CHAPTER 10

Celeste could only hear a ringing in her head and watch Marcello's mouth move, but she could not hear a thing he was saying. She was still trying to believe what she just heard.

"Celeste, are you okay?" Marcello said, standing from his seat swiftly before going round the desk to hold her head. Celeste slowly got her hearing back as he watched her with concern in his eyes.

"Did you hit your head when you fell yesterday? If so I'll take you to the hospital now" he said urgently, turning her head slightly to examine for signs of injuries.

Celeste who had regained her composure, decided to ask the one question that was clogging her throat and making breathing difficult for her.

Looking into his eyes, with her terrified jade green stormy pools which were trying to hold back tears stemming from her despair.

"Are you getting married, Mr Martino?" She croaked, her heart almost bursting from how fast it was pounding.

Marcello was confused, where did she hear that from? Did the senator try something after he left the previous day? Well, that was impossible considering his elder brother Lorenzo had assured him that he would take care of it.

He knew Lorenzo's assurance was worth its weight in gold, that was how much his brother doted on him and that never ceased to make him feel invincible knowing all he had to do was say a word and Lorenzo would end whoever pissed him off.

"Where did you hear that Bullshit from?" He swore, and Celeste's eyes widened. What did he mean by that? Wasn't he the one who mentioned his bride now?

"You said you wanted gifts for your bride," Celeste said confused. Marcello paused, then he slowly realized that she had made the wrong conclusion.

" No! Pi cazzo ( No! For fuck's sake) My sister is getting married, she is the bride and I need a gift for her" he said sighing in exasperation. Celeste's head exploded in a kaleidoscope of emotions.

First confusion, shock, then relief and then profound happiness that had her knees literally giving out as she sank to the ground but Marcello quickly wrapped his arm tightly around her waist.

Marcello was at a loss at what to do with her, he could not make a head or tail of his secretary's behavior this afternoon.

she had been smart and fast since she arrived in the morning, with no hint of the fact that she had almost drowned yesterday. So he had no idea why she was behaving this way.

Maintaining a steady grip on her, he lifted her carefully and placed her on his desk.

He moved back a bit to study her, in case something was actually wrong with her. Celeste was surprised by his actions, but when she saw him studying her closely, she realized that he must be questioning her sanity.

She quickly got down from the desk, the tips of her ears burning brightly as always.

"I'm sorry Mr Martino I got carried away" she apologized hastily.

Marcello inclined his head to the left, watching her.

"Are you sure you don't need the hospital?" He asked,

"I am perfectly fine sir...if it's okay I can list a lot of gifts suitable for your sister's wedding," Celeste said as she adjusted her skirt and moved away from the desk, smartly changing the topic now her assumptions had been dispersed.

Marcello stared at her briefly before shrugging, he went back to his seat and relaxed, then gave her the go-ahead to mention the gifts.

"You can gift her scented candles, perfumes, a custom-made bag, some shoes...red bottoms to be precise, an embroid..." Celeste was saying, listing the gifts of her fingers.

"Chista è na battuta pi tia? (is this a joke to you?)" Marcello asked chagrined, Celeste's eyebrows lifted as she couldn't understand what she said wrong. Weren't they suitable gifts for a bride?

"My sister's wedding Celeste! not la festa del mandorlo in fiore ( almond blossoming festival) why will I give her scented candles she has had all her life or shoes she probably has rooms filled with? I'm talking cars, yachts, villas, vacation trips" He said pointedly, rubbing his temple in frustration.

Celeste was shocked, he just called her poor in seven different languages. Smiling through her painful embarrassment, she said " Oh I'm sorry...I think a villa would be perfect".

Marcello nodded, "I think so too, the other family members may have already gifted her cars and her husband has more than enough yacht to last them a lifetime"

Celeste smiled awkwardly, wondering how rich the Martinos were for Marcello to talk about cars and villas like he was shopping for groceries.

"Between the one in Fiji, Bahamas and Bali I can't pick which she would like" he mused aloud.

Celeste narrowed her eyes because at this point he was flaunting his wealth why are you listing beautiful islands where you have villas as though they were nothing?

She knew he was a billionaire, but the gravity of it never sank in until now and probably yesterday when he paid triple for the dress.

"I think the Bahamas would be nice", she said, she knew his sister would love the Bahamas.

"It's settled then, what's my schedule like on Friday?" He asked swiveling in his chair while casually loosening his tie and neck button.

Celeste's brain took an automatic screenshot which left her throat dry.

'Does he realize how sexy he looks doing that?' She squealed in her head.

"You have a board meeting with the executives by 1:00 pm on Friday and an interview with the journalist from LIFESTYLE magazine by 2:30 pm," she said with a small smile enjoying her role as his secretary.

"Clear my schedule, I will be leaving for Sicily on Friday," he said sitting up and leafing through pages of a document in front of him.

"Okay sir, I'll take my leave," Celeste said quietly, already saddened by the thought of him leaving. She held onto the bag containing her clothes tightly as she moved to the door.

"Oh and Celeste pack light, add some thick clothes too because the evenings can be really cold" Marcello called after her.

Celeste's hand which has been hovering around the handle paused. She whirled around in shock, with eyes round like saucers.

"Are you taking me with you?" She squeaked, barely containing her excitement. Marcello looked up from what he was doing, confused by her question.

"Who else would I take, you're my secretary and I need you to handle a few things for me there since you're fluent in most languages," Marcello said, arching an eyebrow.

Celeste's face lit up like a light bulb, and without thinking she did a small jump of excitement, pumping her fist in the air.

Marcello was shocked to see the display, she radiated beauty and excitement that had him feeling the need to say something more just to get her this riled up again.

Celeste nodded enthusiastically,

"No problem sir" she grinned.

'Heavens help me or this woman will be the death of me' Marcello thought weakly as Celeste's million-dollar smile dazzled him.

He shook himself mentally, disturbed by his train of thought. Something about her warned him that he was on a path to big trouble, but somehow at the back of his mind, he knew he was already sinking in deep.

Before he could say anything else, she was already out of his office, though he could hear her little shouts of excitement. He relaxed back on the chair with his eyes still trained on the day, the image of her lit-up face left a warm feeling in his chest.

A feeling he didn't understand, and was scared to explore. She was going to be trouble and he knew it, but that didn't stop the carefree grin that crept up his face.