Chapter 4

At ten that morning, the head of HR walked into our department with a woman I'd never seen before.

"Can I have everyone's attention for a second?"

People throughout the office looked up.

"This is Claire Valenti. She'll be representing the Valenti family on the Moretti North Shore project and overseeing the hotels and clubs jointly owned by both families."

I recognized her the moment I saw her.

Years ago, I'd found her photo tucked deep inside Alex's old wallet. She'd been younger then, standing by the ocean with her arm linked through Alex's.

That was the first time I ever fought with Alex over another woman.

He'd gone cold because I'd gone through his wallet without asking. I'd fought back tears as I asked why he still kept her photo after they'd been apart for so long.

In the end, he was the one who backed down.

"That's in the past."

He tossed the wallet onto the table and reached over to wipe the tears from my face. "Don't cry over this."

After that, I never fought with him about Claire again.

Now here she was, standing in the middle of the Moretti offices like she belonged there. And she did. She wasn't just Alex's fiancée. She was here as the Valenti family's representative.

The two families had been fighting over the New Jersey docks and the North Shore territory for years. Their marriage would put an end to much of that.

There were places in his world I could never reach just by being his favorite.

As soon as her desk was set up and her meetings scheduled, Claire came straight to me.

"Nora?"

"Yes."

"I think this is yours."

She took a brown card holder out of her bag.

My employee ID, my internal access card, and a photo of my grandmother were all inside.

"I found it in the back seat of Alex's car this morning." She set the card holder on my desk, her tone perfectly casual. "Your ID slid out when I picked it up, so I knew it was yours. Sorry. I didn't mean to look."

For a moment, the whole office went quiet.

Some people looked up. Others pretended they hadn't heard.

I reached out and took the card holder. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Claire smiled and turned to talk to someone else.

She didn't ask why my things had ended up in Alex's car. She didn't even hint at anything.

She didn't have to.

Half an hour later, people were already talking about me in the restroom.

"Apparently, after the party at the estate last night, Nora Carter was the only one who didn't come back to the city with everybody else."

"And then her card holder turns up in Mr. Moretti's car."

"No wonder she's landed so many good projects all these years."

"She's good at her job, though."

"So? You can be good at your job and still have someone looking out for you."

When I pushed the door open, the talking stopped dead.

In the mirror, I caught a mix of expressions on their faces.

I washed my hands like I hadn't heard a thing.

Back at my desk, I opened the North Shore project files.

The North Shore was the Morettis' biggest legitimate project in two years: a waterfront hotel, private club, and dockside retail district. On paper, it was an expansion of their hotel business. In reality, the site bordered a port district both families had been fighting to control.

I'd been working on it for more than a year.

From the initial acquisition assessment and hotel positioning to vendor selection, client lists, and the opening plan, I'd had a hand in nearly every part of it.

If the project succeeded, I'd become one of the youngest heads of operations in the Morettis' legitimate businesses.

I'd never worried much about people gossiping about Alex and me. I'd always believed my work spoke for itself. No one could take that away from me.

Now I understood. The second our relationship came to light, everything I'd earned on my own could be reduced to three words: the Don's woman.

Just before the end of the day, Claire walked past my desk. She glanced at the North Shore materials on my screen.

It wasn't just the big budget that made the North Shore project so important. That stretch of waterfront sat between the hotel district the Moretti family controlled and the docks the Valenti family used. The two families had fought over it for years, and neither would be the first to back off. Now that the engagement had been announced, it had been repackaged as a "joint investment." The hotel, club, and dockside retail district were all folded into one master plan. The outside world got to watch the two families shake hands, and all those old clashes were brought to a dignified end.

But that master plan had started with me, alone in a conference room, pulling one all-nighter after another.

"This project's a big deal, huh?"

"Yes."

"I heard you've been on it for over a year."

"About that."

She smiled. "Then I guess we'll be working together a lot."

I watched her walk away and didn't answer.

Starting the next day, the rumors spread faster than I'd ever imagined.