CHAPTER 4

                                                    “DECLARATION OF WAR”

“You're ready, Chris. You look absolutely beautiful,” says Rashid, my hairstylist, and slowly I turn around to look up at myself in the mirror to admire his artwork. Whenever he does my hair and makeup I feel like a supermodel.

“Good job, as always.”

“Say it, honey, say it.”

“You're the best,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I know!”

“You're being vain” he shrugs walking to the other side of my closet to get my dress, unzips the holster where it is, and puts on a very disappointed expression.

“What”

“Are you going to wear this?” she asks, pointing to the beautiful pink dress with crystals embroidered on the bodice.

“Yes. Why? What's wrong with it?” he lets out a sigh and begins to rummage through my closet until he finds what he is looking for.

“Aha! Here it is. If I were going to see an Italian businessman and I had your legs, I would use this deadly weapon,” he says pointing to the black dress she is holding in her hands.

“Have you been watching that movie again?”

“I would be lying to you if I said no” I take the dress from her hands and put it on, I can't deny that her choice is better than mine, this dress is amazingly beautiful, the long sleeves are lace and it leaves my back exposed.

“You're done babe, now go and get him!” Ah? oh! he thinks...

“Rashid, this is not a date.”

“No?”

“No, it's a negotiation closing celebration.”

“Too bad,” he says with regret.

I leave my apartment accompanied by my loyal James, more than a bodyguard is like a big brother, he can act as my best friend but keeping always the limit of respect. I chose Daniel's restaurant for being one of the best in town. When I arrived the two gentlemen were waiting for me.

“Good evening,” they are both elegantly dressed in dark suits.

“Good evening, Miss,” Mr. Vitto greets me in Italian and kisses my hand gallantly.

“Good evening, Miss Swan, I expected you to be accompanied by your assistant.”

“Stefano, please don't start,” his father speaks to him in their native language, "I'll have to take Italian lessons.

“Actually, I need to wait a couple more minutes, my boyfriend is running a bit late, that's why we were not able to arrive together. This very moment I'm going to call him to know where he is” I quickly look for Roger's number amongst my contacts.

“Hi Chris, I'm...”

“Hello my darling, I'm already at the restaurant with the businessmen. Where are you, my love?”

“Ooohhh! So I have to play the lovey dovey boyfriend role” he says laughing.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“Okay, I'm turning around the corner, I'll be there in two minutes.”

“I love you too, mwah,” I say ending the call.

“My boyfriend is nearby, he'll be here in a couple of minutes or so.”

“I can tell you are deeply in love with your boyfriend, Miss,” the jerk addresses to me.

“Yes Mr. Stefun... sorry, Graziani” his face reddens with anger at the way I called him.

“I think we should drop formalities, how about I call you Christie and you call me Vitto?”

“Okay,” I say giving him a warm smile.

“I prefer distance, thank you” what an asshole!

“Same here.”

“Hi honey, I apologize for the delay.” Says Roger

“Hello love, don't worry,” I say giving him a peck on his lips, “these are Vitto and Mr. Graziani, my business partners.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you both”

We move inside the restaurant and the maître d' guides us to the table I had previously reserved, we chat pleasantly while we wait for our orders to be brought and even laugh because of Graziani’s jokes, it is a relief that he is relaxed, I was seriously thinking that he had a grudge against me, I think all he needed was a bit of confidence and a drink, however, I don't trust his attitude at all.

“Have you two been dating for a long time,” Vitto asks.

“Six months,” I answer with the first thing coming to my mind.

“One year,” answers Roger at the same time. Damn!

“One year.”

“Six months,” he says again along with me.

“Six months or a year,” Vitto asks with a mocking grin.

“Six months,” replies Roger, “but we've been dating for a year, when you love someone it's hard to keep track of time” that's it! Good save Roger, I mentally give him a thumbs up.

“Yes, of course,” says Graziani sarcastically.

