POSSESSION [Book 1 - DeLorenzo Desire]

IV | Homecoming

GRACE

The week had flown by in a whirlwind of laughs, lunches and Luca being dangerously inappropriate with Angela. It made a nice change of pace to the uncomfortable tension I had grown used to in Giovanni's employ.

After the first three days I had stopped asking where Giovanni was. He wasn't here and obsessing about it hadn't done me any favours. Somehow, despite his absence, life went on in the office.

Letting that go had been a welcome reprieve and allowed me to get on with work with no distractions. Luca had been so happy at how efficiently things were running and how far I'd caught him up on paperwork that he'd basically given me free rein over the R&D department.

Today, I was down in the lab with the real deal science tech types. Almost everything went completely over my head when they started explaining it to me in detail but the proprietary robotics system the team were tasked to bring to market looked incredible.

It was all very interesting in the way things were done here. I'd never really paid attention or even been exposed to our processes before. Our company would acquire other smaller independent companies and groups and whatever tech they were developing. The scientists would then be given much bigger teams and research budgets under a DeLorenzo company.

They would continue their work, with far greater resources, finishing their current projects before moving on to create the next big tech innovation and being redeployed to new projects based on their specialisms and varied skillsets.

Once completed, the new tech would be acquired by other companies in the group who would exploit it commercially, selling it on to nations and governments worldwide.

Of course, what they never told these clients was that the same tech was also de-branded and donated to third world and developing nations completely free and off the books. It was giving a leg up to nations that would never be able to purchase as a client under their current conditions. Apparently it was a passion project of Giovanni's.

The global reach of his businesses was astounding. I didn't need my degree to see the economic development we had been a direct part of. In the last five years, the GDP in the nations we quietly supported had risen an average of 31% and was showing no signs of slowing.

Seeing innovations like this and knowing the good work it fuelled made my chest swell with pride. I was proud to work for DeLorenzo Holdings. In that moment, I was proud to work for Giovanni DeLorenzo.

I guess I want to be here for more than just a paycheck after all.

I headed for the elevator and hit the button for Angela's floor. Luca was out of the office to meet his mother at the airport so I figured she'd be free for lunch. When I got to her office, I didn't expect the sight that greeted me.

"Angela?"

She looked at me dazed and then began to wipe her tears away. I quickly walked over to her and gave her a hug. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Thanks Racey. Um, did you want to go for lunch? Is that why you came?"

Her smile didn't reach her eyes. Mine narrowed in a frown. Before I could respond, Luca entered her office, looking between us both before falling silent. I looked between the two of them and read the unspoken tension in the room.

"I'll, uh, leave you two alone." I took one last look at Angela who was avoiding Luca's pleading gaze before slipping out and closing the door behind me. They definitely needed to sort out whatever was going on between them. They're my #couplegoals after all.