Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife (The Harder They Fall, #2)(34)

“What did we miss?” Amelia asked as she shook out her napkin.

I waved my chopsticks at Charlie. “Just a little bashing of the CEO, that’s all.”

She rolled her eyes. “Charlie only dislikes Luca Rossi because he’s hotter than him.”

Charlie made a strangled sound. “That’s—”

She pinned him with a hard stare. “It’s true and you know it. But Luca Rossi is hotter than ninety-eight percent of the male population, so don’t get too disheartened.”



When we arrived back at the office, I noticed a few people looking at me as I walked by them on my way to my desk. I wondered why I was suddenly so interesting. I checked the compact mirror I kept in my desk drawer. There wasn’t food on my face or blouse, so I shrugged it off. I had a full inbox of emails to answer and tasks to complete before the end of the day.

The subject of the company-wide email from Luca Rossi, CEO of Rossi Motors, stopped me in my tracks.

Personal Announcement

Holy shit. He couldn’t have.

I clicked it, the blood draining from my face when it opened. At the very top of the email was a picture Judge Hernandez had taken of us on our wedding day.

He’d done it.

He’d really done it.

Without any discussion, Luca had announced our marriage to the entire company.

Dear Rossi employees,

It is my intention as your CEO to be honest and open with you. Sometimes that will mean sharing bad news and personal failures, but other times, like now, I’ll share my triumphs.

It’s with great happiness I announce my marriage to my new bride, Saoirse Kelly-Rossi. We were married in a private ceremony at our home, and we’re looking forward to what the future has in store for us.

Thank you for your continued support of Rossi Motors, the Rossi family, and of me.

Yours,

Luca Rossi



As soon as I finished reading, Charlie walked into my cubicle, waving his phone around.

“Is this you? Is he talking about you?”

Swallowing, I nodded slowly and forced out a grin. “Surprise!”

The furrow in his brow belied his carefully measured words. “Congratulations are in order then.”

“Thank you, Charlie.”

Silence stretched between us as he stared at my computer monitor. I realized belatedly my wedding picture was filling the screen.

I was all out of grace and subtilty when I minimized it, but it snapped Charlie’s attention back to me.

“You could have told me at lunch instead of letting me spout off. I feel like an idiot.”

“No, don’t.” I was going to kill Luca for putting me in this position. “You didn’t do anything wrong. And don’t worry about what you said. I won’t repeat it.”

His shoulders slumped forward. “Thanks for that.”

I fielded several more visits before Amelia sent out a department-wide email reminding everyone it was still a workday and to keep private matters outside of the office. The visits petered out after that, but I had no doubt I was the subject of many interoffice private messages.

And yet, I hadn’t heard a single thing from Luca.

Foregoing an email, I texted him.

Me: Send me the code for the elevator. We need to talk.

Luca: I’m busy now, Saoirse. We’ll talk tonight as planned.

Me: A little late for that, isn’t it? While you’re locked in your executive tower, I’m with the rest of your employees. Send the code, or I’ll “reply all” to your email and tell everyone about your fetish.

Luca: What fetish do I have?

Me: Don’t be coy. I know all about your collection of toenails.

Luca: Jesus. Why did I think you’d make my life easier? Check your badge. You’ll find you now have clearance to the executive floor. Perks of being my wife.

Me: I’m on my way. Prepare to meet your maker, Rossi.



Luca was sitting calmly behind his desk when I arrived.

“Are you kidding me?” I seethed, charging toward his desk. I braced my hands on it, leaning down so we were face to face. “This isn’t what we planned.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Plans change. We would have discussed it over lunch, but you were busy.”

My eyes flared. “I know you saw me with my coworkers. I saw you too.”

“Coworkers? I only saw one, and the two of you looked really familiar with each other.”

“You only saw one because two of them were in the bathroom.” Straightening, I slapped my forehead. “Is that why you did this? You sent a company-wide email because you were jealous?”

“Jealous? No.” He pushed back from his desk, stood, and rounded to my side. I turned to face him head-on. His eyes were nearly black as they flitted back and forth between mine. “If I’m going to be inconvenienced by having a wife, I expect her not to date other men during our marriage. That’s not asking for too much, is it?”

My breath caught at his harsh manner. “Inconvenienced?”

He picked up my left hand. “Is it too much to ask for you to wear your rings?”

“Are you wearing yours?”

His jaw tightened, and he leaned in so our foreheads were almost touching. The heated way he looked at me made me unsure whether he was going to throttle me or kiss me. I was millimeters from taking the decision from him when his office door flung open.