Prologue

"So, I was talking to Mellisa  the other day, and she was telling me about how her daughter had just graduated from college. Apparently, her daughter studied finance at university and landed a job nearby."

I hummed mindlessly, not paying much attention to my mother's usual chatter as I sliced my steak. It was nothing out of the norm for my weekly dinners with my family, so I didn't think much of it.

"And we were thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if you took her out to dinner sometime? Maybe get to know each other a bit."

I paused mid-bite and looked up from my plate.

My father and younger brother quickly diverted their eyes, not wanting to get caught up in what they figured would end up as another big argument.

My mother continued, "Her daughter is new to the city, so it would be nice if she had someone to show her around. And—"

"I'm not interested."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "But you haven't even met the girl yet. I'm sure you'll like her if you just—"

"I don't need you to set me up on dates. I'm perfectly fine without them."

"But—"

"Mother, I told you—"

"For Christ's sake, stop interrupting your mother! This was not how I raised you, Rafael Achilles Cordova ." She huffed and crossed her arms. "Can't I be worried about your future as your mother? You're turning 30 in less than a year and have never brought any girlfriends back home for me to meet with. I'm beginning to think that you're going to end up dying alone."

I sighed and set my utensils back down on my plate. "Thank you for worrying about me, but I already have more than enough on my plate from just running my company. I wouldn't be able to give my girlfriend proper attention even if I had one anyway."

My mother pouted and turned her head away from me, giving me the silent treatment.

My father, the once notorious merciless business tycoon of  New York, looked up and gave me a silent plea, begging me to make peace with her. For someone who was usually feared by every other person on the country, he awfully soft when it came to his wife, but I guess that what marriage does to people when they're in love, disgustingly in love every each other even after 40 years of marriage.

I squeezed the bridge of my nose with a heavy sigh and relented. "Fine, I'll meet her."

My mother instantly perked back up and clapped her hand. "Yay, I'm sure you'll like her once you meet her."

Ignoring her comment, I stood up from my seat and waved for the maids to come to take my plate, no longer feeling hungry after this conversation. As I gathered my coat, I grunted, "Only once. I'll get my PA to send over my schedule."

I rubbed circles against the side of my temple in frustration as I recounted last night's events.

Benedict, my closest friend since university and someone with whom I often conducted business when building new centers for my company at different locations, wouldn't stop laughing at my misery. He was hunched up in his chair, laughing so hard that he might as well fall out of the damned chair.

I scowled at his amusement and leaned back in my seat across from his desk. "It's not funny. She's been hounding my PA all morning for a free slot in my schedule. I thought I would've been able to hold off the date for a bit longer, but she managed to scare my PA into opening a new slot for her, and now I have a stupid date two weeks from now."

                                 

             

                       

He held onto his stomach as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "But it is funny. To think that the great, mighty Demetrius Andino Cordova  would fall to the feet of a tiny 5'2" woman that is his mother."

I crossed my arms and grumbled, "That's not the point. The point is that I'm stuck on another one of those ridiculous dates set up by her again."

"But your mother's got a point. I can't even remember the last time you actually had a girlfriend. You always walk out of those dates before you even finish the main course."

"They're just a waste of time. You know how those women are. Just a bunch of gold-diggers who can't even tell the difference between the ground and the sky."

He shrugged. "You're not wrong. If you hate all of them, why don't you just get an arranged marriage with your father's associates' daughters? At least the gold-digger can help boost your company."

I gave him a disgusted look. "And be constantly looking over my shoulder to see if they send a hitman after me to get my company? No, thank you."

Benedict gave an exasperated sigh as he slumped over his desk. "You're hopeless. Just go on your stupid date and die alone for all I care."

I grumbled, "If only my mother could share the same sentiment."

Before Benedict could come up with any clever retort, a knock sounded on his office door.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering who would dare to come all the way to the top of this building on the 54th floor and knock on his door. All of Benedict's employees knew not to bother us whenever I visited his office.

Oddly enough, Benedict suddenly sat up straight and returned to his serious work mode as the head of one of the best project management firms in the nation. "Come in."

As the door cracked open, a tiny lady in a simple black a-line dress with a beige shirt underneath walked into the office with a tablet and a couple of folders in hand. She had loose rings of hazelnut-colored hair falling down to her waist, swaying with each step as she walked. Resting on her nose was a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that did little to hide the bright violet eyes behind the lenses. Although she was wearing heels, I could tell she was more than a foot shorter than my stature standing at 6'6".

