‘Did he, now?’ Good on you, Gino, Luca thought, looking into Gino’s impassive face. He’d instructed his head of security to say as little as possible when he collected her, wanting his involvement to come as a surprise. Judging by the wary look on Morgan Marshall’s face he’d more than succeeded in that endeavour.
‘Yes. He did.’ She thrust her hands onto slender hips. ‘I told him it wasn’t convenient for me to come with him, but he ignored me. He marched me out to the car as if I was some kind of criminal.’
‘Did he hurt you?’ Luca felt compelled to ask. Although he detested Morgan Marshall for sleeping with Joseph—how could he not, when he’d experienced first-hand the pain and destruction caused by extramarital affairs?—he didn’t condone violence against women under any circumstances. If she’d been a man a good beating would be no more than she deserved. But then, if she’d been a man the situation wouldn’t have arisen in the first place!
‘No. But that’s not the point.’
‘Then what is?’
She gave him a look down the chiselled length of her nose that suggested he was several brain cells short of the full quid. ‘The point is my being here is totally inconvenient. I have—had—a full schedule of appointments lined up for today. I had to ask my secretary to cancel them at the last moment.’
Luca inclined his head. ‘That’s regrettable, but unavoidable.’
‘Is it? Maybe it’s time you told me what this is all about. And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me where Joseph is? This is his office. You shouldn’t be in here without him.’
Luca stared at her in amazement. She was like a miniature firecracker going off, eyes glittering, so much energy vibrating off her, he expected to see sparks fly from the ends of her hair at any moment.
Would she be as passionate in bed?
His eyes dropped to the thrusting swell of her breasts, clearly outlined beneath the black and white striped shirt she was wearing under her snappy black business suit.
She would be dynamite in bed.
How he knew that for certain he wasn’t sure, but know it he did.
Heat drip-fed into his blood stream, warming him from the inside out. He imagined taking her right now. On the desk. Naked except for those sexy black boots wrapped tightly around his hips.
His body surged on such a powerful wave of lust that Luca almost put thought into action. Instead, with a frown, he dragged his eyes back to her face, sucked in a lung full of much needed air and thrust the thought aside.
Morgan Marshall was the last woman on earth he should be thinking about in that way.
‘I intend making a formal complaint,’ Morgan continued, eyes still blazing.
‘Do you, now?’ Luca drawled.
‘Yes, I do. Joseph will be very angry when he hears how you’ve treated me.’
No doubt Joseph would be—if he ever found out about this meeting.
Rising to his feet, Luca rounded the desk. ‘Leave us,’ he ordered Gino.
Gino backed out of the room and closed the door behind him with a soft click.
‘Joseph isn’t going to hear about this meeting because you’re not going to tell him.’
She blinked up at him. ‘Of course I’m going to tell him.’
Luca took her arm and urged her across the room. ‘No, you’re not.’
Her perfume, something soft and spicy with a hint of orange, closed around him.
She licked her lips. ‘I’m…I’m not?’
‘No, you’re not.’ He eased her down onto one of two leather visitors’ chairs. Then, instead of resuming his own seat, he leant his hips against the edge of the desk. ‘Not if you know what’s good for you.’
His words, accompanied by underlying steel, made her eyes widen. ‘What…what’s this all about?’
He smiled his most charming smile and watched as she blinked under the impact. ‘Come on, Ms Marshall. You’re a bright young woman. Surely you must have some idea.’
She stared up at him, her eyes deep, dark pools of confusion then angled her chin into the air. The gesture once again struck him as familiar. ‘No. I have no idea. Unless there’s a business matter you want to discuss with me.’
His hands clenched. The only ‘business’ he wanted to discuss with her was the monkey business she’d been up to with Joseph!
‘Not as such, no. My business interests are extensive. I don’t have time to involve myself in the day-to-day running of my companies. I have competent managers to do that.’
‘Then what do you want to talk to me about?’ Morgan asked, in a voice that had the faintest tremor running through it.
‘Can’t you guess?’
Her chin angled back into the air. It was a look Luca was becoming increasingly familiar with and equally irritated by—because he couldn’t figure out who she reminded him of.
‘Why don’t you spit it out, Mr da Silva? If you have something to say, just say it.’
Luca had to admire her spirit. She had guts. He’d say that for her.
It was just a shame she didn’t have the morals to go with it.
He shifted position on the desk and was aware of her quick appraisal. He leaned forward, inhaling the tangy scent of citrus. ‘I brought you here because I am terminating your employment with Enigma Marketing.’
She gasped. Swayed in her seat. Paled until even her mouth looked parchment white and her eyes blacker than black. ‘You can’t do that!’
‘I certainly can.’
Normally such a blatant misuse of power would be abhorrent to him. But these were exceptional circumstances that required drastic action.
‘You may own half the world, Mr da Silva, but you don’t own Enigma Marketing. You have no say over who they employ or don’t employ.’
He smiled with genuine amusement. ‘Surely you can’t be that naïve? One phone call was all it took to seal your fate.’
She gasped again, her eyes so wide they looked like saucers. ‘I don’t believe you. My boss wouldn’t do that to me!’
‘No?’ He leaned closer. ‘Not even if I threatened to take away the Da Silva Chocolate account from her agency?’
A deathly silence fell. The look on her face told him Morgan knew the answer to that question as well as he did.
Da Silva had done for chocolate what Versace had done for fashion. The brand had developed a cult following among chocoholics, connoisseurs and A-listers around the world, their exclusive lines de rigueur on the tables of the rich and famous.
Da Silva was the marketing agency’s flagship account. Losing it meant losing jobs, not to mention reputation and the kudos that came from being associated with the brand.
And Enigma’s CEO, Dawn Merchant, would do just about anything to stop that from happening.
He reached across to the corner of the desk and slid the phone towards her. ‘Why don’t you call her? I’m sure Dawn will be happy to confirm what I’ve told you.’
Morgan looked from the phone to his face and back again. ‘OK. I believe you. But you’d better have a damned good reason for firing me or I’m going to sue the pants off you!’
Luca almost laughed in her face. Almost. Except