Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“We’ll have breakfast at six,” Dominic calls to me. “And then we’re leaving for our meeting at seven.”
I just nod and throw him a thumbs-up as I make my way to the luxurious bed waiting for me. I’m so tired and wrung out that I don’t even change or take off my makeup. I collapse onto the bed and let the cool covers swallow me whole.
We’re only supposed to be here for two days. I can handle that. I just need to get through a few meetings and then I never have to worry about sharing a penthouse with Dominic again.
My stomach is still sensitive, so I raid the minibar for ginger ale and crackers. Dominic can afford it. It’s the least he can do for dragging me here. I finally force myself to shower, if only to rinse off the sweat, then wrap myself in the world’s fluffiest towel. I climb into bed, kill the lights, and have one of the best sleeps of my entire life.
The next morning, I’m up before the sun. I check my phone and see that it’s already ninety degrees. I sigh and get up, dressing in the only outfit I brought, which hopefully holds up against the heat. I meet Dominic at six sharp in the private dining room. There’s already a cart full of food and a carafe of coffee.
“This is fancy,” I say carefully.
“Stick with me, you’ll get used to it.” He smirks.
I don’t see how I’ll ever get used to this, but I smile anyway and lift one of the dish covers to see what we have. It’s a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and an assortment of pastries. My stomach is still in knots, so I grab some toast and a few eggs and sit down.
We eat in silence, which feels wrong. The last few weeks, it’s been easy to avoid Dominic as much as possible, but not talking when we’re sitting at the same table feels strange.
“I put the updated contracts for the Keller meeting in the blue folder. I flagged the resort management agreement because section eight references the wrong revenue split.”
His hand stills on his coffee. “Show it to me,” he demands.
I pull out the contracts and hand one to him.
“The agreement says Vieri Holdings takes eighteen percent after operating costs. The summary deck says twenty-two percent. I assumed the eighteen percent was old, but the date on the agreement is current.”
His face hardens, his jaw tightening. “Where did this come from?” he asks.
“Ardent sent it over last night,” I tell him. “It came straight from their legal team.”
He stares at the page for a long second before picking up his phone with a disgruntled sigh.
“Rafe,” he says as soon as the call connects. “I’m forwarding you the Ardent contract. Look at section eight. Find out who changed the revenue split and why our legal team missed it.”
He hangs up and stands.
“Let’s go,” he says, not even noticing I haven’t finished my breakfast. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
We arrive at the meeting fifteen minutes later, and it’s blessedly in an air-conditioned conference room. For the first hour, I’m reminded what I love so much about this job. Negotiations fly, and I take diligent notes. I like watching Dominic work, even when he’s tearing into someone over a perceived slight.
Dominic turns a boardroom full of men into squirming, nervous participants. In Vegas, no less. It’s fascinating and also a little terrifying. Who the hell do I work for?
Meanwhile, I try to make myself as invisible as possible. I’ve never seen this version of Dominic up close. He’s all sharp edges and cold patience. I’ve watched him command rooms before, but never like this. He never raises his voice, because he doesn’t have to. Everyone here is attuned to his slightest shift in posture, and they rearrange themselves accordingly.
“I don’t know what happened,” one of the men tells Dominic. “It’s probably a formatting error.”
“That’s not good enough,” Dominic tells him, “Try again.”
The man swallows hard as another chimes in.
“I’m sure what Patrick means is that he’s going to get to the bottom of it,” says an older man.
Dominic turns his head toward the man and narrows his eyes.
“If that’s what he meant, then that’s what he should have said.”
After that, the meeting grinds to an abrupt halt. Everyone gets up and files out, but Dominic and I stay put as another round of men comes through to meet with him. The next meeting is more or less the same. A lot of men make a lot of excuses, and Dominic says very little, but his silence is deafening. When we’re finally done, it’s nearly noon, and my fingers cramp from all the writing.
“Well, Sofia,” Dominic says, leaning back casually in his chair. “I came here with one problem, but you helped me solve two.”