"Bruno Gasol."
They kept talking while I marched down the hallway, heels loud as gunshots and fingers tight at my side. If I didn't get into my office quickly, I'd explode in front of everyone.
Once inside, I looked for something to throw.
"Did you have a bad lunch?" Eliana, my secretary, asked as she entered.
Dragging off my coat, I glared at her and fired off my own questions. "Did Greenslate send any emails or calls asking for permission to plant an employee here?"
Her confused expression was my answer.
"What happened? What employee?"
Ignoring her, I paced the length of my office, each turn fueled by the kind of fury that begged for a target.
"This is exactly why my father doesn't believe in investors. He likens them to partners, and too many of them meant you had less control."
Eliana shook her head. "Alex, breathe. I'm getting dizzy just watching you."
"Greenslate thinks I'm not capable of launching Amoré Nights, so they sent a babysitter."
"Can they do that?"
"It's a gray area. They have rights as investors, and sending someone to assist and oversee is definitely within their rights," I explained, still pacing the room. "Why does it have to be him, though?"
"Who?" Eliana asked, twisting the cap off a bottle of water and holding it out to me. I grabbed it and drank some, but it burned going down my throat. All of this shit stung. "If they didn't believe I could run the damn business properly, why the hell did Greenslate invest?"
Eliana frowned. "Wait, wait. Why jump to that conclusion? You gave me the impression seconds ago it was fairly normal."
"Well. It is, but…"
"But what?"
Staring at her, I ran my hand through my hair. "They fucking sent my ex-boyfriend. The one man I never wanted to see again."
My throat felt dry. Just seeing his face brought back a memory I thought I'd never be forced to remember.
"Shit," Eliana blurted out.
Exactly. A man I'd vowed never to see again was now a few doors down the hall in my company, getting himself settled.
"Alex, calm down."
This was calm. Pacing around the room, eyes wide, hands shaking. Thatwascalm. If not, I'd be down the hall creating a scene that would embarrass me and the company, whose reputation I didn't want to ruin. My heels scraped against the floor as I did another lap around the room, worked up and furious to the point that I could not sit or think straight.
"Operations specialist. He will dig into everything, not only operations. Give him time, soon he'll be in finance and product readiness."
Eliana placed her arms on my shoulders and steered me to my desk. When she gently lowered me into my seat, I leaned back.
"We launch next month. You've worked tirelessly on this company. Your ex-boyfriend can't do anything to stop Amoré Nights."
Hearing her call Bruno my anything made my jaw tighten. However, she was fucking right. No damn way would I let him take another thing away from me. Greenslate had no legal right to their money back.
"The meeting will start in ten minutes," Eliana reminded me in a voice that sounded unsure I'd still attend.
I stood behind the desk, smoothing the wrinkles from my pants with shaky hands. My jaw was set, and the choice was already made. Nothing was going to stop me today.
"Are these the files? Is the room set up?"
