VII

He looked at me contemplating and I thought he was going to give in and accept, but he abruptly stood.

"No. Embrace your role. Be my trophy wife, won't you?" he took my hand and placed a soft kiss, then smiled at me. I looked at him shocked. I flashed my middle finger at his retreating back. A childish ploy that soothed the rejection a bit. This wasn't over. I flipped through the business paper, the dollar had gone down. Raphael suddenly materialized in front of me with my breakfast. I flashed him a grateful smile and muttered a small thanks as I dug in.

Once I was done, it was time for me to head out, for round two if you may. I grabbed Caden's jeep keys and headed out. The guard saw me approaching and ran to meet me.

"Good morning, ma'am." he looked round the car. "I'm sorry, I can't open the gate for you if you're not accompanied by your driver."

"But, George left with Luka earlier." I told him sweetly, batting my lashes at him. "Plus, I'm going to meet them. We'll come back tomorrow, don't worry." He hesitated a bit then went to open the gates. I smirked. Pretty girl privilege for the win.

I turned on the radio and danced to the beats. I was at the Giovanni headquarters in no time. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach, and my palms got sweaty. What was making me so nervous? I parked in the company's basement. I had just turned off the engine when my phone started vibrating near me.

Luka Giovanni, flashed on the screen.

"Larissa," I answered brightly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to make an appeal." I muttered politely. He let out a string of, what I was sure were,Italian cuss words.

"My office now!" he commanded shortly after, and hung up. Damn! I didn't even know where his office was! He sounded furious. Good. He should know I wasn't going to tuck in my tail and do as per his bidding. I checked myself out in the mirror, touched up my gloss and stepped out. Immediately I entered the building, everyone's eyes were on me. From the corner of my eye I saw someone approaching me. I turned and saw the blonde bimbo from the other night. I rolled my eyes exasperated, no surprise there.

"Mrs. Giovanni?"

I gave her a sickly sweet smile.

"Well, well, well. Lookie who we have here." I muttered cynically. I easily towered over her. My smile grew wider as I recalled our last encounter and watched as her bravado suddenly failed her. She took three quick steps back and nearly fell over, but managed to keep her balance.

"Mr. Giovanni awaits you. Follow me." She turned and started leading me towards the elevator. So she wasn't a model as I previously assumed, but the infamous secretary. Interesting. She was rocking a tight beige skirt that had a slit behind between her legs and stopped around mid-thigh. Her white chiffon top had killer cleavage. She was hot. Luka had taste.

There was that usual awkward elevator silence, then we finally reached his floor. She got out first, leading me down the hallway. She stopped in front of a huge mahogany door, knocked twice and opened the door.

"Your wife, sir." She announced, holding the door wide open for me.

Luka looked up from his paperwork and gave me a once over.

"Don't let anyone interrupt us, Paige. Hold off all my appointments." She nodded dutifully and left, closing the door carefully behind her.

He turned his attention back to me. "Sit."

I took my time going to the chair and sat down.

"Why do you want to work? Here, especially."

"I'd like to work close to my husband. Is it so wrong for a spouse to want to be close to her fated partner? Is it so wrong for me to love my darling husband and want to be nearer to him?" I was being extra now, I know. To be close to you, because every moment I spend away from you-"

"Don't be so dramatic." He mumbled, cutting me off. He eyed me, weighing his options, and finally sighed.

"What position do you want?"

My face immediately lit up. "Fin-"

"I was joking." He deadpanned and continued "I'm not giving you a job and an option to choose what you want to do. You'll be my personal assistant. I'm sure you know what that entails. I'll have my lawyers draft a contract and you'll be presented with it before the end of the workday."

Personal Assistant? That's perfect, things were falling into place beautifully. My preference, and passion, would have been to work in the finance department, but being his PA....Perfect! I beamed at him.

"Thank you." I debated rushing over to him and giving him a hug, but I thought against that. That would have been too much, too soon.

"Before I forget," he began, "we'll be going public with our relationship status. My grandfather will be discharged soon and he'll get suspicious."

I loved the old man, Aurelio. Just thinking of him brought a smile to my face. A genuine smile. But with him being discharged now... it would honestly go either way. It was good I got this information earlier. I'd have to use his presence to my advantage.

"So when will we announce our marriage?" I asked him after I was done turning over the pros and cons in my mind.

"Today." He bent over and pulled something out of the drawers.

"Here. This is only temporary, so don't lose it." he said as he pulled out a little box. I rolled my eyes at his unnecessary comment. "That's my grandmother's ring that goes down from generation to generation."

He handed me a beautiful tiny vintage box. I carefully took it from his hands and opened it. What I was looking at was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on. My heart fluttered. It was a beautiful white gold ring with a princess cut diamond that just pulled you in. I plucked it from its safe haven and looked over 'dreamily' at Luka.

"Won't you put it on me, darling?" the last part came out a bit strained but I could tell I took him by surprise. He sat back in his chair.

"Come." He agreed immediately and that took me by surprise. He pushed his chair back as I went round to his side. My heart was going wild in my chest. He took my hand softly and slipped on the ring. It was a perfect fit.

"Huh, what are the odds," I let out softly, admiring the ring. He held onto my hand a bit longer, staring at it, then softly caressed it. He lingered a bit then pulled back his hand. Was I winning him over already? I stepped away and went back to my seat.

"It's really beautiful."