“Trust me, Mari.”
She dropped her eyes and focused on spearing a large chunk of walnut from her salad. “I can’t.”
“Don’t you feel the beauty here? This room… this is what the Cascade should embody. It’s warm, it’s cozy, yet it’s rich and opulent at the same time. From the outside it’s a castle. On the inside…it needs to be an embrace. When guests are here they need to be soaked in beauty.”
“Please.” That one word was ripe with disdain. She could not be wooed by pretty words, and he’d been doling out more than his share. Pretty words did not keep a four-star hotel profitable. Pretty words did not…would not keep her in line.
“You’re worried about the money. And details.”
“Bingo.”
Luca picked up his spoon again, ate some soup. “I’ll tell you what, Mari. I’ll start making some notes. I’ll even put some preliminary figures together…just for you.”
“You’re too kind.” She didn’t attempt to disguise the sarcasm. It was becoming increasingly clear that Luca was full of grand schemes and she was going to have her hands full keeping him out of the clouds and on the ground.
“Mari?”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Why are you so determined to dislike me?”
She looked away from the steady gaze. There was nothing condemning in it, just a curiosity that burned through her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to like him or dislike him. It was more a matter of self-preservation. She didn’t like change, didn’t work well with change. And it was everything Luca represented. She’d worked so hard to get where she was, to feel comfortable and established and…safe. And he waltzed in, in his expensive clothes and sexy smile and wanted to change everything. And with a method that made no sense to her. All of a sudden safe wasn’t a sure thing.
“It’s not about liking or disliking, Luca. It’s about the changes. You’re changing more than the name. You’re changing things that some of us have worked very hard to maintain. I’ve put a lot of time and energy into this hotel and perhaps I feel like that’s being swept away without a moment’s consideration. Meanwhile all of us here will remain long after you’re gone. When you’re done, you can wash your hands of it. We’re left to deal with what comes after.” He’d blow through like a whirlwind, and what destruction would be left in his wake?
Luca leaned forward, linking his hands on the white cloth on the table. “I understand that, really I do. But this is where you have to trust me. This is what I do, Mari. This is what my family has done for decades. I know my job and I’m good at it. If I weren’t, Fiori wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is. I’m not going to throw you…or the staff…out along with the old carpet. I promise.”
And oh, she wanted to believe him. Desperately. But trust was a very rare commodity.
“You also need to consider how this will affect us financially. The reality of it. It cannot be ignored.” I can’t be ignored, she thought, but swallowed it away. This wasn’t about her, not really.
“Reality is overrated. What we’re selling is an experience, an escape, a fantasy.”
He leaned over so that the enticing scent of his cologne tickled her nose once more. His toffee-eyes captured hers. “When was the last time you indulged in a fantasy, Mari?”
CHAPTER THREE
MARI stopped, smoothed her skirt first and then her hair, before knocking on the door that used to be to her office before she became general manager.
“Come in.”
It was odd, finding her new boss sitting in her old chair, but she pushed the feeling aside. He needed a working area and she was now in the general manager’s office. It didn’t make sense to feel he was taking over her space. She was the one with the big office now.
She’d had to push a lot of feelings aside this morning, like the lingering fear that flickered in her belly when she remembered her dream of last night. There was no sense worrying about the fact that the dream was back. She would just chalk it up to the chocolate she’d indulged in last night at dessert. That, paired to the chaos that was rapidly becoming her life, explained it away. Even if she couldn’t quite shake the darkness of it from her system. Considering the letter she’d received two days ago, it wasn’t surprising. She hated the thought of Robert being up for parole. Hated the way the mere mention of his name paralyzed her. Focusing on work was the only thing keeping her sane. And Luca wasn’t making it any easier. He’d featured in her dream as well. But she had to shake it and be objective.
This was about today, about figuring out what it was Luca planned to do and exerting some of her own caution over the procedure. He would do whatever he wanted. She’d realized that after their dinner last night. But she was no pushover. Not anymore. She would keep things logical, reasonable. Within boundaries. In all ways.
“Mari! Good morning.” He gave a click of the mouse before pushing back his chair. “I was just sending an e-mail to my sister in Florence. Sharing my ideas and getting her input. She’s got a fantastic eye.”
“Then why didn’t she come?” The question was out before Mari could think and her cheeks bloomed at her rudeness.
“Because she has a three-year-old and a baby to look after. I’m hoping she’ll make it out next summer, when the refurbishing is complete and the landscaping done. As it is, she’s nagging me to be back home for Christmas.”
“You think we’ll be done that soon?”
“Shoulder season is the best time to renovate. I can always come back after the holiday and finish things off.”
Mari stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed. Her blazer pocket contained half a dozen messages she should answer and she knew there were matters that needed her attention on her desk. So why didn’t she get to it?
“Did you need something in particular?” Luca posed the question, raising his eyebrows and Mari felt even more awkward.
“No, not really. I’ll just, um, go to my office, and if you need me for anything you can find me there.”
“I’m waiting for a call from a designer. He did some work for us when we bought the Colorado Springs property and with the similarity in settings, I thought bringing him up here would be a good idea. I know what I want, but I’m at a loss when it comes to deciding fabrics and tapestries and… well, it’s Dean’s job to take my vision and put it all together.”
Her mouth went dry. Nine o’clock in the morning and he was already moving forward without even discussing things with her. Was this all going to happen without her, then? “And what’s my job in all this?”
For a moment she was afraid he was going to get up and her fingers felt for the handle of the door. Briefly she remembered the touch of his finger on her wrist last night. But he merely crossed an ankle over his knee and smiled up at her. “Your job is to keep the hotel running as seamlessly as possible for our guests and staff. I can already see you’re good at it. And your job is also to help me. I do want your input, Mari.”
When the phone on his desk rang, his attention slid away from her completely, and she felt like a child dismissed from the principal’s office. Damn, she’d come in here hoping to get some insight into his plans, figure out a way to retain at least some control over the whole business. And she was leaving with nothing.
Mari made her way to the manager’s office in a daze. It was clear she wasn’t needed when it came to whatever changes were impending. As far as Luca was concerned, she was there to keep people happy.
She shut her office door firmly and threw her purse on her chair. She hadn’t worked this hard to build up her life to have someone dismiss