Two weeks had already passed with everything having somewhat reverted to the old routine that Ximena had been used to, only with minor modifications. Preparations had been made for the day when she would be officially handed over the reigns of the family business, along with Adriano inheriting his father’s company; only that these two events would be done separately. Plans were still in the pipes for the announcement of the joint company and there were even talks for the construction of a single building where operations would be conducted in the future.

It was all very stressful but Ximena was looking forward to it nonetheless. Having woken up only twenty minutes ago, she closed the shower faucet and stepped out, grabbing a towel to dry her body and another one for her hair. She went over to the sink and took out her blow dryer and took care of her hair. Once done, she secured the towel around her body to prevent it from falling and then walked out of the room. At the exact moment she entered the bedroom, Adriano also got in.

Their eyes locked, but she found hers subconsciously sliding down his torso which was on full display, glistening with sweat from his morning run. It still surprised just how in shape and ripped he was; like some kind of a Greek sculpture.

“You know, if you take a picture, it will definitely last longer,” he teased with a knowing smirk and she looked away in mortification. Had she made it that obvious that she was staring? But who could blame her, the guy was just too fine…

Still standing by the door to the bathroom, he came over to her, regarding her with predatory eyes. Only then did it occur to her that she was clothed in nothing but a flimsy towel…and that in spite of her previous effort to keep it firmly around her body it was coming undone. Stopping a few inches away from her, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “One of these days, I will have you. All of you.” Placing a feathery kiss on the crook of her neck, he opened the door and disappeared into the bathroom.

That was not the way she had envisioned she would be starting her morning.

Blowing out her cheeks which were undoubtably rouged, she went over to her vanity dresser to apply some lotion to her body. Next, she entered the walk-in closet and got dressed for the day. It was a a simple yet sophisticated outfit consisting of a white short sleeved executive dress with a gold belt that ended mid-thigh and she paired it with white Louboutin’s. Back at the dresser, she combed her hair so it was parted in the middle. Applying some red lipstick and mascara, she gave her face a once-over before spraying her favorite Givenchy perfume and heading downstairs for breakfast.

During the course of the past two weeks, they had hired a chef and a maid to help around. They were both very nice and competent that she couldn’t have asked for better employees. Entering the kitchen, she was greeted by the chef, Manny who had already prepared some mouth-watering food. In no time she was seated by the island, digging in to the toast, sausage, omelet and orange juice. Adriano walked in some minutes later, tying his tie. He was donning a cream suit with a light blue shirt and cream silk tie, looking handsome as usual. His hair was combed yet still wet, making it look darker than it actually was.

Manny began to serve his plate as he took a seat beside his wife. “So today is the day,” he drawled in a relaxed fashion, still having a go at his tie.

Ximena nodded, taking a sip of her juice. “Yeah, it is. I can’t wait to get it over with. It feels like I have been waiting my whole life for this moment,” she told him, watching him struggle with his neck tie. Manny placed his plate before him and a cup of cappuccino.

Huffing in annoyance at the lack of cooperation of the little piece of cloth, Ximena laughed at his weird reaction. She stood up and took it from him. “The great and fearsome Adriano Dos Santos struggles to knot a tie, at this age? Shame on you,” she mocked him as she expertly did it for him within seconds.

“Oh, I can knot a tie, believe me. I just wanted you to do it for me and it seems my plan worked,” he winked at her, pulling her closer to him by the waist. “You are looking rather ravishing today. Too bad other men will have to see you looking like this,” he said to her huskily and she slapped his chest playfully.

“Eat your food Don Juan, or you’re going to make us late. It’s your turn to drive us to work today, remember?” she chastised him, moving away from his grasp.

He pouted, which was a sight she had never seen before. “You’re so bossy,” he huffed, beginning to eat from his plate with a fork.

She flashed him a fake grin. “That’s because I am the boss.”

***

For Adriano, the hand over of power had gone according to plan. The press conference was held on the fifth floor of the Dos Santos HQ where the conference hall was. Everybody was pretty excited, especially him but the whole tone of things was doused when his eyes landed on Samara and Carlton seated together in the front row. The sight nauseated him and also filled him with guilt he had yet to inform his father about the ordeal. It was all a matter of timing and being smart about because as it was, he couldn’t quite prove it since he had no proof.

After his speech, the wall room had erupted into a round of applause. His father even gave him a hug, which he awkwardly reciprocated. He never hugged his father, period. It felt really uncomfortable for him but all the more suspicious when he had said some very disturbing words right after. “Everything is going according to plan. If you keep up what you’re doing, you’ll have more power than you can imagine.”

What had he meant by all that? More power than he could imagine?

He didn’t get to dwell on it much when many people came over to congratulate him, including his very loud best friend. “I thought this day would never come. They grow up so fast,” he wailed, wiping a fake tear from his eye. Adriano rolled his eyes at Santiago’s antics but deep down he was really glad he had at least one person in the room who held no ill intentions towards him. “No, seriously. I’m really happy for you man,” Santiago said with a smile and pat his back.

“I thought you said you were going to bring Omar with you. Has he gone back to Europe yet?” he asked him.

Santiago shrugged. “Well, he bailed on me last minute. Something about seeing the mystery girl he’s been hooking up with. He’s being a real pain in the neck about it, such a secretive bastard.” And he was very correct. Omar was being very elusive about this summer fling of his and God only knows who it was.

