Tony pressed his lips together. ‘I suppose people want to know why a billionaire tycoon like Nico Galletti has been ruthlessly targeting such a relatively small company that helps at-risk people…and why he felt the need to fire everyone who worked there.’ Judging from his head of PR’s tone, it seemed as if Tony was wondering the same thing.
‘These news stories last a second,’ Nico dismissed impatiently, ignoring Tony’s spin on reality. ‘You just wait them out…’ He stopped, frowning as Tony’s words trickled through his mind. ‘Wait, what do you mean, “at-risk people”?’
‘The tech company,’ he explained. ‘Infinite Innovations. All their inventions are—or rather,were—to help differently abled and other at-risk people. Destroying it for no apparent reason is not a good look, especially in this day and age, when a company’s ethical profile is so crucial.’
‘Right.’ Nico turned back to the window, raking his hand through his hair. Somehow, when researching the solvency of Infinite Innovations, he had missed the part about the inventions beingaimedat anyone, especially people with special needs. All he’d cared about was that it was run by a Woodward, and what that meant for his bottom line.
He blew out a breath, his gaze on the view from the twenty-second floor, but his mind’s eye picturing Ashley: that surprisingly stubborn tilt of her chin; the emerald flash of her eyes; the tremble of her lips as she’d tried desperately to hold it together when he’d told her he was destroying her company…
And then he thought about his brother, his mother’s words ringing through his mind.
This is your fault, Nico. If you’d been here, Roberto wouldn’t have…
He clamped down hard on that train of thought as he swivelled back to face Tony. ‘So, considering the situation,’ he asked, ‘What do you advise I do?’
‘Damage control, stat,’ the other man replied immediately. ‘Be seen in public with the tech company’s CEO. Make a statement about being committed to preserving jobs. Promise to educate yourself about the issues that have been raised. Donate ashedloadof money to significant causes. And then, maybe—and only maybe—you might limit the damage.’
Nico shook his head slowly, more amazed than alarmed. He could weather a few cancellations and some negative press, and he knew damage control wasn’t as important to him as it was to Tony. But if he’d done something he would regret…for several reasons…
‘You really think it’s that bad?’ he asked.
In reply, Tony held up his phone. ‘Over a hundred thousand views in the last fifteen minutes. Yes, it’s that bad.’
Half an hour later, Nico was back by the window, staring blindly out at the city. He’d spent most of that time scrolling on his phone to discover more information about Infinite Innovations. Just a few minutes had been enough to make his stomach seethe with guilt and regret. Of all the companies he could have chosen to destroy, Ashley Woodward’s might have been the worst, both for publicandpersonal reasons.
He’d read about the robotic toothbrush that those with paralysis or dementia could use to help brush their teeth and the communication device the company was helping to market to help people with speech difficulties. He’d learned about the bracelet that monitored brainwaves and could warn people they were having seizures as well as transmit messages to carers; and about an all-terrain wheelchair that was impossible to tip, and the prosthetic arm that could restore a sense of touch. All of the technology had been invented awhile ago, but Infinite Innovations was helping to bring it to a wider, more accessible market.
He’d read an interview with Ashley in which she’d explained how hard it was to get investors, because people with disabilities were so often at the bottom of the list, but that these were inventions that would truly change the world. He’d watched a snippet of a video in which she’d spoken passionately about needing to champion these causes, and how every single one of her employees had been hired based on their connection to someone who had complex needs.
Reading it all had made him realise what a huge mistake he’d made. And why Ashley Woodward must truly think he was a monster. Right then, hefeltlike a monster. He’d destroyed a company that was, at its heart, perhaps the noblest and most altruistic business endeavour he’d ever heard of. One, in any other scenario, he would have fought hard to champion. And, according to the articles he’d read, it had been Ashley Woodward’s brainchild. Herbaby.
What did that say about the woman he’d dismissed as not only shallow, but scheming and treacherous? What did it say about him that he had, especially considering his own history?
He felt as if he didn’t know anything any more, and that was a deeply unsettling sensation. He dealt in certainties. What Chase Woodward had done to him, with the help of his daughter, had affected every choice he’d made in the sixteen years since it happened. But, no matter how noble she might seem, he still couldn’t trust her. Hewouldn’t, and that was a choice too, because he’d learned the hardest way possible how much trusting could hurt. He would not let himself be fooled twice. He refused to be that naïve or hopeful with anyone ever again, the way he had once been, and especially not with a Woodward.
But Nico acknowledged with a grimace that he still needed to talk to Ashley…and find a way out of this mess.
Chapter Six
ASHLEY HAD JUSTfinished eating—the quiche had been particularly delicious—when the door opened and a suited, blank-faced member of staff stood there.
‘Mr Galletti will see you now.’
‘Oh, will he?’ Ashley fired back before she could think better of it. ‘I wasn’t awareIwanted to seehim.’
The man’s expression didn’t change in the slightest as he simply held open the door. Deciding she’d have to face Nico Galletti at some point—and she had a few choice things to say to him, anyway—Ashley slowly limped through it. Her ankle was feeling marginally better, but she still walked haltingly and painfully as she followed the man down an opulent, thickly carpeted hall, past several closed office doors. The atmosphere was both awed and expectant—although maybe that was just how she felt. Nerves fluttered low in her belly as they approached a set of double doors in black walnut at the end of the hall. They had to lead to Nico Galletti’s office.
The man knocked once on the door and then, at a terse command to enter, opened it before gesturing for Ashley to step through, which she did with equal parts trepidation and curiosity.
It was a massive office, with floor-to-ceiling windows that made her feel as if she were hovering over the city. A huge mahogany desk was at one end, a leather sofa and chairs at the other. And Nico Galletti stood right in the middle, looking as darkly forbidding as ever and, Ashley had to admit, as sexy as hell.
Ashley felt as though meeting his gaze was one of the hardest things she had ever done, because as soon as she did heat flooded her face and memories tumbled through her mind of her lips on his throat, her hands in his hair, his body…
She needed to scrub her mind of that brief episode, scrub her wholebody, because even now, when he gave her nothing more than a level look, heat prickled everywhere and awareness trickled through her veins like molten lava, making her yearn.
‘How,’ he asked, all solicitude, ‘Is your ankle?’
Ashley forced her chin up and was grateful when her voice came out sounding mostly normal. ‘It’s all right.’
