Penny For An Italian Thought

Part 7: Ray Of Sunshine

You. Will. Spy. On. Armenti.

His words rang in my ears, loud and clear, as if he were saying them again. His eyes, as dark as his intentions, leered at me. He had blackmailed me just the previous night, but it was different being in the same room with him - and Alex.

I glanced up at Alex, his face showing confusion. I assumed that it was probably because of my changed demeanor in front of my former boss. I forced a smile and shook Burke's hand; his sweaty, chubby and fraud committing hands. I had come to hate the man just in a matter of hours.

"Mr. Burke," I said sternly.

"Miss White."

Alex walked back to his CEO chair, that was at the narrow part of the long, oval table. I sat on a chair that was two people away from Burke and even that far, the smell of his overbearing cologne raised bile in my throat. I took a sip of the water that was kept in the fancy glass in front of me and calmed my nerves down.

Alex cleared his throat.

"Good morning, everyone. Mr. Burke has a proposition. He would like to be an active board member of our company and would allow us to take over his SailBoat Co-op in Boston in return. I told him it wasn't possible bu-"

"But it is," Burke cut him off. Alex looked like he was going to punch him. Hmm. Maybe Alex takes offense to interruption.

Burke seem fazed for a second, but quickly regained his demeanor. He continued babbling,

"I know this company like the back of my hand and can help it grow. Besides, I won't be here everyday, will I? Just all board meetings and important stuff like that," Burke reasoned.

"Yeah, that is why your company was drowning and which is why I took over." Alex quipped.

"Burke Hotels and Construction was at its highest in the past two years. Some ups and downs may have occured in the past few months, but those were temporary. That was before you came along. Now, I'm not so sure with the temporary," Burked said shamelessly.

I stiffened. His audacity was appalling! I was sitting right there! I knew why the business flourished in the past two years. He'd used me to do that! He had used me to hack into other companies' systems and used their sensitive information against them. He even stooped so low as to modifying and selling their work and ideas before they could. In fact, that was the only reason why Burke flourished.

Couldn't people in our company come up with better ideas on their own?

Burke looked at me and smiled from ear to ear, making me wince.

"You are not going to be involved with this company anymore, Mr. Burke. I'm the CEO and I won't allow it,"

Alex stated sternly.

"The board has to decide that," Burke quipped and glanced at everyone at the table and continued, "and now."

Please, don't say yes!

Alex looked like he was going to strangle Burke with his bare hands.

"No," Mr. James suddenly said.

"No," Mr. Loy followed him.

Burke's face fell and my heart soared. Alex held a smile of triumph on his face.

Soon the room was filled with board members saying 'No', leaving Burke red faced.

Now take that, butt-munch!

Alex walked to the door and opened it.

"Don't make me call security."

Alex was trying in vain to hide a smile, so was I. Burke stood up, pushing his chair back so fast that it hit the wall and stormed out - for the second time in two days.

I guess, no one liked Burke after all.

Everyone slowly walked out after Alex thanked them. Everyone, but him and I. He smiled and started walking towards me, but my phone thought that ringing would be better than having an awkward conversation with Alex. He was standing in front of me now, waiting for me to answer my phone. For a moment, I thought it was Burke calling, to threaten me again. I hastily checked my phone and sighed with relief as I saw the caller's name.

It was the assistant of Sean Hamilton - the billionaire owner of the 5-star Hamilton Luxury Hotel Chain. We had been trying to get a gigantic deal out of him to open a huge hotel chain with him, but it hadn't pulled through.

Why is he calling now?

"Hello, this is Brianna White."

" Hello, Miss White. This is John Hyde, calling from Hamilton Luxe Hotels."

"Yes, Mr. Hyde. How may I help you?"

Alex leaned himself on the table and crossed his arms across his chest, involuntarily flexing his muscles in the process. His eyes were on me.

"Actually, with Alexander Armenti as the new owner of the company, the expectations have taken a new high. He is a bright, intelligent and deterministic young man. Which is why, Mr. Hamilton has decided to make the deal, if Mr. Armenti is up for it. We can set up a meeting tomorrow." I gasped. This would be an amazing project and the Armenti Group could earn billions through it!

"Oh yes, sure! I will e-mail the meeting  agenda to you within an hour. See you tomorrow," I said grinning, barely able to contain my excitement.
Alex, now intrigued, stood up straight and waved at me as I hung up the call.

"What meeting? Who's Hyde?" He asked stepping closer.

"Sean Hamilton agreed to the deal of the joint Hotel Chain!"

His jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"Hamilton? My goodness Brianna, this is a huge deal!" His hands were in his hair and he had a million dollar smile on his face.

"Thank you so much!"

He was practically beaming like a child allowed to eat ice cream for dinner.

"Actually, its y-" Before I could finish my sentence, he bent forward to put his lips on mine. He put one arm around my waist and his other hand's fingers were in my hair. My knees buckled from the amazing sensation, but he had his strong hold around my waist. I have no idea what got over me and I kissed him back with equal passion. His lips were soft, tender and his minty breath teased my mouth. I moved my hands over his chest to the back of his neck. His tongue played at my lips asking permission for entrance, which I happily gave. I had never experienced such a kiss with anyone else. This was passionate, tender, but yet, rough in its own way. His hand moved up and down my back and he pulled me even closer. Our bodies were touching each other completely. He moaned against my lips and I pressed him closer to me, deepening the kiss.

And then my phone beeped. Saved by the faithful yet sometimes irritating bell. Our lips had stopped moving and he rested his forehead against mine. We were both panting and out of breath, but none of us were complaining. I put my hands back on his chest and tried to push him back gently.

"Don't," he whispered, his voice hoarse. I looked up at his eyes that had turned into a shade of a stormy ocean. His arms were still around me, refusing to let go.

"Alex, we need to leave now. Someone seeing us like this will create an office scandal."

He sighed and reluctantly let go of me.

"Don't pout." I gave him a peck on his soft, luscious lips.

"That should do for now."

He chuckled and slowly moved his thumb over my swollen bottom lip.

"Come on, Lets go."

He kept his warm palm on the small of my back and led me out of the room. He had already regained his posture, while I was still groggy and dizzy.

What was this guy doing to me?

Hope Brianna knows what she's doing. Haha! And I hope you guys enjoyed reading. Also, don't forget to tap the star at the bottom of your page. ☺