Chapter Four #3
He had expected her to put up a fight. And he had come prepared. ‘I—’
‘No, Micha.’
‘You haven’t heard my offer yet.’
‘It won’t matter.’
‘You’ll be a consultant, and you’ll get an on-signing bonus worth ten percent of the contract,’ he explained.
‘No,’ she said again.
‘Fine. I’ll give you your job back with an increase in salary, and a promotion to senior vice-president.’
‘No.’
‘What?’ he replied, genuinely shocked.
His offer was more than generous. It was so good it was almost bad business. And she would have known that. And she was still saying no? And even if it wasn’t good enough, surely the risk to a company that was as good as her lifeblood would be enough to get her on board.
‘There is literally nothing that you could offer me that would make me come back to Gallo Group and work under you. It’s yours. You handle it. And if that’s all?’
Micha frowned, bracing against the punch of her words.
He thought that she’d play hardball. That she’d take some convincing, but this flat-out refusal, this wasn’t stubbornness.
Because he knew what stubbornness looked like on her.
This didn’t even have the heat of outrage or anger. This was cold. This was…numb.
‘If you’ve finished your coffee, I’d like you to leave.’
He clenched his jaw, stifling all the arguments and objections, the questions that thickened his throat. There was something going on here. She was definitely trying to get rid of him. But why?
Her mobile rang just as he was going to press his point, and she let it ring as she stared at him until he raised his hands in surrender.
‘Va bene.’
She reached for her phone, and asked Antonio’s wife to give her two minutes. He’d seen Ivy’s name flash up on the screen.
Maria gestured for him to return to the door.
‘You can see yourself out,’ she said, turned her back on him and looked out through the large window that formed the back wall of the open-plan room.
He had been dismissed and he didn’t like it one bit.
‘Ivy… No, not at all. How are you doing?’ he heard Maria ask in English.
Turning on his heel, he walked to the door. He wasn’t going to beg her to come back. Yes, he needed her. But if Gallo Group had to continue without Peterson, he’d do that. But…it wasn’t Peterson that had him curious now. It was Maria.
He closed the door behind him and stepped out into the sunshine.
Something wasn’t right. He’d seen her furious, with him, he’d seen her grieving over Gio, he’d seen her pleasured and he’d seen her happy. He’d never seen her so…closed down. As if she was trying to hide something. But what?
Maria cast a look over her shoulder, her heart pounding in her chest and blood rushing in her ears.
‘Are you okay?’ Ivy asked, worried, after Maria had explained that Micha was there. ‘How did he know where you are?’
‘Someone must have told him,’ Maria surmised.
‘Maria, I’m not sure about this. I really think I need to tell Antonio,’ Ivy wavered.
‘Please don’t,’ Maria begged. ‘Please. I just… I just need a little more time. And if Antonio found out, all hell would break loose.’
‘Perhaps it should break loose.’
‘Ivy!’
‘Sorry. I just think that this is too much for you to be dealing with on your own.’
‘It’s a lot, I know, believe me. But I just need some time. I need a plan. I need…’ Oh, she didn’t really know what she needed.
Maria walked, unsettled, back through the house to the room where she’d been packing up her things. Her heart was still racing from having Micha here, in her home. He’d looked so…good. And so tired.
A part of her had felt victorious about the Peterson account.
That Micha was struggling to hold Gallo Group together.
And that was a mean part of her. But honestly, it had been a dream of hers for him to come begging at her door, to tell her that he needed her.
To beg for her help. For weeks, months even, she’d fantasised about him doing just that.
So, how ironic was it that she’d had to say no?
That she’d not even been able to take up his offer and prove just how vital she was to Gallo Group?
Because she couldn’t. Negotiations would take at least two months, and by then…
by then she’d be showing. And she wasn’t sure that even then she’d be ready…
She swept a protective hand over her abdomen. Very few people could have guessed that she was pregnant at this moment. Would the father of her child have been one of them?
‘Ivy, if he finds out…’ Maria shuddered at the thought, unable to even finish the sentence. ‘I just need some time. And then, when I’m ready, I’ll tell Micha.’
‘Tell me what, cara?’
Maria spun round in shock, coming face to face with Micha.
‘I saw you leave,’ she whispered in horror.
‘Well, I came back,’ he said, grim faced and hard eyed. ‘And now, I think it’s time that you tell me exactly what’s going on, whether you’re ready or not.’
His gaze bored into hers, flicked down to where her hand was on her abdomen, and rose back up to hers, eyes widening, lips parting in shock.
‘You’re pregnant.’