Chapter 4 Becoming his new PA

Zoe’s first three days being an amateur spy-slash-intern were interesting if uneventful. 

Derek had been right that no one had looked at her twice. She was just another intern, albeit the only one who was assigned to the administrative floor of the building, where the CEO’s office was located.

Not that Zoe had seen the man yet. Milano was apparently wrapping up some very important deal in New York and wouldn’t be back for a few more days. Despite his absence, Zoe had already learned quite a bit about the guy.

She didn’t even need to ask around: everyone seemed very eager to gossip about the new CEO. It didn’t hurt that the man was handsome and obscenely rich, so naturally he was the main topic of discussion during Zoe’s coffee breaks. 

Martin Milano was thirty-one years old. He was recently divorced and had custody of his only son. People seemed of two minds about it: some thought it was cruel of Milano to take the child from his mother, and others thought it was admirable that he was willing to raise the child all by himself.

Zoe kind of doubted that the guy would be raising the kid alone: he probably had a legion of nannies looking after his son; not to mention there were probably hundreds of women more than eager to become the next Mrs. Milano and cheer up the man after his divorce.

To be honest, Zoe had trouble connecting the cold-eyed, impeccably dressed man she’d seen at Montreal’s party with the image of a single father of a toddler, but she decided not to judge the book by its cover. Who knew, maybe Milano was actually a big softie under his icy exterior?

Granted, everything pointed to Milano not being a big softie.

“He’s incredibly demanding,” Grace, his secretary, told Zoe over a cup of tea. She was a fifty-something woman of unremarkable appearance, breaking all the stereotypes Zoe had previously had about secretaries of billionaires.

“But he’s also quite fair,” she added. “To be honest, Montreal Senior was far worse.” She shrugged. “But then again, I don’t have to work closely with Mr. Milano, because he has a personal assistant, and the poor guy is the one who bears the brunt of the boss’s anger if things go wrong, not me.” Sofia peered at her with interest. “Enough about work. Tell me more about yourself. Surely such a beautiful young lady like you has a significant other?”

Zoe could only smile sheepishly and shake her head. She didn’t know what it was about her that made older women want to mother hen her and play matchmaker for her.

“Really?” she said, her eyebrows flying up. “But you’re so pretty! What do you use to dye your hair, by the way?”

Smiling, Zoe shook her head again. “No, it’s my natural color. My eldest brother has the same hair.” Granted, her hair was pretty unusual: brown with gold or red highlights depending on the lighting. At least it was thick and manageable enough and the color went well with her green eyes, so Zoe was far from complaining. She didn’t suffer from false modesty. Everyone in her family was blessed with excellent genes, and Zoe was no exception.

She knew she was attractive, but she wasn’t anywhere near as attractive as her brother Ryan, whose looks put Hollywood stars to shame. People literally tripped and stared when they saw Ryan. It was beyond hilarious. Compared to Ryan, Zoe was just okay-looking, but it was probably unfair to judge people by such high standards. 

Especially knowing that she's a girl. But really, sometimes she's jealous... It's kinda unfair that he's more beautiful than her, especially since he's a guy and she's the only girl in the family.

Grace opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Jayne’s shout. “Grace, the boss is back and is looking for you!”

“Hmm, he’s back early,” Grace muttered, frowning and standing up. “I wonder if something went wrong… Let’s go, Zoe.”

Zoe stood and hurried after her, feeling curious and a little anxious. Over the past few days, she’d heard so many different things about Milano that it was difficult for her to piece together the various bits of information into one coherent picture.

Not to mention that her promise to Derek and Wendy made her twitchy and flustered, as if Milano would take one look at her and guess that she had been sent to sort of spy on him.

Spy on him.

Fuck, what had she gotten herself into? She was no spy material. In fact, her poker face was non-existent. Zoe had always preferred being honest and straightforward and liked it when people acted the same way.

“Wait here,” Grace said, leaving her at her desk before striding confidently into the CEO’s office and closing the door.

To kill time, Zoe pulled out her phone and started texting her brothers.

Hmm, Ryan wanted to propose to her girlfriend… Wasn’t it a bit too soon?

Zoe quickly did the math in her head and realized with some surprise that Ryan and Jane had been together for two and a half years already. And considering that Ryan and Jane had been attached at the hip since they were kids, it was probably about time, actually.

Raised voices made Zoe flinch and look at the door. She could hear snatches of the conversation now.

“I don’t care, Grace. Find me one now.”

Zoe bit the inside of her cheek, recognizing that hard voice.

Grace murmured something Zoe couldn’t hear.

Milano said, “She’ll do.”

There was the sound of high heels on the polished floor before the door opened and Grace emerged out of the office, a look of discomfort on her face.

“Something wrong?” Zoe said, glancing at the closed door.

She winced. “Not sure yet. Basically, the boss’s assistant finally snapped and had a nervous breakdown. He’s in no state to return to work for a while, and Mr. Milano needs a PA as soon as possible.” She looked at Zoe with a sheepish expression.

“Please tell me you didn’t volunteer me,” Zoe said faintly. When Grace didn’t deny it, Zoe shook her head. “I have no experience at being a PA, Grace. He’ll kick me out within a few hours.”

“Well, on the bright side, you’ll make more as his PA in a few hours than you’ll make as an intern in a month.”

Realizing that she wasn’t joking, Zoe could only stare at her. Seriously?

She grinned. “That’s one heck of a silver lining, isn’t it? That’s why I suggested you.”

Zoe was touched. Grace knew about her stolen purse and the fact that she was a little strapped for cash at the moment, since she hadn’t actually bothered to tell her family about her troubles. 

“All right, go. He’s waiting.”

“Now?” Zoe said, glancing at the door.

She laughed. “No, next week! Go, he isn’t a patient man.”

“That’s really encouraging,” Zoe said dryly before squaring her shoulders and striding toward the door.

Here goes nothing.

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