Sofia
Two days after our return from New York, I returned to Blake Enterprises to find it unchanged—but somehow, everything was different. I chewed my lip as I slid off my coat, hung it on the rack, and took a seat behind my desk.
When he thought I wasn’t looking, I’d caught Andrew staring at me a couple of times on the flight back to London.
It was like he didn’t have anything better to do than to look at me—a far cry from the flight over, when he barely acknowledged my existence. His hand had slid into mine at various points during the flight, and I brushed his hair out of his eyes when he fell asleep. He’d made sure I was hydrated and I’d shared my extra blanket with him.
We’d been in New York less than a week, but something had shifted between us. He’d lowered his guard and I’d let him in. We’d become a couple.
We’d gone straight to my place from the airport, then slept and ate and fucked through Tuesday. This morning, when the alarm went off, he was already gone. I tried to shake off the rolling chill in my chest. I didn’t expect us to saunter into the office hand-in-hand, but I hadn’t expected him to pull a Houdini, either.
There was so much still unsaid between us.
I immersed myself in work as Andrew’s office door remained firmly closed. Even though I had the urge to stick my head around the door and offer him a coffee, I resisted. This was his focus time. I needed to respect that.
At exactly midday, Douglas came through to the outer office.
“Great news about Goode,” he said. “This is going to be different for him. You know, running a company in the long term.”
I nodded. “Very different. But good.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We won’t be able to handle it all. First on the agenda is recruitment.”
Douglas knocked on Andrew’s door before I had a chance to ask him what he meant. Andrew was going to run Verity, I was going to be his assistant, and Bob was going to be his finance guy. The rest of the office was going to do what the rest of the office always did. Who were we going to recruit?
Douglas wasn’t in Andrew’s office long before he swept out juggling a pile of papers. He always went in looking composed and came out looking like he’d wrestled a tiger.
“Sofia!” Andrew bellowed through his closed door.
Instinctively I jumped up, grabbed a notebook, and went inside.
Andrew didn’t look up as I entered.
“Sit.”
I wanted to tell him to go get a dog if that’s how he wanted to speak to someone, but instead I took a deep breath and reminded myself that his tone was nothing new. I couldn’t expect him to have had a personality transplant just because we were . . . whatever we were.
Even if I had the chance to change Andrew’s behavior at work . . . would I? I’d fallen for the man Andrew was outside the office, but I wasn’t not attracted to the man he was inside it. His intense focus and no-bullshit attitude were sexy as hell. He wasn’t cruel—could never be cruel—and I vowed not to start taking his brusque demeanor personally just because things had changed between us outside of the office.
“I have a proposal for you,” he said.
I had the wherewithal to feel embarrassed by the part of my brain that screeched “YES I’LL MARRY YOU!” I shook my head to clear the rogue thought and mentally slammed the door on every rom-com Natalie and I had ever watched.
“Verity,” he said, at last looking up to meet my gaze.
“Verity,” I repeated. “I’m working on the plan. The transition from where they are now and where we want to take them is going to be key.”
Andrew drew in a long breath and nodded. “I agree. And finding the right person to guide them through that is essential. I need to recruit a CEO.”
So that’s what Douglas had been talking about.
“You don’t want to do it yourself?” The reason Andrew was so attached to this business was because of his personal connection to it. Didn’t he want to be in charge?
“Nope. Goode made it a stipulation that I shouldn’t lead the change there. And it makes sense. The business is too personal for me. Besides, I’m not sure I need to be in the weeds.”
“Shall I reach out to some headhunters?”
“That depends,” he said. “My first choice for CEO is you.”
I turned my head to the side slightly, wondering if my hearing was going in one ear. What did he just say? “Me?”
“Yes. You’re bright, you know the business, and Goode agrees. We both want you to run it.”
“Even now he knows I lied to him?”
“Yes. He knows you’re on my payroll. I also told him your ideas about a membership model weren’t mine. Plus, he knows your CV.”
