Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
L iam
I absolutely cannot believe what Lucinda told me, and as I make my way to the office, I realize that I'm not sure if I can look Elisabetta in the eye. There are some things that are more precious than life itself, and that's family. And I know that Elisabetta is someone who would want to be close to her family. I don’t know how I know; it is just an inherent feeling I have based on conversations and spending time with her.
I'm surprised when I see her sitting at her desk as I arrive.
"Good morning, Mr. Gallagher," she says with a polite smile.
"Morning. What are you doing here so early?"
"I decided to get here ten minutes early so that I could do as much work as possible for you."
"What have you been doing?” I ask her.
“Drinking coffee and waiting for you.” She shrugs. “So, what do you want me to do today?"
"Today, we are going to look at logos for a resort I'm thinking about purchasing."
"Okay, not the The Watermelon Hole again."
“The Watermelon Hole is done and dead," I say.
"You wanna come into the office with me?"
"Okay." She stands up, and I am pleasantly surprised to see that she's wearing a navy pinstriped suit. She looks professional and beautiful, and I just want to rip each clothing item off her.
She follows me into my office and closes the door, and I take a seat in my leather chair. She stands there hovering for a couple of seconds.
"Have a seat." I nod towards the chair in front of my desk.
"Okay." She sits down and leans back. "So, what's the first plan of action?"
"You're very businesslike this morning," I say, wondering if she's thought about the previous day and regrets it.
"I figure I work for you, so I should be professional, right?"
"So does that mean all flirtation is off the table?" I stare at her for a couple of seconds.
"I think it means flirtation is off the table when we're at work."
"And when we're not at work?"
"If we happen to see each other when we're not at work, then we can flirt." She beams. "So, what is it we're going to discuss?"
"I have a question for you real quick," I say. Offhand, I wonder if I look or sound suspicious.
"And what's that?"
"Tell me about your parents. You were talking about your father, and I was curious why your mother thought it would be okay to have an engagement party for you."
She blinks quickly. "My mother is dead. She died when I was younger. Sorry, I thought I told you this. Maybe I didn't."
"I was just trying to figure something out. I can't remember if you told me," I say, shaking my head, my heart pounding. "So your father, he’s a single dad?"
"No, he's remarried. I have a stepmother and a stepbrother, Romeo, and?—"
"Oh, yes, yes, yes. Have you spoken to your father again about him marrying you off?"
"No, I don't particularly have anything to say to him about that," she says. "Why are you so curious about it?"
"I'm not. I was just wondering, that's all. I mean, it's quite an unusual thing, isn't it? That a twenty-something-year-old woman’s father is setting up an engagement for her? I mean, especially in a country like America. In certain countries, I can understand where they have arranged marriages, but?—"
"But what?" she says. "You don't think anyone would wanna get married to me?"
"I think plenty of men would. I just didn't think you were happy about the possibility yesterday."
"I'm not, but…" She shrugs. "It is what it is. I'll find out more soon. So, where is the latest place you're thinking about buying?"
"As I've previously told you, there's a place in Italy, a place in Greece, and I'm looking at some places in the Caribbean. Perhaps in Florida, as well. I want it to be a tropical oasis."
"I like the name Oasis," she says. Have you thought about that as a brand name?"
"Just Oasis?"
She grins. "That's it."
"I'm sorry, what's it?" I frowned slightly.
She leans forward excitedly. "Just an Oasis," she says. "That should be the brand name."
"Just an Oasis." I test it on the tongue.
"I mean, that doesn’t seem like it would be the ideal name for a conglomerate of resorts, but I mean, what about Oasis Paradise?" she says. "That would be pretty cool."
"Oasis Paradise Hotels," I say. "I don't hate it. In fact, I quite like it."
She nods eagerly. "Oasis Paradise Hotels, it's all the oasis you need."
"No," she says quickly, shaking her head. "Guess you don't want oasis in there twice."
"No, but we can come up with a different slogan. I like it."
