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Someone cleared his throat behind her, making her almost jump out of her skin.
‘Eavesdropping, are we?’
Valerio stood braced against a door frame on the other side of the hall—how long he’d been standing behind her was anyone’s guess.
She straightened, rubbing her palms on the front of her trousers. ‘It’s impossible to eavesdrop on a meeting I am entitled to attend.’
‘I had the notification of the change in venue sent hours ago. It’s not my fault you’re late.’ He glowered down at her, the expression on his face strangely blank, his eyes unfocused.
‘Well, that “notification” was purposely kept from me.’ She moved to sidestep him, only to have him hold on to her elbow and gently manoeuvre her back.
Something wasn’t right, she realised. He seemed on edge. There was a sheen of sweat on his brow and he was just a little paler than his usual olive tone. She stopped herself from enquiring, though, remembering how defensive he had been about his behaviour that morning.
Her pulse skipped a little as she looked back towards the door, feeling dread creep in at the thought of walking in and facing those men and women after hearing what they really thought of her.
Valerio tipped his head slightly, listening to the voices still perfectly audible through the door.
‘Daniela Avelar is not his usual type.’ A man laughed. ‘She’s frumpy and she frowns too much. No sex appeal, you know?’
‘He may be marrying her, but we need to make it clear that Marchesi alone as CEO is our best move forward,’ someone else said, inciting a loud murmur of assent from the others.
Dani felt Valerio stiffen beside her, heard a shallow gust of breath leaving his lungs. Mortification threatened to overcome her, but she stood strong, plastering a smirk on her face as she turned to face him with a shrug.
‘They’ve been singing my praises, as you can hear. Clearly they adore me.’
‘Lose the sarcasm,’ he gritted out, bracing one large hand on the door frame. Tension filled his powerful body, as though he were suddenly poised for battle. ‘I’ll put an end to this. I won’t allow them to discuss you this way.’
‘You assume that I plan to just walk away?’ She raised one brow, stepping past him and inhaling a deep, fortifying breath. She disliked confrontation, but that didn’t mean she was incapable of fighting her own battles.
Without warning, she slammed the door open and strode into the room, leaving Valerio momentarily frozen in the doorway behind her.
‘Someone forgot to invite the boring temporary CEO to lunch, it seems.’ She threw a glance around as she took a seat at the head of the table and folded her arms across her chest.
Multiple pairs of eyes landed on her, widening. Some looked down at the remnants of their coffee, spread out on the dining table along with their files and spreadsheets.
‘I’d like to know who kept the change of venue from me.’ She spoke with calm assertion, narrowing her eyes as one of the men cleared his throat and sat forward.
‘Miss Avelar, there must be some mistake...’
‘There have been many mistakes made.’ Dani shook her head, pursing her lips. ‘Shall I begin listing them?’
She slid a folder from her briefcase, opening up the file she’d prepared in advance the moment she’d realised a coup was in the works. She had evidence here to remove at least four board members for a variety of infractions that violated the company’s code of ethics. And as she read out her first statement, the room was completely silent.
Footsteps sounded from the doorway. Daniela paused for a moment, watching as the man most of them truly wanted as their CEO finally entered the room. All eyes shifted to him, as if silently begging him to intervene, to stop this woman from tearing apart their plans.
Dani swallowed hard as his eyes met hers across the room. The impressive expanse of his shoulders was showcased in a simple white shirt with an open collar. She felt a thoroughly inappropriate flash of lust and instantly chided herself. He had to know how impressive he looked, damn him. He wouldn’t look out of place on a Parisian runway. She knew that her larger frame would never be compared to a supermodel, but she certainly wasn’t frumpy.
She waited a heartbeat as he silently took a seat at the opposite end of the table, but instead of cutting short her speech, he simply nodded and motioned for her to continue.
A gruelling hour followed, during which four members of the board were put on temporary suspension and the table became filled with more tension than ever. Dani handed
out sheets advising some further steps she wished to take regarding the future management of their design branches and charity assets, but decided to leave the actual decision making to a future meeting. Slow and steady was sometimes the best course of action.
Valerio had been reserved throughout the whole process, only answering when directly spoken to. A strange tension seemed to emanate from him, and every now and then she caught his eyes on her, burning with something dark and unrecognisable. Uncomfortable, she lost a little steam towards the end of her speech, and was almost relieved when he finally spoke up and commanded the room.
‘I’d like to address some of the comments I have overheard,’ he said. He spoke calmly, but with a gravelly hardness to his tone. ‘Firstly, our brand is based on experience, reliability and being ahead of the market—not on a room full of aging business execs who have an opinion on the sex appeal or charisma of those who lead it. Secondly, you will not pass further comment on the details of my relationship with my future wife or debate the reasoning for our marriage. She may be graceful enough not to retaliate against such nonsense, but I am not bound by the same brand of polite restraint.’
Dani shivered as his eyes met hers for a split second.
