Page 27 of Matteo

“How?” I hiss. “What has she done?”

“You saw the presentation, did you not? You have to agree, she's smart.”

I did see the presentation, and I was thinking that for someone who is clearly claustrophobic, who’d been trapped in an elevator, who'd been as scared as she was, to then discover that I wasn't the maintenance guy, but Paul Knight's son—this news must have come as a hell of a shock. And to know that she then had to do a presentation, and to have presented it as flawlessly as she did, leaves me in awe.

If I’d been in her shoes, it would have shocked the shit out of me.

She is smart.

I've interviewed people before and Elizabeth Raven is super smart.

But something doesn’t add up. She’s not Ivy League. She doesn’t even have a college degree. She’s the type of candidate the old man would normally dismiss without a second glance.

“Where is she working at the moment?” I ask. “I need a copy of her resume to look over.”

“What for?”

What for?

I swipe a hand through my hair, force myself to remain calm, but quickly lose it again. “Because if you intend to give her the job, working for me, in my department, I need to have a fucking idea about her background.”

“You sure you don't want her phone number and address?”

I jab my finger in his direction. “I don't think with my cock.”

He laughs, loud and unapologetic.

“You're really something, you know that?” I hiss, feeling bile in my throat.

I don't understand why he's so invested in her. A part of me is already guarded that he might want to take Elizabeth on for other reasons.

Over my dead body.

But that theory falls apart almost as quickly as it forms. The old man doesn’t make decisions based on attraction. He makes them based on leverage. So what is it about Elizabeth Raven that has him so interested?

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dex walks in first. “What the hell is going on in here? Your shouting is preventing me from taking a nap.”

I know he wasn't taking a nap. He said that to piss the old man off.

Jett wanders in. “What's going on?” But his cell phone rings and he steps out of the office just as Enzo and Zach walk in.

“What’s with the commotion?” Zach looks at me.

“Ask him.” I nod at the old man. Everyone turns to look at him.

“Why don't you tell them?” he throws back.

Jett walks in again. “Is this something to do with the tech issues?”

I huff out a harsh breath. “He's interviewing candidates behind my goddamn back.”

Jett blinks a few times. “What's wrong with that?”

What the fuck is this guy on? He wouldn’t put up with this same bullshit from the old man if it was done to him.

“It’s my department and if anyone needs to hire, it should be me.”

Jett turns to the old man. “He's right, Matteo should be leading this, but also,” Jett turns to me, “Are we surprised?”