Chapter 14: The Morning After
1209 Words
Marco POV
I was on the phone before the sun was even up.
"Listen carefully," I said into the receiver. "If any shipments come in for a company called NOIR DONNA, stop them. I don't want excuses. I don't want a new schedule. I want every single box stayed at the port."
There was a long silence on the other end. "Are you sure you want to stop everything, sir?"
"Did you hear me the first time?" I snapped.
"Yes, sir," the man replied quickly.
"Then do it. Stop every box."
I hung up and poured a cup of coffee. My apartment was dark, except for one small light in the kitchen. I stood by the window and watched the grey river. A single boat moved slowly under the bridge. It was going somewhere that had nothing to do with me.
"You're going somewhere peaceful," I whispered to the empty room. The room didn't answer. It never did. That was the only thing I liked about being alone in the morning.
Luca knocked on my door at six forty-five. He had a folder under his arm. He looked the way he always did when he had news I might not like, quiet and very serious.
"Sit," I told him.
He sat down and put the folder on the desk between us.
"I have the report on NOIR DONNA," he said.
"Tell me what you found."
Luca opened the folder. "The business started four years ago in Milan. The boss is Valentina Greco. She is twenty-seven. She has a big shop in Milan and an office in Paris. Last year, she made millions of dollars." He paused. "On paper, everything looks perfect."
"Is it too perfect?" I asked.
Luca looked me in the eye. "For a girl who started with nothing? Yes. It is."
"Tell it to me straight, Luca."
He leaned forward. "I found the money she used to start, it was just some cash. Not nearly enough to pay for a fancy shop in Milan. But here is the weird part: for eight months before she showed up in Milan, she disappeared. No address. No job. No bank accounts. She vanished, then she popped up out of nowhere with a business license and an expensive building."
"Did she take a loan?" I asked.
"No."
"Did her family give it to her?"
"No. I checked everyone in her family tree."
I looked at a photo in the back of the folder. It was Valentina outside her shop. She looked calm, but her face was like a locked door. She was hiding what she felt. She was always better at that than me. I only knew how to build walls and call it being strong.
"Look deeper," I said. "I want to know about those eight months. I want to know where she was and who she was with. I want every detail."
Luca nodded. "How far should I go, Marco?"
"All the way to the bottom."
He stood up to leave but stopped at the door. "She built a real business, Marco," he said softly. "No matter how she got the money, the work she does is good. I think you should know that."
"I know that already," I said.
I spent the rest of the morning in boring meetings about building houses and legal fights. I kept my mind on my work. I kept every problem in its own little box in my head and locked the doors.
I didn't say her name once.
I ate lunch at my desk and checked the shipping ports. My plan was working. Everything was blocked. It was easy work with numbers and dates. It was nothing like seeing a woman in a green dress across a crowded room.
I pushed that thought away and locked it up, too.
Luca came back at five o'clock. He didn't even wait for me to ask him to sit down.
"She moved fast," he said.
"How fast?"
"This morning fast." He put a piece of paper on my desk. "Guido Rico. He provides all our fabrics. He’s worked for us for six years and never caused a single problem."
"I know who Rico is, Luca. What happened?"
"She took him to lunch today," Luca said. "She had a contract ready. He signed it before they even finished the main course." He let that sink in. "He called us at four o’clock. He quit. He’s working for her now."
I looked at the signature on the paper. It was from today.
"She knew I blocked her ships," I said.
"She had to," Luca agreed. "The timing is too perfect. You called the port at five forty-five this morning. By noon, she was sitting across from our partner with a pen in her hand."
I sat back. "She found out I blocked her stuff. And instead of calling me to cry or complain, she went right for my best partner."
"Yes."
"Did she call my office at all?"
"Nothing," Luca said. "No call. No message. Not a word."
I was quiet for a minute. "She’s not going to call."
"It doesn't look like it."
"She wants me to find out on my own," I said. "She wants me to sit here and do the math. The blocked port. The silent phone. The partner I just lost." I put the paper down. "She’s talking to me without using words."
Luca watched me. "What do you want to do?"
"Nothing tonight," I said. "Let her think she won."
"Did she win?"
I looked at him. "She took one partner, Luca. I have fourteen more."
"She took the best one," he reminded me.
"Yes," I said. "She did."
Luca stood up to leave, but he stopped one more time. "Can I ask you something, Marco?"
"You’re going to ask anyway."
"Why does it have to be a fight?" he asked. "Whatever happened few years ago, she was just a kid. You’ve both built great things now. There is enough room for both of you. Why does one of you have to lose?"
I looked out the window at the dark river. "Because that’s just how the world works, Luca."
"That’s not a real answer."
"It’s the only one I have tonight." I picked up my work. "Close the door when you leave."
He did.
The evening was very quiet. I had dinner alone. I answered some emails just to keep my hands busy. At eight forty-seven, my phone buzzed on the desk. It was a message from my assistant.
Rico has officially quit. He signed the new deal with NOIR DONNA today. They are partners now.
I read it twice.
Then, I turned the phone face-down and finished my wine.
She had made her move before I even finished my breakfast. She wasn't angry. she didn't waste words. She just hit me where it hurt while smiling over a lunch. I had made the mistake of thinking she was nothing.
She was definitely not nothing anymore.
I picked up the phone. I looked at the message one more time. Then, I opened my contacts and typed a name I had not typed in years.
I didn't have anything in mind yet. I just wanted to know the number was ready.
- Writer
