Chapter 9
The day after the meeting had been just as tiring. Not only had | had very minimal sleep the night prior but | also
set an alarm for an earlier morning. In total, | think it would be a stretch to say that | had more than four hours of
sleep total.
Most of my sleepless hours had been due to my mind refusing to let go of what happened earlier during the
evening. | was partly still shocked and also confused at what had transpired between Dante and I.
He
His behaviour had been throwingoff big time. He had been the one who say he didn’t wanton his life any
more. He was the one to sentthe divorce. papers. had been the one to refuse even allowingto convince
him other wise yet last night he was behaving like he was a wounded lover that had been abandoned. Dante
questionedabout Adam like he was so entitled to know what the nature of our relationship had been. It was
entirely out of line and | could not understand what had been going on in his head.
| really didn’t want to see him so soon after returning back to New York but | guess sthings were
unavoidable especially considering he was a major investor on the company that | now owned. It made it a little
bit baffling that a man as sharp as him had not figured out that the business was a little bit compromised at
present. He was just as surprised to seethere last night as | had been to run- in to him. I could say that |
wished it had been the last tthat | would see him but him being such a vital part of
that | would see him but him being such a vital the company made it impossible.
As for Pheobe, the woman was pathetic. Not that it cas any sort of a surprise tobut she had bectoo
over zealous. The nerve of her to openly threatenlike | was. a harmless fly that she could easily smash with
her pointed toed heel. | may have let her have her way once but I'd be dam ned if | allow her any sort of leniency
ever again.
“Miss Miller?” | blinked out of my reverie at the voice of the butler calling my name. By the cl*pped tone of his,
he had calledmore than once.
“Yes?” | was a bit withdrawn but he motioned forto enter the large house fit to be a mansion that my
grandfather had left to me.
The entire estate had been breath taking and he had made a few modern changes to the place since | was last
here. The front garden framed the long driveway that lead to the main entrance of the house. A large marble
fountain was situated just to the right of the lawn and across the front door. Roses and other pretty flowers
swayed in the gentle breeze and the light from the sun danced of them.
“Shall we proceed to take a tour of the house?” He asked and | nodded while trying to fight of a yawn.
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Chapter 9
“Of course. That would be lovely.” | smiled warmly at him and allowed him to lead the way all around the h|
once remembered but seemed so different now. Not that | minded it at all since I liked the changed that had
been made.
The colours were more clean and neutral. The old carpets were removed and either porcelain tiles or wooden
flooring had been fitted in its place. The light fixtures that | recalled hanging from the ceiling as a child were now
gone and replaced with fancier lights.
The tour had last nearly an hour with the outhouse and by the end of it, | was exhausted and wanted nothing
more than to just take a dip in the pool at the back of the mansion.
After staying at a hotel for almost three days, it was finally tto get settled and officially move in to a more
secure lodging. | just made a quick stop here before heading in to the office to make sure every thing was in
order for us to move.
“Thank you for your time. | will have my luggage sent over later today.” | informed him before leaving the estate
and heading over to the office.
| had a meeting in half an hour with the managerial team and | had to get to it on time. | was enthusiastic to get
to know the different departments and people in it.
| swiped my access car at the private parking and drove through parking my car right in the reserved spot
allocated forand close to the entrance and elevator. | reached for my hand bag and got out, straightening
my pencil skirt and tucked in blouse before heading in to the building.
The meeting commenced shortly and important issues were raised to my attention. Issues such as the unstable
rate of sales, accounts that have not been paid for sreason, and other significant problems that we
discussed on a way forward to fix it. By the end of the meeting | had felt a little lighter knowing that | was slowly,
bit surely, getting things on track one department at a time.
“The press conference will be held in the upcoming days. We will try and determine a decent stock price and
take things from there. | must thank each of your for being accommodating and open to getting the operation
back on track.” | concluded before the room dispersed but | stayed back in the board room for a short moment to
take a breather.
| had been looking out of the large window at the bustling city below when a knock sounded on the door. | turned
to see a young woman standing there with fiery red hair that reached the tops of her shoulders with big glasses
framing her eyes.
