Page 143 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

"My businesses aren't doing that well. Well, my main business."

"What is your main business? I don’t think I really knew."

"I put the majority of my fortune into a manufacturing company called Brigade last year," he says matter-of-factly. "It was owned by a billionaire by the name of Finneaus Fillmore."

"Whoa, the guy that's on like the Forbes' richest man in the world list?"

"Yeah, him, and let's just say, it turns out he was a bit shady or, I guess, a lot shady. And stocks have sunk and?—"

"Wait, what?"

"It's a long story," he says, shaking his head. "But needless to say, I need this contract with your dad to go through so we can move forward quickly with this hotel chain."

"Oh, is that why you were asking him to sign it today?"

He nods. "But tomorrow will be fine. How are you?" he says, staring at me. “You look flushed."

“It was weird. Before you got here, for the first time in my life, my dad was opening up to me."

"Oh, wow," he says as we take a seat. "Did he tell you why he was doing this?"

"He started talking about my mom," I say softly, "and how much he loved her. He said she wanted to be an opera singer, something I never knew, but supposedly she couldn't really sing, which makes sense because I can't carry a tune.

"But he also said some weird stuff like?—"

"Like what?" he says, frowning. He leans back, and I can tell that he's tense.

"Just that she would start screaming and shouting. And I don't know, I'm wondering if the night that she died, maybe they argued and she got into a car crash, and he feels guilty or something."

"Maybe," he says, nodding. "Did you ask him?"

"No, we were still talking, but then you arrived, and I guess that was more important." I grin at him and touch the side of his face.

"Hey, you okay? Like, you know I love you because of you and not your money."

"I know," he says gruffly. "It's just been a weird afternoon." He stares at me. "So, you really enjoyed hearing about your mom, right?"

"I did. It made me feel close to her in a way that I never had. He's never really spoken about her before." I shrug. "But hey, maybe he'll tell me more on this trip.”

"Yeah." He nods. "Maybe he will."

"So, do you still love me, or are you trying to call this whole thing off?" I say, pouting at him.

"I still love you. Why?"

"You just seem really off, and I understand that business is not going well, but I hope it has nothing to do with me and the situation." I wave my hands in the air. "Because if you don't wanna marry me, I will tell my father that he needs to go through with the deal anyway and?—"

"I wanna marry you, Elisabetta. I do. Of course, I do.”

“I mean, just a couple of hours ago, you were saying that we would be casually dating, but?—"

"I spoke out of my ass," he says. "You would be my woman. We both know that." He grins. "I mean, sometimes when lightning strikes, you don't have to have it strike a second time before you know that it hit you."

"Are you saying that lightning struck you?"

"I'm saying that when you came into my life, it felt like lightning had struck me." He pulls me forward and gives me a kiss on the lips. "I just wanna be a man that is worthy of you."

"You are. You're absolutely amazing, and don't ever let anyone make you feel like you're not."

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