Innocent In The Boardroom. Joss Wood
can see why Cape decided that you had what it took to fast-track you. Mind you, I’m thinking he was busy directing his attention elsewhere, so it helped that you were so quick. You could pick up any slack.’ He grinned. ‘And before you launch into a defence of the hapless George, I have a proposition for you...’
‘What?’
‘Instead of recruiting from outside for a replacement for Cape, I am considering promoting you. Of course you won’t qualify for Cape’s vacated post, but you’ll effectively be hoisted a couple of steps up the career ladder. You will be responsible for bigger accounts, and to alleviate any bad feeling with the people you work with I will reorganize the team. There will be a greater distribution of more responsible tasks and I’ll bring in a few lower down the scale to be trained up. Effectively, you and your team will all benefit...’
‘I...I couldn’t...’ Guilt swept over her. ‘Poor George finds himself without a job, thrown on the scrap heap, and to top it all off I step into his shoes. I would feel like I was dancing on someone’s grave.’
Alessandro frowned. ‘You’re being melodramatic. No one’s dancing on anyone’s grave. A vacancy will arise with his departure...it makes complete sense...’
‘It might make sense, but it doesn’t make it right...’
‘He leaves and I either recruit from outside, with all the attendant hassle of training someone up, or I promote from within the company—and you’re the obvious choice. You want financial security? This will lever you a couple of rungs up the security ladder.’
‘It’s not black and white like that!’
‘Fine. You can get lost in the grey blurry bits, but it’s pretty black and white from where I’m standing. Furthermore, would you deny your colleagues a golden opportunity to advance their careers because you’re so concerned about a guy who didn’t seem to care very much when it came to defrauding the company that’s treated him very well for countless years?’
‘You could still do something for them...I don’t have to be part of the equation...’
‘No deal. You accept the whole package or you don’t. Simple as that. Think about it...’
‘I...’ Could she deny the people who worked alongside her their chance of getting pay rises? Of going further with their careers?
‘Of course this would not be with immediate effect,’ Alessandro said, watching her carefully. ‘There would be a slow transfer of duties and when I’m reassured that you’re up to the increased workload, you will be given a new title...and a suitable pay rise to reflect that. See this as my having faith in your abilities and not as twisting the knife in someone else’s back. If any knife-twisting has gone on, it’s been done by Cape to himself. He dug his grave the minute he decided to start embezzling.’
‘I—I’m pleased that you have faith in my abilities,’ Kate stammered. ‘But...’ She sighed. ‘We don’t know what will happen about George. We haven’t...you know...heard what he has to say yet...’
‘Don’t really have to,’ Alessandro told her gently. ‘I could humour you by pretending that I give a damn about his explanation, but in my book theft is theft. My only concern is how he will be rewarded for his misdoings...’
‘So this trip is...pointless...?’
‘This trip is about you being on an essential learning curve when it comes to handling awkward situations. There’s no room for grey areas or indecision. And whether you accept the promotion I’m offering you or allow your guilt to get the better of your good sense, you should know one thing: the higher up the ladder you climb, the more important it is for you to know how to do that.’
‘In other words I have to become as ruthless as...as...?’
‘As me?’
‘I guess I believe there are other ways of...of...’
‘There aren’t.’
‘You’re so cut-throat...’
‘Life has a curious way of shaping our responses.’
Kate looked at him and wondered what he meant by that. Was it just a general remark, or were there factors in his life that had made him the way he was? He was beyond rich, beyond powerful and beyond good-looking—and yet he moved from woman to woman with no intention of settling down. Why was that?
What it was, she told herself sternly, was none of her business.
‘Of course...’ Alessandro moved on smoothly. ‘Before you accept your brand-new shiny job promotion—and I know you will because it would be stupid not to, and you’re not stupid—there’s something I should ask you...’
‘What’s that?’
‘How reliable do you think you will be in this new role? You don’t seem to object to putting in overtime in the steady climb upwards, but will that become difficult for you when and if you’re given extra responsibilities and overtime ceases to be a choice and becomes a necessity? No, don’t answer that. But think about it and we will discuss it over dinner. The back of a cab—even a very long cab—is no place to have this conversation.’
‘Dinner?’
What dinner? What was wrong with room service in their separate rooms and a career discussion over a cup of coffee in the morning?
‘It’s all we’ll be able to do with what remains of the day.’ Alessandro was irked at the look of horror that had flashed across her face. ‘We both do have to eat,’ he said coolly.
‘Yes, but I thought that I might just grab something in my room and hit the sack early. It’s been a long day.’
‘Well, you’ll have to rethink your plans.’
‘Of course.’
‘And I trust your entire wardrobe isn’t comprised of a selection of starchy suits...?’
‘What difference does it make?’ Kate asked tightly.
‘It’s not a working meal.’
Control. Yes, he understood. You didn’t have to be a genius to join the dots. Her background had made her the sort of woman who felt a driving need to impose control in every aspect of her life. She controlled her appearance, she controlled her hair, she controlled her reactions, controlled her emotions. She was so serious that it was sometimes hard to believe that she was actually in her twenties. All over the world there were grannies out and about having more fun than her. And he wasn’t used to women looking appalled at the thought of spending five minutes in his company.
‘You can relax in my company for five seconds, Kate.’
Frankly, she thought she already had—and it hadn’t been a good idea. ‘Right...’
‘You could sound more convinced.’ Irritation had crept into his voice. ‘We’re here.’
She hadn’t even noticed the stretch limo slowing. She had missed most of the trip because her attention had been exclusively focused on the man sitting next to her. So much for dispelling the intruder by getting a grip.
She looked around her and saw a city that was like any other—although there was something more peaceful and less frantic about it than London. The hotel they were approaching was, as she might have expected, the last word in expensive, from its imposing facade to the doormen waiting to relieve the wealthy visitors of their baggage, eager to make sure that they did absolutely nothing for themselves if it could be helped.
The foyer was bustling with visitors, coming and going. Next to them Kate felt the inadequacy of her carefully chosen but now creased outfit. She didn’t blend in. Even some of the younger people in jeans and tee shirts managed to look staggeringly designer-casual, as though they had randomly plucked something out of the wardrobe and yet succeeded in looking effortlessly