5. A Contract & A Choice

The waiting area outside the executive suite was sleek and silent. Ruby took a seat among the other candidates, trying to keep her hands from trembling. She had barely been sitting five minutes when the office door burst open and a woman stumbled out, sobbing, clutching a crumpled file to her chest as she bolted for the elevator.

"Oh, he's a mean one," murmured the young man beside her. "I heard he fired his last assistant just because she looked at him the wrong way."

"Who's mean?"

"Luciano Morelli." His voice dropped lower.

Ruby's brow furrowed. "If he's so horrible, then why are you here?"

“The pay's good. If I'm going to work for a monster, the salary might as well be worth it. Same reason you're here, I'm guessing."

Ruby didn't answer. She was thinking about the woman who'd fled in tears, the last three assistants who'd quit within a month, Lorenzo's mocking words about the CEO being brutal. What kind of man makes someone cry in under ten minutes? And what kind of woman willingly walks into that?

The hours crawled by. Candidates were called in one by one, each emerging more shaken than the last. Finally, a receptionist called her name. "Miss Costa? Mr. Morelli will see you now."

Ruby stood on legs that felt like jelly. She smoothed her blazer one final time and walked toward the door.

A man stood at the window with his back to her. He held a glass of something amber in one hand, the other resting casually in his pocket, his posture utterly still. 

He turned as she entered.

Ruby's heart stopped. The sharp jaw shadowed with dark stubble and his eyes found hers with an intensity that made her forget how to breathe.

It was him.

“No. No, it can't be. It's impossible. You never saw his face. The room was too dark.”

"Miss Costa, are you going to stand there or are you going to sit down?" His voice was professional, utterly devoid of recognition. 

The voice sounded familiar. No. She was being paranoid. Lots of men had deep voices and accents. 

She forced her legs to carry her forward and sank into the chair across from his desk. "I apologize, Mr. Morelli. I was just... you remind me of someone."

One dark eyebrow lifted. "Do I?" He moved to his desk, setting his glass down with a soft click. "Let's hope that doesn't work against you. Tell me why you should have this job. You have two minutes."

Ruby swallowed hard and launched into her prepared pitch. Her qualifications. Her work ethic. Her ability to thrive under pressure. The words came out steady, rehearsed. Morelli listened without interruption, his expression unreadable. When she finished, he leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers.

"Before we continue, Miss Costa, I noticed you speaking with someone at the entrance. A young man. Who was he?"

Ruby's blood ran cold. He had seen her with Lorenzo. Of course he had, his office overlooked the entire plaza.

"He's... no one," she said quickly. 

"Let me be perfectly clear about something. This position requires absolute honesty and transparency. If you're going to work for me, I need to know that you can be trusted. So I'll ask you again, who was the man you were speaking with?"

Ruby's heart pounded. "He's my ex-boyfriend. Lorenzo Morelli. He cheated on me with my half-sister and proposed to her. I walked in on it. It's not my proudest moment."

A smirk appeared on his face. "And what were you discussing so animatedly?"

"He was surprised to see me here. He tried to humiliate me."

"I see. How did you respond?"

"I told him I had an interview and walked away."

“Interesting. Most people would have crumbled under that kind of confrontation. Especially given the history."

"With respect, Mr. Morelli, I'm not most people."

"No," he said slowly, studying her with renewed intensity. He rose from his chair and walked to the edge of his desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed. "Miss Costa, let me explain something. I value honesty and transparency above all else in my employees. You could have lied to me just now. But you didn't. Your résumé is unremarkable. Your experience is minimal. By all objective measures, you're the least qualified candidate I've seen today."

Ruby's chest tightened, but she held his gaze.

"But you have something the others didn't. I have an offer for you, Miss Costa. Though perhaps offer isn't the right word."

"What kind of offer?"

He pushed off the desk and walked toward the window, his back to her once more. “A contract marriage for a year.” His voice was calm, as if he were discussing the weather.

Ruby blinked, certain she had misheard. "I'm sorry! What?"

Luciano turned. "A contractual marriage. One year. In exchange, you'll receive financial security, housing and compensation that will make your previous salary look like pocket change. At the end of the year, we part ways. Simple."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm always serious."

"Why would you need a contractual marriage? You're…" She gestured vaguely at the opulent office, the skyline beyond. "You're you. You could have anyone."

"Anyone isn't what I need. I need someone discreet with no connections to my world, who can follow instructions and keep secrets." His dark eyes held hers. "Someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain."

"Why would I ever agree to something like this? I don't even know you. You don't know me either."

"No," Luciano said, his smirk deepening. "I know you well, Miss Costa. I make it my business to run a background check on every candidate who steps into my building. Your dismissal or quit, whatever you call it. Your eviction deadline. Your rather tragic bank balance." He tilted his head. "Shall I continue?"

"How could he possibly have conducted a background check that quickly? The interview was scheduled just yesterday.” She was thinking with her eyes wide. 

"You look surprised. Did you think a man in my position makes decisions blindly? I know exactly who I'm dealing with. I have resources beyond your imagination. When I want information, I get it. It's really that simple."

She looked more surprised as he just read her thoughts. She shook her head, rising from her chair. "This is insane. I'm not going to marry a stranger just because…"

"Because you have no other options?" He stepped closer. “You're essentially homeless. No job. No safety net. No family to turn to, unless you count the mother who discarded you. I'm offering you a way out of a corner you can't escape on your own."

Each word was a blade, precise and devastating.

"You don't have a choice, Miss Costa. But I'm offering you one. The question isn't why I think you'll agree. It's how long you'll pretend you have another option."