Page 8 of Forbidden Deception

“What? No of course not! I was only asking so I know your schedule. I haven’t been informed of it yet, so I wanted to know how it works.”

Rafael raises both his brows with a quiet ‘huh’, then nods once.

“Worry about keeping your job in Gustav Industries.”

Well, fuck him. Fisting my hands, I hold in my insults and force myself to walk out.

I finally settle into my office and move the desk around so it is on the right-hand wall and the clear window wall isn’t behind me. I leave the rest of the office the way it is.

I get to work and finish my tasks within the first two hours.

And now I’m bored, so I take a stroll on the floor and discover that no one is actually here. There is nothing except two brown leather sofas lining the wall. There is a glass wall on either side of me, while the elevator and stairs are in front of me. There are a couple of pictures above the sofas on the wall. Walking closer, I realise the pictures are of buildings. The writing on the bottom left surprises me. It’s Gustav Industries’s biggest projects.

One of the pictures is of a dark manor that stretches across possibly an acre of land. It’s taken on a snowy day, the intricate architecture and stone walls giving it a rustic yet modern look. With three pointed roofs and two that expand on each side. It also has many balconies, a lake in front of the manor, three chimneys, and a wide arched window placed in the middle tower.

The other is a more modern home, with three distinctive towers, all glass, black walls, a massive chimney on the right tower, and a grey gravel driveway with a small garage situated on the bottom of the left tower.

It seems Mr Boss here takes pride in his work and loves showing it off.

The thought makes me smile.

Many of the architecture designs have a common theme, and its Gustav Industries’s signature style. I’ve looked up their work and have fallen in love with the dark modern touch of their buildings, many of which are custom built and are enormous.

Shaking myself out of it, I head back to my office, only to stop short when I notice Rafael leaning on his desk with both hands on the table. He’s looking at a model of a building, a pen in hand while he analyses it, and I can’t help but watch him.

Regardless of how good looking you are, Mr Boss, you are going to lose part of your portfolio. You have posed a serious danger to my brother.

I swallow and keep walking towards my office. Opening my phone as soon as I am inside, I drop Remo a quick email to let him know that my first day is going well and that another update will take longer than a week.

Lunchtime finally rolls around, and I rush downstairs on my tiptoes—damn these heels—to find Danyi. When I see her, I wave at her with a smile, but she walks past me without sparing me a glance.

I release a breath, my eyes flitting around to spot a couple of people murmuring while discreetly pointing at me. What? Have they never seen a new person around?

What if Rafael had something to do with it? Just from the look in his eyes during our first meeting, I know he is set on making my job a bit harder than it is and he could have done this easily. What is his goal? What does he want from me?

I buy a tuna sandwich and sit at the far end next to an empty wall and table. I eat my lunch while keeping an eye out for Rafael, but I don’t see him.

I am the last person to leave the lunch hall, and I still don’t see him.

Where the hell is he?

My tasks include an introductory course and small safety and hazard course, and I finish them fast. The rest of the time, I am bored out of my mind, and I can’t bother Rafael as I did with my brother.

I’m sitting in my second meeting of the day, and something feels off. The meeting is going south, and I can see the hesitance on the board members’ faces.

The moment Rafael starts explaining the slides instead of using the notes I wrote for him, I realise that he didn’t read my email about this evening’s meeting.

The meeting ends, and everyone leaves, but Rafael stays standing to the side, papers in his hand and eyes on the floor to ceiling window to his right.

The door clicks shut after the last person, and I finally get up and walk towards him. His jaw tics, and the crinkle of the papers getting scrunched in his hands fills into the room.

Taking a deep breath, I let a small assuring smile decorate my face and softly grasp the papers in his hand.

I don’t know Rafael well enough to know exactly how hard he is on himself, but I know anyone in his place would berate themselve over not being prepared enough.

“You did amazing.” My voice softly travels around us.

Rafael snaps his head up at me. His brows pinch, and I just take the papers out of his hand, then walk to the door.