Another nod.
Valentino taps the front buckle lightly. “Good man.”
Good man.
My throat tightens unexpectedly.
I look away quickly and step into the boat after Nico, but the movement is awkward. The dock shifts beneath my feet.
Before I can catch myself, my balance tilts sharply sideways.
Valentino grabs me instantly.
One arm wraps around my waist with crushing firmness, hauling me against his chest before I can fall.
The world stops.
Every breath leaves my lungs in one shaky rush.
His hand spans almost my entire waist. Heat radiates through the thin fabric of my shirt. I can feel the hard line of his body against mine, solid and steady and terrifyingly familiar.
For a second neither of us moves.
Then his gaze drops to my mouth.
My heart starts to slam violently against my chest. “Easy, sweetheart,” he murmurs softly.
Oh my God. Not here.
I wrench myself backward too fast. “I’m fine.”
Valentino’s jaw tightens slightly behind the dark lenses, but he releases me immediately. “Of course you are.”
I sit beside Nico and stare rigidly out at the lake while the rest of the participants board nearby boats.
My skin feels feverish.
I can still feel Valentino’s hand on my waist like a burn mark.
I’m desperate for space.
Desperate to breathe without constantly feeling Valentino’s eyes on me.
We end up reviewing competing firms’ proposals in a large conference room at the lodge. Documents and tablets cover the long tables.
I sit across from Valentino. The sunglasses are gone now.
And God. That was a mistake. Now I need to devote extra energy to focusing on pages in front of me.
I drag in a deep breath and force my professional cap on.
Something in the De Luca subsidiary proposal catches my eye. I cross-reference the jurisdictional filings with the claimed client history and spot the irregularity immediately. The dates do not align.
A key compliance document references a region where the subsidiary wasn’t yet registered at the time of the supposed contract.
I gather the relevant pages and approach Valentino during a short break. He stands near the windows reviewing his own notes.
“I found something. In Dante’s subsidiary proposal. The jurisdictional filing for the European clients does not match their operational timeline. They claim coverage starting in March, but the registration was only filed in June. It’s a clear compliance gap.”