“Miss Miller, it’s nice to meet you.” She spoke clearly and with a soft expression on her face. | hadn't seen her
before now.
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Chapter 9
“It’s nice to meet you as well.” She might have picked up the note of confusion in my voice because she quickly
introduced herself.
“I'm Lucy, your personal assistant.” She informedand | smiled at her knowing where she fit in now.
“Hello. Lucy. | didn’t even know | had a personal assistant until now.” | said for conversation sake.
“I was in admin for a while since your grandfather's passing and it’s nice to be getting in to a role | prefer again.”
Lucy and | were going to get on just well, | could tell.
“I look forward to working with you.” She seemed touched by that but quickly gave her head a small shake.
“I almost forgot, there is sone here to see you. He didn’t leave a nbut he refused to leave when |
mentioned that you were occupied with a meeting.” She sounded a little annoyed by that and | frowned not
expecting any one at all. Adam was away attending to his own meeting today and wouldn't be done until a little
later so it couldn't be him.
“Okay, I'll see to it.” | said curious to see who it had been.
“He is in your office.” She said before turning around and leaving.
After Lucy had left, | exited the boardroom and moved down the floor to where my office had been. It was quite
well kept even though it had been vacant all these years and not a spec of dust was in sight.
| pushed open the door that now had a plaque with my nmounted on it to discover that the man who had
cto seewas none other than my ex- husband. Even though his back was faced toas he looked out of
the floor length window, | knew it was him. As much as | hated it, every fibre ofknew it was him.
“Mr Crawford.” | greeted formally then took enough steps to placebehind the large hard wood desk making
sure that there was sthing between us.
It felt safer that way for two reasons. One being that I'd have sleverage in case this was going to be a tough
encounter and two being that keeping space between was good. There was no need for us to share any kind of
inappropriate proximity especially after what had transpired last night.
My I*ps still tingled and | hated it. | hated that he had any sort of effect onat all. It wasn’t supposed to exist
any more. After all this time, | was supposed to look at him, be in his presence, and think of nothing else but how
much | hated him.
His tall pants and t-shirt covered length shifted from the window as he turned around
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Chapter 9
to face me. Dante’s face was unreadable and his eyes were a mask makingreinforce what ever walls | had
up prepared for what ever he was going to throw at me.
“Mr Crawford?” He asked in distate like | had offended him.
| nodded. “I do believe that is the way you are to be addressed as in a formal setting.” My response was stating
the obvious. What did he expectto call him?
| let out an exhausted breath before setting in to my chair and motioning for him to take one of the two chairs
across from my desk. Dante didn’t even look at the seat but stood where he did comfortably.
“There was nothing formal about what happened last night.” His words hung in the air and my cheeks instantly
heated up.
“That was a mistake and you know it. You acted out of anger and it meant nothing. If any thing, it says more
about you than me.” | mocked but he didn’t phase him at all.
“And what did you act out of?” His flung at me, walking around the room. “As much as | k¥ssed you, you als
did k*ssback.” Da mn it!
That was the stup idest thing | ever did.
“Perhaps it was anger as well.” | shrugged carelessly. “In any case, it doesn’t matter.” Dante's eyes narrowed at
Well, if that was what he had been waiting for then he could wait for an eternity.
“Why are you here? | can’t imagine you have nothing to do but show up here to discuss a lack of judgement.” My
choice of words had him clenching his jaw but | felt satisfied. “I'm here in the best interest of my own. As a vital
share holder in this company.” There was sthing devious in his tone that made my shoulders tense up.
“I know what the other investors do not.” He paced slowly in front of my desk like a predator stalking its prey. “I
have known about the battling finances of the company from the get go and | find it scandalous that you have
not disclosed it to the shareholders first hand.” He pause right in front of my desk.
“Because it is a minor fix. Nothing to really cause any sort of unnecessary alarm amongst the investors.” | tried
to brush it off but his eyes were to fixed onthat he caught the slight fear that flashed across my eyes.
“What guarantee can you give to us investors to ensure such a thing?” His words hung in the tense air of my
office and my mouth ran dry.
Chapter 9
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