Chapter 5

Alessandra couldn't explain why she was getting so nervous, it was something so significant, strange, and inexplicable, that had never happened to her with any other man. Literally, she would get flustered in his presence, but even more so, with his gaze and that perfume, Good Lord, knowing he was close definitely wasn't good for her, for her senses. "Do you need anything?" she added, noticing how the tycoon took a step forward and continued to say nothing. His blue eyes hypnotized her, completely bewitched her. "No, for now," he replied, with a voice so seductive that she felt ensnared by a spell. "I just wanted to know how you felt on your first day of work." She sighed anxiously. She felt her chest constricted. "Very well, thank you, sir," she replied with obvious nervousness in her voice. "I was just telling Clara... Miss Palmieri, I mean, that I have felt very comfortable during the day." "It's good to know," Dominic said with a dazzling smile. "I sincerely hope that over time you will feel the same. By the way, is it just me or have we met somewhere else before? I have the feeling that today is not the first time we've met, am I wrong?" Alessandra became even more nervous. So, he did remember her? Holy Virgin. "Yes, yes, in fact, it seems that way to me too," she tried to sound nonchalant. "I think it was in..." "Dominic Lombardo," a mocking voice echoed. Dominic cursed under his breath and clenched his fists. Damn, how inconvenient his friend could be when he wanted to! "Bruno," he turned, hissing almost with annoyance, very upset by the interruption. "Good afternoon, Alessandra," the cheerful, elegant, millionaire, and handsome boy greeted confidently as he approached where they were. "Good afternoon, Mr. D'Conti," she said with a charming smile. A smile that someone else noticed and didn't quite like. "Just Bruno, please, why so formal? You and I, we've met before, at my house, remember?" "Of course, I remember, Bruno," Alessandra muttered, not so convinced about treating him so familiarly in her workplace and even less, being an intimate friend of the president. "Don't worry, don't worry, you owe respect to Dominic and Vittorio, not to me," the businessman commented in a conciliatory tone, noticing her discomfort. Alessandra nodded and blushed, something that didn't go unnoticed by Dominic. "Shall we go to my office, Bruno?" Dominic asked irritably. "After you," Bruno teased mischievously, noticing his friend's bad mood. "We'll see each other again, Alessandra, good luck on your first day, and congratulations." "Thank you, Bruno, Mr. Lombardo," she said goodbye, turned on her heels, and headed to her desk, experiencing a genuine sense of relief at escaping the inquisitive gaze of her handsome and intimidating president. ***** "So, you knew she would be working for us?" Dominic inquired with intrigue, closing the door to his office behind him. "That's right," Bruno confirmed calmly, as he comfortably took a seat in one of the luxurious leather armchairs and crossed his legs elegantly. "Why didn't you tell me?" the tycoon reproached him without disguise. "Why? You would have found out when you saw her anyway, right? I highly doubt that a woman like her can be easily forgotten, she's truly beautiful." Dominic looked at him sternly. "What do you mean, why, D'Conti, at least I would have been prepared." Bruno chuckled. "Prepared? What, were you going to organize a welcome party with balloons, cake, and the whole shebang?" "Don't be an idiot, I mean you could have spared me the surprise I got when I saw her." "I can imagine, how I would have loved to be here at that moment, I'm sure your face was priceless." "You can't imagine, I was left like a perfect fool, with a blank mind, to be more precise. Certainly, I would prefer her not to work here, after what happened with that woman, Vittorio's former assistant, I have no desire to get involved with anyone from the company again. The only positive thing about all this is that having D'Santi close by saved me the trouble of looking for her." "What impresses me is that you already assume you will have something with her. What makes you think that will happen? "All women are the same, why would she be any different? Her innocent face doesn't fool me, she's exactly like all the others, a bit shy, it seems, but nothing that money and an unlimited credit card can't change." "Have you not thought about the harm you could cause Vittorio? Your previous assistant left because of you and surely, this one will too." "I only plan to have one encounter with her, just one, that's all I need, so I don't harm Vittorio and of course, not myself " Dominic stated firmly while gazing out at the city through the large windows. "Dominic, Dominic, I would love to see you madly in love with a woman and have to pay for all the ones you've hurt." Dominic laughed. "That will never happen, so you better wait sitting down. Women are only good for that, sex, pleasure, fun, and nothing else, love doesn't exist, and those stupid feelings either." "There's always a first time for everything, don't count your chickens before they hatch, Lombardo." "At 28, I haven't met any woman who awakens a pure and clean feeling in me, other than sex, attraction, and desire. The only woman who stirs pure and real emotions in me is my mother, no one else." "Me neither, however, I know there's one out there in the world, waiting for me to find her or for her to find me " he laughed. " I'm not closed off to the possibility of one day getting married, falling in love, and having a family." "That's you, Bruno, not me, besides, what does what we were talking about have to do with this? I told you I just wanted to take her to bed and now you're going on about marriage." "I'm just trying to tell you to be careful, Dominic, you could be wrong, there are still women worthy of respect and appreciation, rare and few, but they exist." "Please, if you're talking about Alessandra, you're wrong, you don't even know her, a week ago you didn't even know she existed and now you're saying she's pure, good, and saintly when maybe you haven't even exchanged a hundred words with her. You don't know her, for God's sake, stop with the nonsense." "I may be wrong, or maybe not, but there's something about her that inspires trust in me and makes me think that way about her, she's shy, innocent, charming, has a clean gaze, a genuine smile, and is beautiful, besides." "Don't even think about it, D'Conti, I saw her first " the brunette warned him rudely. " Do what you want with her, once I've done what I want, but until then, don't even go near her." "You're unbelievable, you talk about her as if she were a thing, watch your words better " his friend scolded him. "Are we going to argue over a person we don't know or are we going to talk about the important matter you're here for? " he asked disinterestedly, taking a seat in his chair behind the desk. Bruno rolled his eyes and sat in one of the chairs in front of him, it was impossible to make Dominic understand, although he wasn't going to argue with him either, perhaps he was right and he was rushing to think well of Alessandra, however, his good impression of her couldn't be changed, that's what he felt when he saw her and he was almost never wrong in his perceptions about people.