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Home / Romance / One Night Stand With My Future Uncle In Law / Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

All Chapters of One Night Stand With My Future Uncle In Law : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

68 Chapters

ELEVEN

Gabriella's POV The next morning started with Kristen placing a thick folder on my desk with a smile so practiced it could have been painted on."I took the liberty of organizing some background reading for you," she said, smoothing the edge of the folder with one finger. "Nothing too demanding. Just company history, department structure, some filing protocols. Since you are still finding your feet I thought it would help to have something light to work through."I looked at the folder and then back at her. "I already reviewed the company profile last night. All forty pages of it."Something flickered behind her eyes before the smile reset. "Of course you did. Well this goes a little deeper than the public profile so I am sure you will still find it useful." She tilted her head slightly. "It is completely okay if some of the terminology feels unfamiliar. We all start somewhere.""The terminology is fine Kristen." I opened the folder, scanned the first page and closed it. "But thank y

TWELVE

Gabriella's Pov "Anything that is not sad desk food." I said.He laughed again and said he would sort it and told me not to let them work me too hard on the first day and then said goodbye. I stood holding the phone after the call ended and thought about the fact that I loved my father and did not fully trust him and somehow both of those things were completely true at the same time.I put the phone away and picked up the report I had been carrying and headed toward the elevator to submit it to the upper floor records office.The elevator opened on the seventh floor and I stepped out into a quieter corridor with a higher ceiling and better carpet and the specific quality of silence that meant this was where the serious money sat.I found the records office, submitted the report and was turning back toward the elevator when a figure stepped out of a side corridor directly into my path.I recognized Vincent immediately. The permanent expression of mild displeasure. The dark suit. The w

THIRTEEN

Gabriella PovThe knocking came again, three sharp raps, and I pulled back from Mariano's mouth with my heart somewhere in my throat."That is Davis." I whispered, my hands pressing flat against his chest. "Mariano that is Davis at the door.""I heard him." His voice was completely unbothered and his mouth moved to my neck like the door did not exist."Then why are you—" I cut myself off and sucked in a breath as his lips found the spot just below my ear. "You have to answer him. You have to tell him to go away or something because if he walks in here and sees—""Uncle?" Davis's voice came through the door. "Are you available?"Mariano lifted his head just enough to answer. "Give me a moment." Then his mouth went straight back to my neck and his hand slid to my waist pulling me closer and I forgot what I had been saying for approximately four seconds before I remembered."Mariano." I grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him back and looked him directly in the eyes. "He is right

FOURTEEN

Gabriella Pov He kissed me once, firm and brief, and pulled back. "That is for the sixth time you have started a sentence you did not need to finish.""Mariano—""Davis is a fool." He said it simply, standing and moving back to the window with his hands in his pockets. "And I intend to make full use of that. He has just handed me every reason to move you out of his department without his interference and place you somewhere he cannot touch you or your work. He thinks he has won something." He glanced back at me. "He has not."I stared at him. "You could have just told me that.""I could have." He agreed without any indication that he found this problematic."That is—" I stopped myself. "That is very strategic of you, sir."Something shifted in his expression. "Don't call me that.""You are my CEO." I said carefully."And you are in my office." He crossed back toward me and stopped close enough that I had to keep my breathing deliberate. "There is no one here Gabriella.""There is no

Fifteen

Mariano's POV"Boss please forgive me." The battered figure of the man launched himself at my feet. "I swear I won't repeat myself."My head cocked to the side, watching his pathetic attempt to fool me. Again."Ahh Fredrick." I tsk deeply annoyed. "What didn't I do for you. What didn't the family do for you.""I'm sorry, I lost myself." He looked up, his bloody face mixed with dirt and snot. "It won't happen again, I swear."I smirked, cocking the gun Vincent handed me. "Of course it won't. I believe you."For a moment his face calmed, relief filling his eyes until he saw the muzzle directly between his eyes."Boss—please—my kids," He stammered out."Which kids?" I laughed with no amusement. "The ones you planned on selling or your wife whom you gave out to be raped. All to settle the debts that you raked.""Boss it's just a little thing, I beg you don't do this." He shivered, hands palmed together. Begging."A little thing?" Oh how despicable he was."Vincent.""Yes boss.""I didn't

