‘No,’ Nico cut her off. He had no interest in hearing why Ashley wouldn’t recognise him. He’d already realised himself how unimportant the boy he’d been was to her.
‘And will you explain—?’
‘I won’t waste my time. In about fifteen minutes, all of you will be unemployed and this company will no longer exist. Explanations aren’t necessary.’
Ruth shook her head slowly, almost in wonder. ‘You’re so ruthless,’ she observed, her tone sorrowful rather than condemning.
Nico straightened and met her gaze head on. ‘Five years in prison will do that to you,’ he replied evenly, and for a second they simply stared at each other, until Ruth looked away first.
Nico glanced back down at Ashley and saw that her eyes were fluttering open. She gazed up at him, dazed, as colour crept into her cheeks and light into her eyes. Nico stared down at her, determinedly unmoved. His conversation with Ruth Boxall had raked up all the old wounds and feelings again—the shock and horror of his arrest, his stammering explanation, his desperate plea…
The whole thing had been a stitch-up from start to finish—his hiring, the responsibility Chase Woodward had supposedly entrusted him with, his invitation to that ball and his arrest. Everything had been orchestrated by the father of the woman now sprawled at his feet.
And she’d been there, had seen it and done nothing—lessthan nothing. She’d played her own part, unwittingly or not, and for that she deserved everything she got.
And yet, as much as Nico wanted to turn away from her now, he found he couldn’t. Reluctantly, his mouth set in a grim, hard line, he stooped down and reached out one hand to help her up.
Ashley blinked up at him, still dazed as she reached out to take his hand—and then yanked it back.
Whywas she lying down? Ashley’s head was whirling, her stomach seething, as she almost took Nico Galletti’s hand before she remembered that he was about to fire not justher, but all her employees, and she yanked it back.
This man was amonster.
‘Ashley…’
She turned to see Ruth gazing at her in concern. ‘You were out for a while.’
Silently Ashley eased herself into a sitting position, her head in her hands, her whole body still reeling. She couldn’t believe this was happening. In all her worst imaginings, she hadn’t considered the utterly grim possibility that Nico Galletti would destroy her company simply for the sake of it.
He might absorb it, yes, take it as his own, but even in the worst-case scenario in which she and her board were all fired, she’d thoughtsomeemployees would be able to keep their jobs. That some of the inventors she believed in so passionately would still have a place to live out their dreams.
Butthis…this was willful, wanton destruction, and she couldn’t think why…until she remembered what she’d said about her father. Ashley knew her father had hurt a lot of people with his treachery: investors who had trusted him as well as employees who had believed in him, like Ruth’s husband Phillip, who had gone to prison with her father even though Ruth had insisted he was innocent.
Had Nico Galletti been similarly hurt by her father? But surely he had to know she’d had nothing to do with her father’s fraud and embezzlement? The modesty of her life now was proof enough she hadn’t benefited from the millions her father had spirited away into offshore accounts before his arrest.
Slowly Ashley lifted her head from her hands. ‘Did my father do something to you?’ she asked, and Nico gave a short, harsh laugh.
‘You could say that.’
‘Ashley…’ Ruth murmured, and Ashley swivelled to face her friend, even though it made her head swim.
‘Doyouknow?’ she asked, sensing something in Ruth’s tone, and Ruth glanced at Nico before nodding tautly. Ashley shook her head, also not a good idea, she discovered, when she felt so faint and nauseous. ‘Can someone please tell me what is going on?’ she demanded.
Before Nico or Ruth could answer—not that either seemed inclined to—a knock sounded at the door. Nico called for the person to enter, a fact which rankled, because it washeroffice… Even if, Ashley realised with a plunging sensation, it wasn’t any more.
‘This is an EMT,’ Nico informed her shortly, nodding at the man. ‘He’ll have you checked out.’
‘What—?’
‘You fainted,’ he explained, sounding impatient now. ‘I will not be accused of any kind of cruelty or neglect when it comes to the logistics of this takeover.’
Ashley had to laugh at that, a short, sharp sound. ‘So, it’s not cruelty when you’re destroying my whole companyfor no reason?’
His eyes flashed then, streaks of silver that reminded her of lightning—and gave her the same kind of electric charge. Ashley jerked back as if she’d been struck, even though no one had moved.
‘Hardly no reason,’ Nico said in a quietly lethal voice, and then he turned and walked out of the room.
‘Ruth…’ Ashley began, and she shook her head.