“Any problem, sir?” asks Roger with a hint of irritation.

“None,” he says raising both hands. Luckily during the rest of the dinner, there were no awkward questions but I could feel his blue eyes on me at all times, which sent a shiver down my spine.

***

“Hi Alena,” I greet my dear assistant as I arrive.

“Hi Christie.”

“What's the matter? Why do you have that circumstance look on your face?”

“It is better if you see it for yourself” we walk towards my office and as we enter I can see Stefano Graziani comfortably sitting behind my desk checking some documents.

“What are you doing in my office,” I asked, extremely annoyed.

“Why are you showing up at these hours? It's ten o'clock in the morning, in case you didn't know,” he replies without even looking up.

“Excuse me? Not that it's any of your business but I had a breakfast with some of our clients, we do it once a month. You didn't answer my question by the way.”

“Why was I not informed about the meeting?”

“Because you just showed up yesterday and that was scheduled weeks ago.” I am making a great effort not to strangle him.

“Now tell me what the hell are you doing in my office?”

“Your assistant has informed me I do not have one so in the meantime, we will have to share.”

“Not a chance! You don't have an office because you notified me yesterday about your decision to work here, nevertheless, don't worry, we have some space you can use for the next few days while the decor team sets up your office. Follow me” we left my office and I took him to the most secluded area of the floor.

“Here you go,” I say, opening the door.

“Are you kidding? this is a storage room! How do you expect me to work from here?” Damn he is mad. I believe I can see some smoke coming out of his ears.

“That's your problem, there you have a desk and a telephone, Alena will kindly assist you while we find a secretary for you.”

“I would like to remind you that I am part owner of this company and have the same rights as you,” he says, crossing his arms.

“I know, you own 35% of the stock in my company just as I own the same amount in yours, but that doesn't give you the right to take over my beautiful office.” I know, I'm being a bitch but he brings out the worst in me.

“I'll take this as a declaration of war.”

“Take it as you will.”

“All right Cruella, but who laughs last laughs best.”

“Don't worry Stefunny, I always have the last laugh,” I turn around and leave him there in front of the storage room.

I am checking my emails and I see an urgent one from one of our providers, they have had problems in receiving payment for last month and it has been ten days since this month started.

“Alena, please communicate with Charles Perry, the bank manager where the company's main account is” I do not get any answer from her “Alena” I call again through the intercom, and nothing happens. I go out to the reception area and find an empty desk.

“Maggie, have you seen Alena?” I ask the maintenance lady.

“I saw her a while ago walking in that direction” she informs me and resumes her work.

“Thank you,” I go where Maggie told me to, that's where the storage room is, I discreetly peek into the office that has the door open and find her having a nice chat with Graziani.

“Exactly, and this is the list of the extensions of all the departments, this one here is my extension, you can call if you need anything no matter what it is.” What the fuck? “I also brought you a restaurant list in case you need it for lunch.”

“I really appreciate it Alena” Oh! they are now on a first-name basis! How nice! This is too much.

“Ahem,” I clear my throat, standing in the doorway.

“Ah! Hello Chris...”

“I needed you to make a call and to my surprise, you weren't at your desk.”

“I'm sorry, it's just that Stefano needed me, I mean Mr. Graziani.”

“I need you to put me in contact with Charles Perry, now!” I said with emphasis on the last word.

“Right away,” she rushes out of the storage room.

“What's the matter, Cruella? it bothers you that I'm being nice to your friend?”

“Ha! You wish Stefunny” he gets up from the chair and comes closer to me until we face each other.

“Mmm... I have a feeling it does, and a great deal actually.”

“I don't give a ratass. you can do whatever you want. Just keep your damn self away from me.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so and step back a little bit”- I reply very uncomfortable because of the proximity.

“You have no idea how much I love a challenge and you just became one Cruella” he whispers in my ear and then walks out leaving me a bit confused and heated.