The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,57

sigh of resignation, she stood up, picking up her purse as she made her way out of the library. She’d stayed so late, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to catch a cab back to her apartment. She’d have to call someone because it was definitely too late to walk home. Not that she’d do that at this time of night anyway. Not in this neighborhood.

She pulled out her cell phone and glanced at the screen. With a grimace, she realized that Gaston had called her eleven times over the past few hours. She pushed the button to make a call, dialing the number to the local cab company. Not to return any of his calls. It took twenty minutes, but finally a cab driver pulled up and took her to her apartment.

She knew she was seeing things when she stepped out of the cab after paying the driver and thought she saw someone looking astonishingly like Gaston walking away from her building. But that was crazy. It was three o’clock in the morning and she’d left him just after ten o’clock. Surely he wouldn’t still be trying to track her down.

But just in case, she hurried up the stairs to her apartment and locked the doors. She didn’t turn on any of the lights just in case he was watching, waiting for her to come home. She knew she’d have to talk to him, but not tonight. And probably not tomorrow either.

She curled up on her bed, pulling the pillow close as she cried herself to sleep. She hadn’t even changed clothes, brushed her teeth or washed her face. She didn’t have the energy for any of that. She only had enough energy to pull the covers over her head, pretend like her apartment didn’t smell like fresh paint and Gaston hadn’t just broken her heart again.

Two days later, she emerged from her apartment feeling ragged and still exhausted. She had a painful headache, probably due to the lack of caffeine over the past weekend. Her first order of business was a cup of coffee. She would have made something at home, but she was completely out of so many items. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d stopped at the grocery store.

She stopped at a coffee shop but when the line was too long, she just got back into her beat up old car and drove to work. She hoped that someone had already started coffee by the time she arrived. It was relatively early so she might have to figure out the coffee maker herself. But with her mental state right now, she wasn’t sure she could figure out how to walk, much less make a pot of coffee.

When she pulled into the parking lot, she stared at the building, wondering if Gaston had arrived already. She hadn’t received any more phone calls from him over the weekend. Nor had he come to her apartment. At least she didn’t think he had. No one had banged on her door so she’d just assumed he hadn’t come by.

She’d have to clear out of her lab, she thought miserably. She couldn’t work here. She couldn’t take Gaston’s funding nor could she risk running into him in the building. She had no idea where she would find the funding to finish her work, but she’d do it somehow. Seeing him would be too painful. A tear fell from her cheek to her hand and it startled her. She wished she could stop this reaction every time she thought about Gaston. He’d proven once again that he wasn’t worth any more emotional energy from her.

The alarm buzzed as soon as she tried to enter the building. She looked up, confused and embarrassed because several other people were right behind her.

The security guard approached, his hands on his security belt and intimidating her despite her assurances that she wasn’t doing anything wrong. “What’s the issue?” she asked, wishing her voice wouldn’t break like that.

The guard looked at her badge, then the list on his clip board. “Signor Montebello has requested your presence in his office as soon as you arrive, Ms. Catelano.”

Elana cringed and pulled back. “No. I’m not going to his office,” she stated firmly.

The guard pulled up his walkie talkie from behind him and said something under his breath.

Elana wasn’t going to stick around and wait for him to inform Gaston that she was in the building. She spun around on her heel and started to walk out