~Anne's POV~
"WHAT?!"
Riccardo stared at me, his eyes scrutinizing my reaction to his words. He glared at me as though I had overreacted, and now I was left wondering if I had misheard him, or if he was simply too full of himself to understand the gravity of what he had just asked of me.
I managed to sneak away from him, and distanced myself from him immediately. My entire body trembled as I replayed the words in my head. The last time someone had said those same words to me was three years ago. I had just finished college, full of life, and overly ambitious. Without thinking it through, I had thrown myself into the worst two years of my life. At one point I had even thought I'd die, but somehow I had managed to push through.
The thought of getting married again was something I had avoided for a whole year now. I had fought hard to forget those traumatic days, but somehow it always kept coming back to haunt me.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to overreact." I stammered after what seemed like eternity. Riccardo kept his gaze on me, his eyes searching mine desperately.
"I know you've been married before, to Thomas Brown. Isn't that right?" He asked calmly, took a step forward and suddenly stopped. "He's hosting an exclusive dinner and I've been invited."
It began to make sense to me bit by bit. Receiving an email two months after application, getting hired despite being a woman, it all made sense now. I hadn't gotten the job because I was more qualified than others who had applied before me, I had gotten it because Riccardo simply wanted to use me as his pawn. I should have known better, men like them were rarely different.
Just like Riccardo, Thomas was a successful businessman, and it wasn't news that their companies were one of the biggest in the market at the moment. Riccardo clearly viewed Thomas as competition, and if I wasn't completely overthinking everything, he wanted me by his side in hopes that it would cause Thomas to overreact and act out of line in some sort of way. And from that, he could get something that could potentially tarnish Thomas's reputation, thereby eliminating the competition.
Bringing my ex husband down had been a dream of mine for a long time now, and the only reason I hadn't made any move yet was because of the influence and power he had. Nobody would listen to the words of a common lady like me when it came to Thomas. They would either conclude that I was a bitter ex who simply wanted to have a taste of his money once again, or Thomas would take me out if he felt like I was causing his reputation any harm.
Accepting Riccardo's offer might just be the only shot I had at getting back at Thomas, but I simply couldn't accept it. I had suffered enough at the hands of men like him, and I wasn't about to become a pawn to one of them ever again. It never ended well for people like me, and men like them never seemed to suffer repercussions for what they do to others.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept what you're asking of me." I replied calmly with my head bowed. I didn't want him to see the tears that had gathered in my eyes, and i definitely didn't want to look him in the eyes either.
Although I couldn't see his face, I could tell he had a look of disgust and disappointment written all over him. He took a step forward, stopped, and then stepped further away from me.
"Are you sure?" He pressed as he drummed his fingers on the wall nearby. He clearly knew all about my past, he and that lady from earlier must have researched me throughly even before I ever applied to become Riccardo's secretary. He wouldn't ask me that question if he didn't know that I had tried countless times to sue Thomas Brown to court, but it never worked. I had paid several news outlets to report on the abuse I had suffered, but Thomas very clearly paid them more to ignore me.
"Yes." I answered sternly, this time with my head raised, and our eyes locked. "I understand that you want to get rid of your competitions, but I don't want to play your pawn in these games, especially when it comes to matters concerning Thomas Brown. You probably know my history…" I stopped, took a deep breath and let out a dry chuckle.
"…No, you clearly know everything about me. I understand that you're the boss, but I'm not going to let you exploit a vulnerable part of my life for your personal benefit."
My body began to tremble once again the very second I completed that sentence. I had just looked Riccardo Antonelli dead in the eyes and had basically told him no, and never to play with my feelings. It clearly wasn't something he was used to hearing everyday because he just stood still, his eyes still locked on mine. But I couldn't sense any hostility from him, just shock.
"Anne Allistair…" he grinned, "you're an interesting woman."
I remained still, unsure if that was a compliment or a threat, and if I should reply to it or not.
"Regardless, I'm still going to need you by my side at the party. You might not be my partner, but I'll need my secretary, it is a business meeting after all." He made clear.
Now I was tied up with no room to escape. If I could I wanted to avoid going at all. The last thing I wanted was to lay eyes on my ex husband ever again. However, I felt like saying another word besides 'yes' would likely get me fired.
"Of course." I nodded sharply.
"The dinner's at seven, I'll have my driver pick you up, don't be late. You're dismissed."
I nodded once more before hurrying out of the office, unsure if I should be happy about the promotion or completely mortified by it. It was too late now, I had a party to attend, and perhaps it was time I showed Thomas Brown just how much better I had gotten without him.