“Surely he is smart enough to see that anyone with a deep understanding of the industry, and your father’s shortcomings, would know how to extrapolate that information. Call Mr.—”
“Iam Mr. Emidio,” he exploded.
Regret was a sharp pain, but he’d never allowed himself to let regret sink its teeth in. When he made a mistake, he embraced it, rolled with it, then made it a success.
Serena stopped short, studied him. “I beg your pardon.”
He would not explain to her. He would not compound one mistake with another. She was right. They needed a meeting. A business meeting.
“My assistant will be in touch,” he ground out, then turned on a heel and let himself out of the sprawling,ancientbuilding. Into the dark, with a shining moon and dazzling stars and the sounds of the sea all around him.
He paused there in the drive, having driven himself over. He took a deep breath, then turned around and stared at the looming shadows of the old castle. A ridiculous place to live. Up here alone with the wind whipping and the sound of waves lapping all around him. There were a few lights on in different windows.
In one, he saw the clear shadowed outline of a cat.
Who the hell was Serena Valli?
Well, he intended to find out.
CHAPTER THREE
SERENA STUDIED THEgrainy picture in the video. She listened to the local gossip content creator make wild suppositions about what had happened between two rivals last night at Cattiva Idea. Serena appreciated that the photographer had made sure to circulate a picture from an angle that hid the fact Luciano had his arm around another woman, just as Serena had paid her to do.
If Serena managed to get Luciano to agree to this plan, she had no expectations he’d be faithful to a fake marriage. But she wanted it to look—for the first year at least—as if therehadbeen something of a fairy-tale element, aromanceto their union. Something to get people talking about Valli and Ascione. To get their name out there and interest in both the companies up.
At least while she sorted out all their business problems.
I am Mr. Emidio…
Could he really be that ridiculous to pose as his own man of affairs? Could he actually be that…devious? Yes, of course. Could he be that knowledgeable of Ascione? This she had a harder time believing.
She drummed her fingers against her desk, looking back at the picture that made it look as though Luciano Ascione was giving her a great deal of attention in his very own club. Only she could tell that the smile he’d angled her way was full of venom.
She supposed they all played their roles. Maybe he’d been playing the role of flaky playboy while being anything but.
Except he was most definitely a playboy. There was no faking the array of models, actresses, influencers and the like that he always had on his arm.
This was her biggest battle, besides Luciano agreeing to marry her. While, with enough work, she could look elegant enough, whatever beauty she could create was not over the top. She was all-around average. She could not compete with his usual fare.
She had considered the shared grief angle. It had some positives, and it was believable. Grief made people do all sorts of things. But…and Serena knew this was pride over sense talking, she did not want to spend the next few years pretending losing her father was some great loss. She wasn’t sure Lucianocouldpretend that losing his was.
So she had to play up the star-crossed lovers angle. Make everyone believe that for years they had been kept apart by their evil fathers. That their union was preceded by years of denial. Not sudden and out of the blue.
“Ms. Valli?”
Serena looked up from her phone to where her assistant stood in the doorway. She beckoned her inside. “Andrea. Is Mr. Ascione here?”
“I’m afraid not. He’s…changed plans.”
Serena didn’t sneer or growl like she wanted to. She waited patiently for Andrea to continue, a placid smile on her face.
While inside, she pictured herself putting her hands around Luciano Ascione’s neck and squeezing as hard as she could.
“He has sent a car. It will take you to Le Marin, where Mr. Ascione is waiting for your appointment.”
Underneath her desk, Serena balled her hands into fists, letting her nails dig into her palms. She kept her voice pleasant. “How kind of him to think of having a meal together. You may tell his driver I will be down momentarily.”
Andrea looked at her speculatively but nodded and disappeared. Serena jerked out of her chair and allowed herself approximately one minute of pacing and muttering curses before she went to her office bathroom, touched up her makeup and did her deep breathing exercises.