"Oasis Paradise Hotels, destinations: London, New York City, Athens, Rome, Florence." She grins. "Where else?"
"Well, I didn't even know I had one in London." I grin at her. "But I guess I’ll have to buy one."
"I mean, you're from England."
"But no one goes to England thinking they're going to be staying at an oasis paradise," I say, laughing. "Though perhaps I can build something in the Cotswolds. Lots of people would love going to the Cotswolds."
"I'd like to go to the Cotswolds," she says.
And I laugh. "Maybe one day, you'll come and stay at the property there."
"Yeah, maybe it'll be on my honeymoon," she says sarcastically, and we both laugh.
"So, how was your evening?" I ask her.
"It was great, thanks. Skye stayed over, and we chatted. It was really nice having her there."
"She used to be your roommate, right?"
"Yeah." She nods. "Before she moved in with Kingston, and they became all lovey-dovey."
"You must miss her."
"I miss her more than words can say, but hey, life goes on, right? We can't always keep people."
"I know. Sometimes I think about what my sister will do when Harriett grows up and goes to uni, but that's a ways away."
"You're really close to your family, aren’t you?"
"I love them with all my heart. There's nothing I wouldn't do for them," I say, staring at her.
"Yeah. I know the feeling." She sighs and looks away.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just sometimes when you love people, you have to think about them before you think about yourself, you know? And if my dad's broke and needs money, well, perhaps?—"
"Perhaps what?" I frown.
"Perhaps I should see what he has to say about this engagement."
"You'd really become engaged to a man you don't even know for money?"
"It's not like he's paying me for sex. I'm not a prostitute." She glares at me. "I guess it's a business arrangement. My dad will work it out. I guess whoever he wants to marry me off to will invest in the business, and that will save my family." She shrugs. "I mean, I don't have all the details. I'm telling you what I assume will happen. I've watched enough movies and read enough books."
I stare at her. "And you'd be okay with that?"
"I mean, is it the life I would choose for myself? No, but what else am I doing?"
"You don't have any dreams or goals or?—"
She shrugs. “I mean, maybe I'll be a marketing guru. I did come up with Oasis Paradise Hotels.”
"You did, and I think that's a pretty fantastic name."
"What colors are you thinking?"
"Well, I was gonna say something with palm trees and sunshine, but it's not just in places with palm trees and sunshine, so we have to think about things that are universal," she says. "What is a universal symbol of something being an oasis or a paradise?"
I stare at her. "Good question. You really were made for this, weren't you?"
"I'm made for what?"
"I don’t know. Spitballing, coming up with ideas—good ideas. You're talented."
"Wow, and not just with my tongue." She winks at me, and I burst out laughing.
"I mean, you were pretty good with your tongue when we kissed yesterday, but I don't know how good your tongue is at other things."
"Liam!" she chastises me, and I shrug.
"What can I say? I wanna know."
"Not in the office!"
"Fine. We won't talk about it in the office. What are you doing this evening?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing this evening?"
"Do I have to repeat myself? I think the question is pretty clear."
"I am going to be…" She stumbles for a couple of minutes.
"So you're doing nothing, obviously. You're just trying to think of an excuse as to why you won't hang out with me."
"I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be hanging out all the time."
"What do you mean, hanging out all the time? We've barely hung out," I chuckle.
"I mean, if you don’t count yesterday at my place for an hour or so, we haven’t really hung out at all."
"Exactly," she says. "And seeing as I might be getting married, I just don't?—"
"I want you to come with me somewhere," I say quickly.
"What? Come with you where?"
"There's a resort on a tropical island that I'm thinking about purchasing, and I would like to know if you think it would be the best place to have the anchor resort."
"Are you making this up, just so that you can sleep with me, Liam?"
"I put my hands up in the air. No. I’m 100 percent focused on business. Anyone who knows me knows that all I care about is business, and frankly, I'm here to make money. I would like you to come with me because, as I said before, I think you have a good eye. You have good ideas and just good sense. And I need someone with good sense who will be honest and not just tell me what I wanna hear."
