that one,” Chase said.

“I figured. So everything is good?”

“Yes. Dewey is sending his approval, which should act as final signoff for the next phase.” At least that step was behind them.

“Do you want to get lunch?”

Chase looked at his list of tasks that had just gotten longer, thanks to Dewey’s meddling. “I don’t think I can right now. I have more calls to make. But thank you.” He wanted to get out of the office but didn’t have the time.

Antonello closed the door, and Chase called Dave to touch base.

“Sometimes I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Dave said once he pulled up what Dewey had sent.

“That would require a whole new wave of FDA design approvals. Months of work….” All because he wanted to play design engineer all of a sudden.

Chase was willing to bet that Dave was thinking the same thing he had been.

“I wanted to let you know.”

“I’ll handle it,” Dave said firmly. “Don’t worry about it at all. Speak of the devil. I need to take Dewey’s call.”

Chase ended the call and continued working, head down, until a knock on the door pulled his attention. Chase looked up to see Antonello with a plate of pasta, the scent filling the room, making Chase’s stomach growl.

“Maria sent you something special,” Antonello said, and Chase groaned as he took the first bite.

“She is a goddess.” He smiled and swallowed. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

Antonello closed the door and stepped closer to his desk. “I’m always thinking of you, during the day, at night… when I’m supposed to be in meetings….” He leaned closer. “You seem to occupy my thoughts all the time.”