Chapter Five
ASHLEY KNEW BETTER than to protest as Nico carried her into the sleek skyscraper off Wall Street that housed Galletti Finance. Her ankle hurt too much, and Nico was clearly a man who didn’t like to be challenged.
And, in any case, she was just too tired.
She’d fought and lost too many times today, and after thirty-six hours with little food or sleep she simply didn’t have a protest for pride’s sake inside her.
Maybe she really was weak, as her father had always said.
Weak enough, even, to rest her head against Nico’s strong, hard chest as he carried her because she was too tired to arch away from him—even though she knew she should, as a matter of principle, especially after that entirely unexpected and scorching kiss…
Not that she was going to think about that kiss, especially with what had come after…
What on earth had he meant, that she’d been part of him losing his life?
It didn’t make any sense, but Nico Galletti hadn’t struck her as someone prone to exaggeration.
Surely there had to be some mistake? She’d never met him before.
She’d had nothing to do with her father’s business, besides playing his hostess at various events.
Nico Galletti simply couldn’t have any reason to blame her.
Without even realising she was doing it, Ashley closed her eyes. She was too tired to fight any more, even to think any more, and it felt weirdly comforting to be carried in someone’s arms. Even Nico Galletti’s.
Especially Nico Galletti’s, she forced herself to acknowledge.
Caught up in his strong arms, she felt small and safe in a way she secretly relished.
For the last four years, she’d tried so hard to be independent and strong.
She’d had to be, because with her father in prison and her mother in care there was little choice.
But right now, just for a few moments, it was nice to feel someone else was in charge.
Even if that person was wrecking her life.
Ashley heard the swish of the automated doors as Nico strode into the foyer, and then the startled gasp of a few people as he walked toward the back.
‘Mr Galletti?’
‘Can I help?’
‘Should I call…?’
Ashley let her eyes flutter open for a few seconds—she glimpsed a vast and soaring foyer of black marble and a gleaming bank of lifts at the back—and then quickly closed them again, doing her best to ignore the whispers of speculation as Nico carried her towards the lifts.
Really, there was something fun and fairytale-like about this whole scene that she perversely enjoyed.
She’d have to open her eyes soon enough and face the music—or at least, this man.
Nico stepped into a lift, and it soared upwards at a dizzying speed, making her clutch him a little closer.
She could tell he noticed from the way his arms tensed around her, and he drew in a sharp breath.
As long as she kept her eyes closed, Ashley told herself, she didn’t have to be embarrassed by the fact that she was practically cuddling Nico Galletti.
She breathed in the scent of his cologne—clean and woodsy with a hint of leather.
Even with her eyes closed, she could tell her lips were alarmingly near his throat, just as they’d been back in the limo.
But she wasn’t going to think about that time-out-of-time back in the limo.
Not without feeling extremely embarrassed and unsettlingly confused, anyway.
The lift door opened, and Nico stepped out.
Then he walked swiftly for a few seconds, nudged open a door with his foot and then deposited Ashley on what felt like a bed—a very soft, wide, comfortable one.
Her eyes flew open and she took in her surroundings: a sumptuous bedroom decorated in shades of grey, a floor-to-ceiling picture window overlooking Wall Street. ‘Where are we?’ she demanded, her voice coming out in something like a squeak.
Nico’s mouth quirked, his eyes glinting silver as he shrugged off his jacket. ‘We’re in my bedroom so we can finish what we started in the limo.’
‘What—?’ This time her voice was a positive squawk.
Nico’s lips quirked again. ‘Relax, I’m not about to relieve you of your dubious virtue. You’re in a spare bedroom at my office. I’m sending up someone to look at your ankle.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘You’re obviously hurt. And, regardless what you think of me and my methods, I’m not a monster.’
That was exactly how she’d thought of him back at her own office.
Now she didn’t know what to think of him.
He was being kind, and he clearly had reasons to act as he had, even if she had no idea what those were.
And, when he’d kissed her, she’d forgotten who she was, never mind who he was. It was too much to process all at once.
Ashley leaned her head back against the pillows and closed her eyes once more.
