Page 44 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“I need to come; I need to see you.”

“What? Why?”

Lucinda sighs deeply. “Liam, this is really important. I…” She pauses. “This is something that needs to be said face-to-face.”

“Lucinda, can’t you tell me what’s going on?” I say angrily, and then I realize I’m still in the same room with Elisabetta, and I can tell that she is desperately trying to pretend that she’s not listening, but she definitely is. I can see from the snarl on her face that she is 100 percent invested in this conversation.

I turn around and look out the window and lower my voice. “What’s going on?”

“I know you wanted me to keep it a secret, but…”

I sigh. “Can we not have this conversation now?”

“We need to.”

“No, we don’t. I already…”

“I just don’t feel right about this, Liam.”

“You don’t feel right about what?”

“About what you’re doing, about my role. Are you…” She sounds irritated as she pauses. “Look, do you care about me at all?”

I swallow hard, “You know I do.”

I look over my shoulder and stare at Elisabetta, who is looking at me with veiled eyes. If she knew what this conversation was about, she would kill me. In fact, if I were her, I’d kill me. A feeling of consternation and anger passes through me. For a few moments, I don’t even know what I’m doing or why I’m doing this. But then I remember the deal. It’s all about the deal.

I don’t know at what point in my life everything became about money, but I’m not sure I like who I am at that moment.

“Liam, there’s something you don’t know, something that could change everything,” Lucinda says.

I groan. “I can’t have this conversation right now. I’m sorry.”

“But I think it’s important before you go any further with…”

“Please, can we talk about this later?”

“Not really,” she says. “You have to listen to me for once. I know that you think I’m just…”

“Not now,” I say. “I’ll call you back in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll fly over, then,” she says. “I’ll be on the first plane in the morning, and I’ll fly first class on your credit card.”

“I didn’t give you the credit card to fly first class,” I say angrily.

“Well then, you better call me before 8:00 p.m. your time. If not, I’m catching a flight in the morning.”

“Who do you think you are that you’re?—"

“I know you’re not speaking to me like that, Liam.” She cuts me off and laughs angrily. “Not after all these years.”

“Lucinda, look. It’s…”

“I know, I know. You’re the sort of man who doesn’t have feelings. You’re the sort of man who doesn’t care about anyone.You’re the sort of man who takes what he wants without thinking about anything else. But I’m here to tell you that those days are over. You’re going to have to think about someone else for a second.”

“I think about plenty of other people. I think about Daisy. I think about Harriet.”

“There are more people in the world than your sister and your niece, Liam.” She says somberly. “I hate to break that to you.”

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