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CHAPTER SIX
THREEDAYSAFTERshe left, he finally looked at it.
The goddamned plan. The wedding proposal she’d been so proud of.
It had sat in the centre of his kitchen counter since she’d handed it to him, and he’d wilfully, determinedly given it a wide berth, alternating between fury that she’d dare suggest he throw open his doors to a legion of strangers and an oversized sense of curiosity. She’d been so sure that her plan was worth the effort—the effort of coming to him, of waiting in his home, of getting stranded as a storm approached, of going toe to toe with Thirio, who no one ever dared argue with.
It was his curiosity that won out. Cracking the top off a beer, he regarded the document with a grim expression for several seconds before reaching for it and turning the cover page, slowly.
The first thing he noticed was her voice. Every word he read, he could hear in his head, as though she were speaking to him.
The next thing he noticed was the layout of the document. He employed tens of thousands of people worldwide and he knew what went into creating professional, easy-to-understand reporting. Lucinda had nailed this. There was a lot of organisation, costing, and alternatives to cater for different contingencies. She’d said she was an administrative assistant at the company, but this plan was by far the most professional he’d seen. If she’d put this together on her own, then it was clear she had a fair idea what she was doing.
The last thing that struck Thirio, as he neared the end of the document, was how right she’d been.
Evie would love this wedding. It would be, as Lucinda had said, her dream come true.
He drained his beer, eyes focused on the piercingly blue sky beyond the kitchen.
His actions had taken a mother and a father from Evie, and then he’d taken himself away too. He’d spent the last six years hiding out in a castle on top of the world, in self-enforced purgatory. Somehow, she’d grown into a beautiful, intelligent, happy young woman, who’d fallen in love with a guy who worshipped her.
And Thirio had the power to make all her dreams come true.
To give her the kind of wedding she would adore, at the castle that had always meant so much to their family.
He just had to get over his own issues and agree to make it happen. For Evie, he had to do that—she deserved nothing less.
‘There’s some ridiculously gorgeous guy waiting for you downstairs.’
Lucinda looked up from the filing cabinet at the sound of her stepsister’s pronouncement. ‘Who is it?’
‘Beats me. I’m happy to interrogate him further, though.’ Carina mimed fanning herself.
Lucinda frowned across at her stepsister. She was half tempted to agree. After all, the mountain of work that had built up while she was in Switzerland hadn’t abated. Lucinda had been working even longer hours than usual to keep on top of it. Of course, that was an almost impossible task, given no one else in the business lifted a finger to take care of their own administrative work.
Why bother when Lucinda was there to clean it up?
She jerked the filing drawer closed with a clunk. The equipment needed upgrading. It all did. But her stepmother ploughed whatever profits the company made into funding her lavish lifestyle, rather than reinvesting in infrastructure or staff training. The company was stalling, and if Lucinda didn’t act soon, all her father’s work would be for nothing.
She spun around, skimming her eyes over Carina. Of the two stepsisters, she preferred Carina. She wasn’t as interested in her appearance as Sofia, which was to say, she wasn’t nearly as vain. She also made a point of being halfway decent to Lucinda, when Sofia and Elodie weren’t around at least. And she had the added advantage of having never stolen Lucinda’s boyfriend, unlike Sofia.
‘That’s okay,’ Lucinda said with a tight smile. ‘I’m due for a break anyway.’ Besides, she was curious about the man asking for her.
As was Carina, apparently, because she walked behind Lucinda, down the stairs, so close she felt like a shadow.
Lucinda pulled the door to the reception area inwards, her caramel eyes scanning the space before landing on the very last person she’d ever expected to see again. Her gasp was involuntary. So too the flippy-flopping sensation in the pit of her stomach. He stood at the sound, their eyes locking and the air around them instantly sparking. It fired in Lucinda’s veins too, and the whole world seemed to tip on its axis. She wasn’t conscious of Carina, or the receptionist, or the sound of traffic whirring past the office.
There was only Thirio Skartos, his face, his body, the expensive suit that reminded her of the first day they’d met, his intense gaze, and memories of the way he’d touched her.
‘Hello.’ The words emerged soft and hoarse. She cleared her throat; he didn’t look away. Her insides tightened.
‘Lucinda.’ Hearing her name from his lips flushed her skin with goosebumps. Her eyes flared and all she could do was stare.
His gaze shifted beyond her shoulder, his lips compressing with obvious disapproval before his attention returned to her.
‘Is there somewhere private we can talk?’
Her heart skipped so many beats she wondered if it was going to give out altogether.