“Then he’ll know I don’t have any experience running a business.” I wasn’t trying to talk myself out of a job, but I didn’t want to sink the ship before it was out to sea.
“I’ll guide you. You have an MBA, so you know the theory at least, and everyone has to run a business for the first time at some point.”
“You think I can do it?” It wasn’t a question I would normally ask someone offering me a job, but I was overcome by a powerful wave of self-doubt. “I’m just your assistant.”
“We both know you’re overqualified to be my assistant, and I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t think you were capable. Goode likes that you’re a hustler. And I know talent. Remember, my job is to go into organizations, promote talent, and get rid of whatever prevents the company from thriving. I know what you’re capable of, and you’re more than capable of this. I know you.” He looked me dead in the eye. “I can trust you.”
This was the break I’d been waiting for. In fact, it was the break I’d thought I’d still be waiting for in five years. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Things like this didn’t happen to people like me. Yes, I got into a decent college and then Columbia, but none of it was easy. I had to work harder, be better. Everything was a challenge. I didn’t get handed opportunities like this. It might be the kind of opportunity Bella and Bryony could expect to get when their time came, but nothing like this had ever been on my radar.
“I’ll take it.”
“There’s just one thing,” he said.
Of course there had to be a catch. There was always a catch.
My heart boomed like someone was swinging a baseball bat on a kettle drum inside my chest. I braced myself to hear what was next.
“You and I . . .” Andrew sighed and nodded. “We’ve become close.”
I swallowed. A wave of dread surged like an army toward me. I sat powerless against what was next.
“You know how I feel about mixing my personal and professional life.”
Heat rose from my stomach and burned hot in my chest. I nodded, impatient for the inevitable.
“With you as CEO of Verity, it’s important that we keep things professional. The company’s success is important to me and I’m going to be your boss long-term. The stakes are high. We need to keep things separate.”
“Okay . . .” I said, not quite sure what he meant. Usually there was no clarification required when I had a conversation with Andrew. What was he trying to say—that I should call him James out of the office? “Which means?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed and he glanced at his office door like he was willing an interruption. “We should keep our relationship purely professional.”
The heat in my chest pushed down out of my limbs, a chill racing down my spine in its wake. I didn’t know whether to feel angry or sad. “If you don’t want to date me, you don’t have to offer me a job that makes it impossible. You can just tell me you don’t want to date me. You’re not usually so indirect.”
“Sofia,” Andrew said in the angry growl I’d come to know.
“I mean it. Don’t be a coward.”
“I told you, I don’t lie. I want you in this job. But it requires a sacrifice. Working together and . . . being together.” He shook his head with such certainty it was like he was plunging a knife into my skin. “It’s not possible. You’ll be great at this job. You have a deep well of creativity, an appetite for hard work, and impressive qualifications. You’re perfect for this role. And the money . . . It will make your life a lot easier.”
If he hadn’t made me an offer I couldn’t refuse already, reminding me that the job would come with a pay raise sealed the deal.
I couldn’t turn this down. If I didn’t get what I needed from my father, I’d have to find another way of paying for my mother’s operation. This might be that way. Anyway, I didn’t want a man who didn’t want to be with me more than he wanted a CEO.
Maybe my mother had been right: Andrew had been playing with me all along. Now he was bored and didn’t want me anymore. At least I wasn’t pregnant. I supposed I should be thankful for that.
The Rossi women always knew how to look on the bright side.
“Fine,” I said. “When do I start?”
Andrew glanced down at his desk, and if I didn’t know him better, I could have sworn he wore an air of disappointment. There was no pleasing this man. Maybe it was better things between us were over now, before I got in too deep and realized I’d never be enough for him.
He cleared his throat. “Right away. Liaise with HR. They have the contract details. I want to see your ninety-day transition plan by this time next week.”
I stood and smoothed down my skirt, hesitating. Was that it? He was done with me, and now I was dismissed—from his office, his life outside work, and his bed.