SIXTEEN

Mariano's Pov "Excuse me?" I said."Huh?" She looked up at me and whatever she had been about to say disappeared from her face because she was still looking at my eyes the way people always did. Not with the superstitious unease of the older Castillo family members. Just pure uncomplicated fascination. "I am so sorry. I didn't check before I sat. I'll go now."She moved to pass me and I caught her arm."Do they scare you." I asked."What? Of course not." She shook her head quickly. "They are absolutely beautiful and so unique. I'm sorry if it sounds like fake flattery but I have only ever heard of heterochromia. Seeing one up close—""Is a new thing.""Yes." She said it honestly. No performance in it. No calculation.I looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were clear but had some redness at the sides. She had been crying and she was pretending she hadn't nor was she trying to make herself seem more pitiful.Definitely not a setup. If she was working for someone she was the best I had

SEVENTEEN

Gabriella's POV"You look better today."Kristen said it the moment I walked through the department doors. Her voice carried just enough warmth to sound like a compliment and just enough of something else to make sure it did not land as one."Thank you, Kristen." I set my bag down at my desk and pulled out my laptop."Davis mentioned you had a rough few days." She continued, straightening a stack of papers on her own desk that did not need straightening. "Adjusting to a new environment takes time. There is absolutely no shame in that.""I appreciate that." I opened my laptop and said nothing else.She waited a moment for more. When it did not come, she turned and went back to Davis's office.I sat at my desk and thought about the conversation I had heard from under a desk two days ago. Davis wanted me gone. He had gone to his uncle to arrange it, and Mariano had said it would be done. What Mariano had actually meant by that, I was still working out. What he had told me afterward was t

EIGHTEEN

Gabriella's Pov The silence in the room changed. It became something heavier. Something no one knew how to react to.Davis's mouth opened. "Promoted? To what?"Mariano turned to face him. "To my personal secretary."Davis stared at him. "That does not make any sense. She does not have the experience. She does not have the qualifications for—""She has a degree in finance with honors." Mariano said. "She has demonstrated initiative in every task assigned to her. And she has shown more competence in three days than some of your staff have shown in three years."Kristen's face went very still.Davis shook his head. "Uncle, I understand you are trying to make a point, but Gabriella is my fiancée. She is not suited for that kind of responsibility. She would be much happier at home. You know how these things work. Once we are married, she will have the household to manage. There is no need to put her in a position where she will be stressed and overwhelmed."Mariano looked at Davis for a l

NINETEEN

Gabriella's Pov "I understand." I said.She nodded once and left me to settle in.I sat at my new desk and looked at the closed door of Mariano's office.He called me in at two.I knocked, entered, and stood in front of his desk with my notepad. He looked up from whatever he was reading and looked at me the way he always did. Like he was running a quick assessment and finding the results satisfactory."Sit." He gestured at the chair across from him.I sat.What followed was forty minutes of the most professional conversation I had ever had with him. He outlined my responsibilities clearly. Financial analysis and reporting. Quarterly audit support. Cross referencing external procurement data against internal records. He asked me three questions about my academic background to gauge my level. I answered all three without hesitation.He did not mention Vegas. He did not mention the corridor or the desk or the phone call or any of it. He spoke to me like a new hire he had reviewed and fo

TWENTY

Gabriella's POVMrs. Ava knocked on Mariano's office door at exactly two fifteen and opened it without waiting for a response. That told me everything about how long she had worked for him."Your two thirty has confirmed." She placed a single sheet on his desk. "And the procurement team needs a signature on the Hendricks file before end of day.""I will get to it." He said without looking up.She turned to leave. Then her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket. She glanced at it and looked back at Mariano. "I need to take this. It is the Lagos office.""Go." He said.She left, pulling the door halfway closed behind her. Then it was just us and the quiet of the executive floor and the city through the window behind his desk.He looked up."Sit."I sat."Your observations from the cycle two report." He leaned back in his chair. "Talk me through them."I had spent the previous evening going through everything. I had four pages of notes. I walked him through each one clearly. He listened witho

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