She paid me no mind, not even sparing me a glance as she walked across the office straight toward Benedict. She set the folders down on his desk.

She stood completely straight as she waited for Benedict to flip through the papers in the folder. When he gave her to okay, she simply gave a little nod before turning back around and walking straight out of the office, closing the door behind her without another word. Not even a single glance in my direction.

I stared at the door, stunned by the lack of response to my presence. Normally, most people would be scrambling at their feet to try to introduce themselves to me in hope of forming a relationship whether it be business-related or not.

"What was she here for?"

"Just some paperwork I asked her to help me with this morning. It's for the contract that you were asking for."

I nodded. "Does she know who I am?"

Benedict hummed as he scribbled a few things on the papers. "I would assume so. She's going to work with you as a representative of my company in your new contract for expanding your headquarters in New York." He looked up from his papers. "Why do you ask?"

I tore my gaze away from the door and mumbled, "No reason."

He smirked. "You think she's pretty, don't you?"

I had to admit that she was quite beautiful in an almost ethereal kind of way. I wasn't usually one to notice such details on a woman, so I suppose I did find her pretty.

I frowned at the thought.

What was I thinking? At the end of the day, all pretty faces were just masks to hide the hideously conniving personality lying underneath.

Killing Benedict's comment, I retorted, "I've seen my share of pretty faces. If anything, I'm more worried about the fact that she's going to be working closely with me. The last time you assigned a female representative for one of my contracts, the woman took fucking forever to get anything done and used it as an excuse to constantly latch onto me or try to get me to stay after hours with her."

Benedict rolled his eyes and waved it off. "You don't need to worry about that with Danary. She's one of my VP's. Has been working here for about 3 years already. She doesn't talk much and can be kind of cold at times, but she always gets her work done super fast with the highest quality possible. " He sighed and dropped his head. "If anything, she's kind of like you in the love department. She pays no mind to male attention whatsoever, and I would know."

I gave him a dead-panned look. "You hit on your VP?"

I knew that he was a bit of a manwhore as a brunette who was a tad shorter than myself with a pair of mischievous green eyes that women seemed to love so much. He was someone that loved to flirt and have hookups, the epitome of a bachelor, but wasn't dipping your dick into the company ink a little too much?

He snapped his head up and childishly whined, "Yes! When she first joined, but she never responded to any of my advances. I couldn't tell if she simply didn't notice my actions or if she was just straight up ignoring me." He signed and dropped his face into his hands, mumbling, "I gave up long ago, and so had most of the other guys in the company."

I nodded quietly. I wasn't surprised that she turned heads, but it was good to know that she wouldn't hinder my business like the last representative.

I leaned over and picked up the contract on Benedict's desk. I skimmed over it, noting the usual terms and agreements. Expanding office in New York. Check. The start date is tomorrow. Check. The estimated end date is 2 months from now. Check. Overtime terms. Check.

I paused when I reached the bottom of the contract, where the members of the contracts had to sign. There were the usual spots for Benedict and me to sign, but in the bottom left corner was a third line with the name "Danary Jane Belcalis" and an intricate-looking signature below it.

I picked up a pen from Benedict's desk and scribbled my signature onto the bottom of the contract before tossing it back to him.

Standing up from my seat and straightening my Brioni suit, I double-checked with Benedict, "She'll be showing up at my office every day at 8 AM starting Monday, right?"

He nodded gloomily with his head hung low as he thumbed the stacks of papers on his desk.

I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior and excused myself from his office.

As I walked down the corridor, several people paused mid-motions or turned around in their offices to stare at me as I passed by. It was nothing that I wasn't already used to.

Not to sound too egotistical, I was Rafael Achilles Cordova  after all, the ruthless head of Cordova  Industries and the most eligible bachelor of the 21st century.

As I waited for the elevator, I noticed the girl from before sitting at her desk in a glass office at the far end of the floor. Her eyes shone brightly against the white light of the screen despite her thick lenses. With loose strands of hair framing a completely blank face void of any emotions, she continued typed away on her laptop without a single care about her surroundings, not even sparing a single glance to check what the commotion was all about.

Danary Jane Belcalis.

Maybe I wouldn't mind working with her after all.