"I mean, I guess I can go with you."
"We'll go at the end of the week. Pack a bag for maybe five days."
"Five days? Okay."
"I mean, you're not upset about that, are you?" I run my fingers through my hair, my brain going a hundred miles a minute.
"No, I'm just taken aback is all. I haven't even worked for you one week, and we're already flying to a tropical destination for me to give you advice on whether to buy a hotel chain on some fancy island. What island are we going to, by the way?"
"You'll see." I smile at her. "Now, will you go and get me a coffee from the break room and perhaps a donut if you see some? I didn’t have breakfast and?—"
"Yes, sir." She jumps up. "Anything else?"
"That's all."
I watch as she heads to the door. "Hey, Elisabetta," I call out to her.
She stops and looks back at me. "Yes, sir?"
I want to make a teasing comment about her calling me sir, but I don’t want to overstep the mark. If she doesn’t want to be unprofessional in the office, I'm not going to make her be. "You're doing a good job. Thank you for volunteering to help me."
"I mean, I didn't want Skye to have to do anything for you, so obviously I stepped up."
"I know, because you love your friends, and that's what I’ve heard."
"You heard that I love my friends?"
"I heard that you'd do anything for Skye," I say, nodding. "And it looks like it's true."
"I guess." She shrugs.
“Um, so coffee and a donut?”
“Sounds good.”
I watch as she walks out and closes the door behind her. Immediately, I pick up my phone and call Lucinda. "Hey," I say, as she answers. "Any updates?"
"I don't know what you want me to say, sir," she says, sounding annoyed.
"I want to know if you've heard from the private investigator regarding the news you called me about yesterday."
"No, I haven’t. I would've called you if I had, Liam."
"Okay. And what's going on with the?—"
"I'm working on the contract for the Ozark deal right now, and you'll receive something in your email within the next two hours. Please sign it and get it back to me ASAP."
"You'd think you're the boss, Lucinda," I say chuckling.
"Sometimes I feel that way, sir. Now, have you let that poor girl out of her misery?"
"I'm not gonna say anything to her until I know if it's actually true."
"I'm pretty confident that it's true, sir. He said that he saw her father going to?—"
"We don’t gossip. We need actual concrete proof. This will change her life forever." She's silent. "Do you hear what I'm saying, Lucinda? I need actual proof before I bring this up."
"Are you even gonna tell her, sir?"
"I don't know, because if I do, it will blow up everything, and?—"
"And what? The deal is more important?"
"The deal is everything. There is no Oasis Paradise Resorts without Greece and Italy."
"Oasis Paradise?" She pauses. "I like it. The Oasis Paradise Resort chain. Sounds good."
"Elisabetta came up with it."
She's silent. "She's smart," she says finally.
"What are you thinking, Lucinda?"
"I'm thinking haven’t you deceived this poor lady enough already? She doesn't deserve this."
"I haven't deceived her at all. I?—"
"Sir, you hired her to be your assistant knowing full well that I'm here, doing all your work."
"You know why I hired her."
"Yeah, because her father said that he needed you to make her life a miserable so that he could ensure she would go to Italy this summer for the ball he was throwing for her."
"Exactly."
"But now you know it's not just a ball, sir. He's gonna have her engaged."
"That's not my problem. I mean, sure, that's not what he said to me, but I don't really care. I just need him to sign those properties over to me. I need him to sell them to me."
"But we already know he needs the money."
"But men can be vindictive," I say under my breath. "He would rather they were bankrupt than sell them to me unless I complete my part of the bargain."
"So is she excited to go to Italy to meet her future husband?" Lucinda sounds sarcastic. "Oh yeah, and does she know who her mother and father really are? Does she know that?" She pauses. "Oh, wait, I already know the answer to that. And you're not even gonna tell her the truth.
"Really, Lucinda? I don't need this right now." I frown and pause as I see that Elisabetta is hurrying back. "I'll speak to you later. I have to go."