Page 66 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“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."

---