Dean stared at me from the head of the stairs, the large bouquet of red roses in his hand falling to the floor.“What kind of woman are you?” his voice was hoarse in disbelief. Despite my thumping heart, I stood stiffly.Although it was an illogical hope, there was a tiny chance he did not know about the affair and was simply talking about something else. This wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened.But as he walked closer to me, I started to creep away from the door, turning so I could circle him and run down the stairs.If he was still unaware of the affair, I had to lure him away from here, so Colt could leave the bedroom unseen.“Don’t even dare.” Dean guessed my intention, his nose twitching. But I dared. I rounded him, running for the stairs.He tried to grab at me, but I twisted out of his reach. Unfortunately, I’d misjudged my distance to the stairs. I slipped.A maid shrieked, two guards lurking at the foot of the stairs ran forward, and even Dean reached o
I stepped out of the bathroom with flames still licking at my skin.If Dean thought he could place a curfew on my body, while he had all the fun in the world, he was sorely mistaken.He had no regard for me, but I was going to change that.Even if I found a way to steal the Rosetta today, it would take months to get out of this bloody marriage. So, between now and whenever I finalized our divorce, I had to get my pound of flesh.Colt was no longer an option. That bloody backstabber. I walked out of the bedroom in grey loungewear, contemplating between hiring some exotic escorts or pulling out my long list of past lovers, when I walked directly into Colt.My body shivered at the contact, the ache I thought I'd forgotten returning.He backed me directly into the bedroom, and shut the door.My eyes bulged, “What are you doing?” “What are YOU doing?” He shot back. His eyes burned now, far from the nonchalant man in the boardroom earlier.But he still had that suit on. That suit that
My heart thumped as Dean drew closer, his footsteps suddenly louder like they were powered by a microphone.Leonardo Rossi tilted his tablet towards me, but I did not dare look at it.The last thing I wanted was to have a public scene with Dean on my very first day here.“Don’t you like it?” Leonardo was saying when Dean finally got to us.“What’s that?”I stopped breathing. “A gift for your wife. She looked too lovely not to pencil in.” He said, and my eyes widened to stare up at him.How were some men so audacious? Or were these two enemies, and he was trying to rile Dean up.“Oh, how lovely,” Dean said, taking the tablet from him and staring into it. I turned my wide eyes to Dean this time.Was this a joke? Was this an act before he threw the tablet against the wall?“You really should open a gallery, Leo,” Dean said, staring at the screen with all attention, “The way you play with shadows is just tasty.” He shook his head in wonder now.Leonardo Rossi laughed richly now, sinking
“For starters, is it true?” a young woman said. I blinked. She looked twenty, and sounded like a teen.Before I could tilt my head, Emma leaned in from her seat behind me.“Sophie Stweart. Inherited a seat on the board after her whole family died in a plane crash last summer."I winced, immediately feeling sorry. She looked so young. I loved that she was confident though.“Is what true, Miss Stewart?” Dean was smiling, but his eyes were hard. And unlike everyone here so far, he addressed her formally.“Is Mrs Fletcher having an affair with Colt Fletcher?” The young woman said, her eyes fixed on Dean. Although I was the infamous subject of discussion here, glee fluttered in my heart.The room fell silent, and for the first time, a crack appeared in Dean’s mask. But for a man who loved control and hated anyone challenging his authority, he was doing a good job pretending. “I don't know how others do it in their families,” Dean emphasized. Oh, the man was truly a dick! Did he have
Emma knocked on the door, and Dean turned his neck. “Mr Fletcher is here.” She announced, and I did not miss the blush on her face. It was a struggle not to roll my eyes.Did her former bestie Samantha have any idea she had a crush on her man?“Shall we?” Dean got off my desk, and stepped back. I nodded, and Emma rushed in to take my laptop and phone before I could protest.My heart thumped, for obvious reasons, as I walked out the office into the adjoining lobby. But in the lobby, I froze, staring at the man who had his back turned in my direction.He swiveled around then, and my body tensed. Colt own a shirt? He was wearing one now, and he did the button all the way up except the top two. The way he looked, he might as well be the chairman.He looked… Refined and all business. Hair combed out of his face in backward waves, a black Roman cut Brioni suit, and a Zegna shirt that was the exact color of my suit.Was this another one of his antics? Had he seen me when I left for wo
I managed to have Emma delay the board for another hour while I paced my office, waiting for the almighty Fletcher brothers.My belly was in knots.The Auclairs have become a part of the board since the merger, and Emma confirmed that my aunt was indeed in the boardroom with the rest.All this because Colt just had to be Colt and treat me like his property, even in public.I looked around my office for something to distract myself, my eyes drinking in the creamy decor, exposed bricks and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked right out to the billion-dollar corporate zone and all their skyscrapers.I had not gotten a chance to check my new office before we flew to Rome.But this was not bad at all. A little too luxurious and lush, of course, but it should grow on me.I groaned at the knock on the door.Just when I’d finally managed to distract my mind with mundane things...“What is it, Emma?” I sighed, and the door opened a crack.“Ms Auclair is insistent on seeing you.” Emma looked n