Life was so much easier, she reflected, if you kept your eyes closed.
After a few seconds, she heard the door click shut behind Nico and she knew she was alone.
Her breath came out in a rush, and she relaxed further against the pillows, their softness enveloping her.
She was so very tired, and there was too much to think, wonder and worry about, with Nico Galletti at the top of that list.
At some point, she fell asleep, only to startle awake when a competent-looking woman opened the door.
‘Hello, you must be Ashley. Did I wake you up? I’m sorry; I’m Pam, a nurse practitioner. Mr Galletti asked me to look in on you.’
‘There was no need,’ Ashley mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face.
She felt discombobulated from having fallen asleep, and being in Nico’s bedroom of all places, even if it was some kind of office guest suite, made her feel vulnerable.
She needed to get out of here, and back to the shattered pieces of her own life.
‘Always pays to be careful,’ Pam replied cheerfully. ‘Do you mind if I have a look?’
Ashley shook her head. The nurse examined her ankle, prodding it gently, making her wince. ‘It does look swollen and is probably sprained,’ she said, ‘But I don’t think an x-ray is needed, although Mr Galletti offered to have you taken to the hospital for one if I felt it was necessary.’
‘No, thank you, I really don’t think I need an x-ray.’ She needed to get out of here, Ashley thought with something approaching panic. For a little while there, she’d been lulled into complacency because she’d been so tired and it had felt so nice to be taken care of.
But Nico Galletti certainly wasn’t taking care of her employees, and she had to get back to them—and Ruth Boxall. Ruth had seemed to know something about Nico, and Ashley needed to find out what it was. Maybe her friend would have some information that would help her make Nico Galletti see sense.
‘Well, I wouldn’t walk on it for a few days at least,’ the nurse told her. ‘Mr Galletti is having some food and drink brought here for your refreshment. I advise you rest for a few hours and elevate your ankle.’ Smiling, she reached for a pillow and put it under Ashley’s injured foot.
‘Actually… I kind of need to go,’ Ashley told her with an apologetic smile. Belatedly, she realised she still didn’t have her phone or bag. How was she going to get home? ‘Could I borrow your phone?’ she blurted. ‘I just need to make a quick call…’
Pam frowned. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have a phone on me. But I’m sure Mr Galletti will see to all your needs.’ And with that, she rose from the bed and, with one last friendly smile, left Ashley alone in the bedroom, as good as a prisoner. She sank back against the pillows with a frustrated sigh.
A few minutes later, a woman brought a tray of food, leaving it on a table by the door.
Ashley hobbled up from bed to examine it—fresh fruit, bread, cheese, a lentil and couscous salad and a vegetable quiche.
It all looked delicious, and she was hungry, but it would feel like a betrayal of some kind of eat Nico’s food.
To accept his hospitality when he was firing all her employees.
What about Tom, who was only twenty-one and on his own?
Or Denise, who had two children to support, including one with complex needs?
Or Laney, who was eighteen months from retirement? She’d never get another job at her age.
Ashley ran through the list of her employees—all of them wonderful people who needed the work she’d provided for them. She felt responsible for each and everyone. How, she wondered despondently, could she get Nico Galletti to change his mind?
‘We have a problem.’
Nico snapped his gaze away from the view of lower Manhattan he’d been contemplating—except he hadn’t been regarding the city at all.
He’d been picturing Ashley sprawled on top of him, her pupils dilated and her lush lips parted, the little mewling sound she’d made in her throat when he’d touched her, the way her whole, delectable body had come apart under his hands…
Why couldn’t he get that image out of his head?
The memory alone was enough to have him shifting where he stood, restless with the desire that remained painfully unsated—for his enemy, the woman he’d sought to destroy.
Nico had always been in control of his emotions, his urges—everything.
He’d had to be, to survive five years in prison.
It made no sense now to have this overwhelming want for a woman he despised.
That was his problem, but it wasn’t the one Tony, his head of PR, was talking about.
He turned round to face him, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. ‘What kind of problem?’ he asked. ‘And how quickly can you make it go away?’