Chapter 4
1124 Words
CHAPTER 4
VALENTINE ROSE HARPER
Valentine spent the entire night trying to prove Lorenzo Romano was a terrible idea.
By eight the next morning, she had a notebook full of reasons.
Arrogant.
Controlling.
Suspiciously prepared.
Possibly insane.
She added one more.
Rich enough to think everyone had a price.
Then she stared at the list.
It wasn't exactly research.
Her laptop sat open beside her, Lorenzo's name typed into the search bar.
She clicked the first article.
ROMANO HOLDINGS ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN—
Next.
LORENZO ROMANO TURNS FALTERING COMPANY INTO—
Next.
ROMANO FAMILY EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL—
Valentine groaned.
“Does this man ever fail?”
She kept scrolling.
That was when the useful information started appearing.
Lorenzo wasn't simply the CEO of Romano Holdings.
His family's influence stretched through shipping, real estate, private security, hospitality and several companies Valentine had never heard of. He had taken over the business after his father's retirement and doubled its value within a few years.
There were remarkably few photographs of him.
Even fewer interviews.
That bothered her.
She opened another page.
A business columnist described Lorenzo as ruthless during negotiations.
Another called him disciplined.
Someone else described him as “a man who never makes a move without calculating the next three.”
Valentine leaned back.
“Wonderful. I'm marrying a chess player.”
She kept reading.
Then she found something that made her stop.
Three years earlier, Romano Holdings had purchased a company that had been competing directly with Harper Group.
Valentine sat upright.
She opened another article.
Then another.
The deal had been finalized shortly after Harper Group began expanding into the same market.
Her fingers went still over the keyboard.
“Wait.”
She pulled up her father's old business reports.
The dates matched.
Her father's company had started struggling not long after Romano Holdings entered the sector.
Valentine's first thought was ridiculous.
Her second was worse.
She called her father's assistant.
“Hi, Mr. Bennett. Quick question.”
“About?”
“Romano Holdings.”
There was a pause.
That pause told her enough.
Valentine's stomach tightened.
“You know something.”
“Miss Harper—”
“Please don't do the mysterious assistant thing. I'm already having a terrible week.”
He sighed.
“What do you want to know?”
“Did Lorenzo Romano cause our financial problems?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Valentine narrowed her eyes.
“Did he contribute to them?”
Another pause.
“Your father wouldn't want you digging into this.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Mr. Bennett exhaled.
“Romano Holdings undercut several of Harper Group's contracts. Your father tried to compete. It cost the company heavily.”
Valentine went quiet.
“How heavily?”
“Enough.”
She closed her eyes.
“Why didn't Dad tell me?”
“Because he didn't want you involved.”
Of course.
Everyone apparently loved making decisions on her behalf.
“Thanks.”
She ended the call.
For the next hour, Valentine dug deeper.
The more she found, the less she liked.
Lorenzo hadn't destroyed her father's company.
He hadn't needed to.
He had simply been better positioned, better funded and more aggressive.
Harper Group had borrowed money to keep up.
Then the market shifted.
The debt grew.
And now Lorenzo had appeared with an offer to erase it.
Valentine pushed away from the desk.
“No.”
It wasn't a decision.
It was a reflex.
She couldn't marry the man whose business moves had helped push her family into this mess.
She grabbed her handbag.
Ten minutes later, she was standing in her father's study.
He looked up from his laptop.
“You're here early.”
“I investigated Lorenzo.”
Her father went still.
Valentine dropped her notebook onto the desk.
“I know what happened.”
Her father's shoulders lowered.
“You shouldn't have gotten involved.”
“That's becoming everyone's favorite sentence.”
“Valentine—”
“Did he hurt Harper Group?”
Her father looked at the papers.
“He competed with us.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No. He didn't break the company.”
“But we borrowed money trying to compete with him.”
“Yes.”
“And now he wants to pay the debt.”
Her father didn't speak.
Valentine laughed once, without humor.
“That's convenient.”
“He isn't responsible for every decision I made.”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
That was the problem.
She knew her father had made mistakes.
She knew Lorenzo hadn't forced him to make them.
She also knew what would happen if nobody fixed the situation.
She looked toward the window.
Their home stood exactly as it always had.
The same garden.
The same driveway.
The same place where she'd spent years believing her family was untouchable.
It suddenly felt temporary.
“Tell me honestly,” she said. “If I refuse him, what happens?”
Her father hesitated.
“We lose everything?”
His silence answered.
Valentine nodded slowly.
She hated this.
She hated Lorenzo.
She hated the contract.
Most of all, she hated that the choice wasn't really a choice.
Her phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
UNKNOWN:
You asked for more information.
Valentine frowned.
She knew that number.
Lorenzo.
Another message arrived.
UNKNOWN:
I sent the financial reports you requested.
Her eyebrows rose.
She hadn't asked him for anything.
Not directly.
Unless he somehow knew she'd been investigating him.
She opened the attachment.
The documents were extensive.
Too extensive.
Lorenzo had included Harper Group's outstanding obligations, projected losses, creditor deadlines and the legal consequences of failing to settle them.
At the bottom was one final note.
I don't expect you to trust me. I expect you to understand the situation before you decide.
Valentine stared at the screen.
No pressure.
No romantic nonsense.
Just facts.
She hated that it was effective.
Her father watched her carefully.
“What did he send?”
Valentine locked her phone.
“Proof that saying no isn't as simple as I wanted it to be.”
She picked up her handbag again.
“Where are you going?”
“To negotiate.”
Her father blinked.
“You've decided?”
“No.”
Valentine headed for the door.
“But if Lorenzo Romano thinks I'm walking into his office tomorrow and signing whatever he puts in front of me, he has badly misunderstood the woman he's trying to marry.”
This time, her father almost smiled.
Valentine didn't.
Because she had finally understood the frightening part.
She wasn't going back to Lorenzo to decide whether she wanted him.
She was going back to find out what it would cost to say yes.
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