Page 10 of Hidden Heir, Italian Wife

His cheek ticked.“Ciao, bella.”

The door closed behind him and she clenched her hot eyes shut, thinking,There goes another one.

No. She might not be the one to physically leave, but she was damned well leaving him behind.

After a quick shower and finishing her packing, she walked out with her suitcase and locked the door, leaving his card on the table without even looking at it.

CHAPTER THREE

Present day…

When her supervisor,Sheila, told Bree, “We have a meeting upstairs,” Bree’s knees began to shake.

It was silly. She often accompanied her boss into meetings on the C-level, usually with Sheila’s boss, the COO. Sometimes it was for something as mundane as a marketing presentation.

Today, however, it was just the two of them in the elevator.

“No one else?” Bree asked.

“Dom floated something by me. I’ll let him do the honors.”

Dom. That was Mr. Blackwood to Bree. Was it a promotion? Her pulse lurched with the excitement of opportunity and the apprehension of the unknown.

She had never actually been in his office. It was a massive space at the top of the Manhattan skyrise with access to a rooftop garden and a view of the East River. The office itself was four times the size of her apartment, not counting whatever rooms the various doors led to. She suspected there was a professional kitchen behind one of them and likely a full bath behind another.

The main room was dominated by his contemporary desk sculpted from steel. There was a meeting space on one side and a comfortable seating area on the other.

That’s where they were invited to join Dom and his new wife, Evelina Visconti. Blackwood now. Still Jax’s sister.

Brielle’s head lifted off her body. Her legs turned to sand. She shook Eve’s hand while barely suppressing her semi-hysterical laugh.

“Congratulations on your recent marriage. I’m sorry my hands are so cold.” She feared her palm had been clammy. This was surreal.

“Dom keeps it like the North Pole in here.” Eve sent him an exasperated look. “I’ll keep this quick so you can get back to the tropics. Please sit. Coffee?”

Brielle accepted purely to warm her hands. She tried to keep an agog look off her face, but her heart was in her throat. Eve’s resemblance to Jax was obvious, but she also saw her daughter in her. Since reading the wedding announcement, Bree had been searching Jax online, waffling back and forth on whether to tell him he had a child. He didn’t seem to have any serious romantic relationships, which had been her first concern. She was still tallying all the other pros and cons, though, making it hard to concentrate as Eve spoke.

“With our marriage, the two organizations are looking at an eventual alignment of the hotel chains. This is very early days, but I’ve been tasked with overseeing that process. Dom and Sheila have identified you as one of WBE’s key personnel who could be a valuable addition to my team. If you’re interested, I’d like to forward the offer, but let me outline the key points. It’s a minimum two-year commitment. WBE would grant you a leave so you wouldn’t lose your position here. In fact…” Eve glanced at Dom.

“You came to my attention because Sheila identified you in her succession plan,” Dom said. “I hate losing good people because they’re stagnating, waiting for opportunities. Experience on Evie’s team would give you foundational knowledge of both organizations, something that would inform your role when you take over from Sheila in a few years.”

There was a long silence.

Bree belatedly realized she was supposed to speak.

Professionally, this was a dream come true, but her brain was exploding. She would be working with her daughter’saunt.

“I—” Thanks to her mother drilling her for years on maintaining poise under pressure, she was able to recover and say something mildly intelligible. “It’s certainly an offer I want to consider. You’ll have to forgive my shock. I thought I was coming here to talk about the logistics problem with the linen supplier. Which has been dealt with, by the way.”

They all chuckled, but it did little to ease Brielle’s nerves.

“I want my core team in place by the end of the month,” Eve said. “I’ll forward the details today. Don’t be afraid to consult with an employment agency to evaluate it.”

Bree hadn’t thought of herself as being at that level, but was flattered when Dom sent a look of mock annoyance toward Eve and griped, “I also don’t like losing people because my wife brings them to the attention of headhunters.”

Eve grinned and said to Bree, “Call me with any questions. Any at all.”

Can I have your brother’s number?

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