Chapter 4

Kate's POV 

The elevator felt too small as I rode it to the thirtieth floor, which was where the CEO's office was. I had never been to this part of the building before. 

Hell, I had never seen the CEO before either, but I just had to go and have a one night stand with him. How dumb was I? 

There was suddenly not enough air in the elevator. 

I was grateful when it stopped and I stepped out. Right before me was a door with a tag that said it's the CEO's office. I walked in. 

The secretary stood up and bowed slightly when she saw me. 

"Sir is waiting for you inside," she said her tone very respectful. 

It felt really strange and I wanted to tell her it was just a rumour, but she had already sat down and returned to her work. 

Sighing, I walked to the door of the main office. The loud, angry voice of a female stopped me in my tracks. 

Carefully, I stepped to the door which was a little bit open and peered in. I saw a girl's back. She was shouting at a sitting figure, who I assumed to be Dante Di Benedetto.

"Don't shout at me, Flavia. I think you forget who you're talking to," Mr. Benedetto said. 

Though I couldn't see his face because it was blocked by the woman standing before him, his voice was so thick and intense it sent shivers down my spine. 

"Don't shout?" Flavia screeched. "You expect me to keep calm after this?" she said, pushing a stack I assumed was the newspapers onto the desk. 

"It was supposed to be us!" she said in a lower, but broken, voice. 

Oh, so it's his girlfriend. The impact of the tabloid crashed over me at that moment. 

"Yes. And it still is. Give me some time and you will know everything. But for now, just leave." Benedetto ordered.

"Dan…"

"Leave!" 

The tone was commanding, leaving no room for objection. Huffing, the woman snatched the newspaper and stomped towards the door. 

I paid attention as she stomped past me. It was Flavia, a popular celebrity. A short distance past me, she seemed to notice me. 

She glanced at the newspaper, then at me and her face darkened as she thrust the newspaper at me. 

"Bitch! What did you do?" 

As she spoke, she bore down on me. She looked ready to claw me to death. 

"Flavia, leave Ms. Kate right now or I will make you regret it," Mr. Benedetto's commanding voice came from inside the office. 

Throwing one last venomous look at me, Flavia marched out of the office.

"Come in." Mr. Benedetto's voice came from inside the office. 

Gulping, I entered the office. He sat behind a resplendent desk with the air of someone who owned the place.

Well, he did. 

It was the first time I was seeing him while nor drunk and I had to admit to myself that he was very good looking. I could totally see why my drunk self gave herself up to him. 

He's drop dead gorgeous. He's the handsomest man I've seen yet.

"Lock the door and take a seat," he ordered. 

I snapped back to my senses. "Huh?" I asked blankly. 

He frowned. He was clearly not in a good mood. 

"Lock the door. I don't want anyone to disturb us. Then take a seat." he repeated. 

I did as he said. I suddenly felt anxious, like a truant kid in the principal's office. I kept my gaze low, not wanting to meet his gaze. One reason was because he was my CEO, but for the most part, his gaze was so intense it made me uncomfortable. 

"Do you remember anything from last night?" he asked without preamble. 

I shook my head. "No," 

The office fell silent. I risked a look up to see he was staring at me intently, as if trying to decide whether I was lying. 

"Do you?" the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. 

"Vividly," he replied bluntly. I looked up sharply, just in time to catch his eyes rake my body. I looked down quickly. 

"Have you seen the news?" he asked. 

I nodded. 

"What do you have to say?" he asked. 

I took a deep breath. "I was drunk, sir. I wasn't in my right senses," I replied. 

To my surprise, he chuckled. "You seemed to know what you wanted pretty well then. You were very insistent." he said. 

My cheeks heated up. Was he mocking me?

"You could have –" 

He didn't let me finish. "No man could resist woman who is offering herself in a silver plate," he said. 

I looked up in surprise. Was he complimenting me? 

"Thanks," I said, uncertain. 

Mr. Benedetto scoffed. "I have a long line of more beautiful women waiting for me and I will go for you?" 

Okay. That hurt. Seriously. 

But it was my fault. I shouldn't have drunk so much. I had never even had a full cup of alcohol before then. It was just plain stupid. 

"But…the damage is done. Can you think of a way out?" Mr. Benedetto asked, sounding more mellow now. 

"We could announce to the media that it was all a misunderstanding. That we were never married." I replied. 

"No beauty, and no brains. What do you have?" he sounded amused. 

That hurt. Again. 

I decided I didn't like this man, no matter how handsome he is. He is clearly very insensitive, or he's just plain arrogant and doesn't care about my feelings. 

"You're a nobody and no one knows you, so no one would care about you. I'm the one that would make a hot topic. Everyone would say I'm a playboy who fucks his employees. My reputation, which took so many years to build, will plummet. And so will my shares,"

Yep. I didn't like him one bit. His words made me want to cry.

"What's your solution then?" I snapped at him instead. 

His face turned serious. 

"Stretch your hand," he ordered, picking out something from the drawer in his desk. 

I obeyed. He grasped my palm in his, and I couldn't help noticing how his covered mine, and how rough it was. 

Did he work out often? 

My train of thought was interrupted when I felt something slid onto my fingers. 

A ring. 

Before I could process it, his next words took me off guard.

"You have to pretend to be my wife," he said.