Just then, Samara and Carlton came over to where they were standing. Samara reached out to him for a small side hug and a kiss to the cheek, which he hesitantly responded to. “I am so proud of you, Adri. I wish you nothing but success,” she chirped happily. Adriano mentally scoffed at this but smiled at her nonetheless.

Carlton looked bored, keeping his eyes trained on everywhere else but him. It was evident that he was not happy about this shift and he was somewhat jealous. But why? Did he think Humberto would pass down his legacy to a mere assistant? “Congratulations,” he said more so spat in a nonchalant fashion.

Adriano smirked. “You don’t sound too pleased about this, little Carlton. May I ask why? Sad that you won’t have much influence around here now that you’ll be working for me? Don’t worry, I will make sure to treat you well,” he said menacingly, a hint of ice in his words. Turning back to Santiago, he said, “Let’s get out of here, there’s too much hypocrisy permeating in the air.”

After talking to all the senior partners, board members and a few reporters, Adriano couldn’t have been happier to be seated in his brand-new office on the top floor. It was more spacious than his previous one but still reminded him so much of his father. He made a mental note to call in the interior décor designers to give it a make over to suit his taste over the coming weekend.

And so, the afternoon went by faster than he thought it would. Santiago had kept him company for some few hours before he left to attend to matters of his own. Most of his duties, as the new seating CEO, had increased and many new companies were waiting to do business with them. There was even a Japanese shipping company that was making a tempting offer that was too good to pass up. It felt good for him to make decisions that nobody would question.

When the clock struck five, he tidied up his work space and headed out. He hadn’t contacted Ximena during the course of the day to find out how her inauguration had gone and quite frankly he was missing her presence. Heading for the front, he had his personal valet bring over his car for him. Speeding off, he was at Dos Ramos Cooperation in half an hour, thanks to the traffic. Locking his Bugatti, he entered the building, greeted a few familiar faces and went to the private elevator than Ximena had told him to use whenever he came.

After the short elevator ride, he made his way to her office and opened the door. Ximena looked up from her laptop, ready to chastise whoever had barged into her office without knocking but when she found a smirking Adriano, all she could do was smile.

“And how is my darling wife doing?” he voiced sweetly, shutting the door behind him. Ximena stood up and rounded her desk as he walked over to her. Once he was in front of her, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he did the same with her waist.

“So much better now that you’re here. How was your hand over?” she mumbled, her fingers tangling with this dark locks.

He clicked his tongue, and gave her hips a squeeze. “It was not too bad. How about yours?”

“Good. Wish you could have been there to see it. Tell me again, why did we opt to have a separate event?”

“Because we haven’t quite told the world that we’re actually a joint company. I wish you could have been there for mine too. I kept scanning the crowd, hoping to see you. It’s become quite impossible to be away from you to long,” he murmured against her lips and she laughed. Next thing, he connected her lips with his and he felt his heart rate accelerate. What was going on with him? Being in her midst made him feel like a giddy school boy but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what exactly he was feeling for her.

His thoughts and their kiss were interrupted when the door opened. “Ximena, I think everything’s quite done for the day so-,” Dominic cut himself off when he witnessed the scene unfolding before him. He smiled sheepishly at both of them. “Oh, am I interrupting something?”

Adriano felt a muscle twitch in his now clenched jaw. It was the same douchebag who had been dancing too intimately with Ximena the night of her birthday gala. Sure, he was aware that he was her assistant but he wasn’t very fond of it, or him. He was quite certain that this guy had feeling towards Ximena that were not so platonic. He had seen it in the way he had looked at her that night; he hadn’t been able to get it out of his mind ever since.

Ximena cleared her throat, probably mortified at being caught making out with her husband. “Um, not at all Dom. I’m sure you know Adriano. And Adriano, this is Dominic. He’s my secretary,” she introduced the two but neither one made a move to greet the other. If it were up to Adriano, he would have gone abracadabra on this pest and made him disappear.

Sensing the thick tension, Ximena nudged Adriano in the side and gave him a pointed look. Reading into the non-verbal message, Adriano offered his hand to Dom. “Nice to meet you, Derek, was it?” he said, purposefully getting his name wrong.

“It’s Dominic,” he corrected politely, accepting the shake. Adriano put a little too much force into it that Dom was wincing in a matter of nanoseconds. Satisfied with inflicting some pain on him, Adriano let go of his hand and snaked his arm around Ximena possessively, smirking at Dom. If he had turned around, he would have seen the glare Ximena had directed towards him.

He turned back to his wife. “I actually came to pick you up so that I could take you to dinner.”

Ximena’s brows rose in surprise. “Is that so. What’s the occasion?”

He smiled affectionately at her. “Do I really have to have a reason to go out with my wife?” he teased, giving Dom the side eye. At this point, he just awkwardly stood by the side, looking anywhere else but at them.

“Oh, okay. If you insist,” she gave in, with a gentle smile. “Dom, is there still anything that needs to be done or we’re finished for today?” she asked him and he shook his head no. He suddenly had a sullen expression on his face. Serves you right, bastard! Adriano thought with an evil grin.

“I actually had come to let you know that there was nothing more to do today. You have a meeting with Mr. Tynwald tomorrow at 9.30 though,” he said, looking at the floor.

Ximena nodded. “Okay then. I’ll let you go off now. Please lock up my office for me,” she said whilst going to her desk to log off and close her laptop. She arranged her table a bit and then took her bag. Going over to Adriano once again, he held his arm to her which she happily took.

“You two have a pleasant evening,” Dominic told them on their way out.

“You too, Derek.”

“It’s Dom.”