Serendipity: A Modern Marriage Of Convenience

Chapter 1 I smile as I walk into DM Consultancy, the company my father and Charles Moriani built together. It’s their legacy, and one day it’ll be mine. Mine and Alyssa’s. I rejected half a dozen offers from other consultancy firms to return to London, and I don’t regret it for a second. I doubt I ever will. I’m excited as I walk into Charles’s office. Too excited, clearly, because I walk right into someone. “Ouch,” she says, rubbing her nose. I laugh and wrap my hands around her shoulders to keep her steady. “Still so clumsy, Alyssa,” I murmur. She looks up at me in surprise and smiles from ear to ear before throwing herself in my arms for a quick hug. She’s grown up a lot in the time I was gone. She was sixteen when I left for my MBA, so she must be eighteen now. “You’re back,” she murmurs. I hug her back tightly and grin. Being back here feels like coming home. Charles walks up to us and claps me on the shoulder. “You’re back, son,” he says. I nod and Alyssa takes a step back to stand next to her father. The two couldn’t look more different. Charles looks perpetually grumpy while Alyssa looks perpetually cheerful. She has her mother’s looks and her father’s eyes. It’s the eyes that give away the relation. “What are you even doing here?” I ask Alyssa. I expected to see her around the house now that I’m back, but I didn’t expect to see her at the office. Charles smiles proudly and throws his arm around her. “My baby is all grown up now, Dan. She’s going to intern while studying at Imperial. Before I know it she’ll be taking my job.” Alyssa blushes and my heart oddly enough skips a beat. Alyssa has always been beautiful, but I’ve never seen her as more than a kid — as my younger brother’s best friend. She’s ten years younger than me, so why do I suddenly find her so stunning? “Interning, huh? I definitely wasn’t doing that at eighteen,” I murmur. I can barely even remember my first year at uni. I definitely can’t remember Fresher’s week. Alyssa has always been very responsible, but interning so young? I wonder if Charles might be pushing her a bit too hard. He’s been pushing her to become CEO of DM consultancy since she was five. She should be having fun instead of interning here. Alyssa smiles back at her dad and my heart does it again. It skips a beat. I look away and stare down at my shoes, suddenly feeling awkward. “That reminds me,” Charles says, his face lighting up. He walks back to his desk and retrieves a rectangular gift wrapped package. Alyssa’s eyes light up at the sight of it and I look at it suspiciously. Charles hands it to me and I shake it in an attempt to assess what might be in it. “Go on, open it,” Charles urges. I frown and carefully unwrap the clumsily packaged gift. My heart races as I take out the new name plaque. It says Daniel Devereaux, CEO. “I’m thinking that we can probably share this office, the way your dad and I did in the early days.” I look up at Charles in disbelief and he smiles at me proudly. “You didn’t need the MBA, son. You were ready to become my co-CEO long before you decided you had to have one. Now that you’re back, you can finally start easing my workload. I’m old, son. I want to go to less meetings and play more golf.” I laugh and shake my head. Charles Moriani is a devout workaholic. He enjoys what he does far more than he’d ever enjoy a round of golf. He’s taught me everything I know. When my father died three years ago, Charles took me under his wing. He continued training me like my father used to and groomed me to take over my father’s vacant seat as his co-CEO. He pushed me as hard as I’m sure he’s going to push Alyssa. It’s thanks to him that I can assume my new role with confidence. “I think it might actually be good if you train Alyssa the way I trained you. I’ll still supervise, but she’s been complaining that I’m too harsh on her. I think it might benefit you both if you train her. After all, you’ll be working together in the future anyway.” I nod and look at Alyssa. She’s looking at me with such hope and excitement that I can’t help but smile. It probably is better if I’m the one that trains her. If she’s only just started she hasn’t experienced the true horror that is her father’s training regime. To say that he’s a tough love kinda guy is an understatement. If I can keep Alyssa from going through that, I’ll gladly do it. “You’ll need to hire an assistant,” Charles says. I nod and stare at my new name plaque some more. I knew it was coming. I just didn’t expect to be appointed on my very first day back. “I’ve got someone in mind for that,” I murmur. I immediately think of Kate, my friend Carter’s sister. She’s talented but she’s had a rough couple of years. She did her MBA with me to try and make up for lost time, and a position as executive secretary might just give her the break she needs. Charles frowns and looks worried for just a second before nodding. “Good. You sort that out then, lad.” I nod and tip my head towards Alyssa. “Wanna come with me to a department meeting?” I ask, checking my watch. Alyssa nods, her eyes brimming with excitement, and I can’t help but chuckle. To be this excited for a department meeting… oh the good old days. I walk out of Charles’s office and Alyssa follows me, her heels clicking against the stone floor. I glance down and frown. “Since when did you start wearing those?” I ask. Alyssa was a tomboy growing up, but it looks like she’s outgrown that phase. She merely shrugs. “They’re pretty,” she tells me. I can’t help but silently agree. She’s wearing red bottomed heels that look surprisingly hot. I don’t have a thing for shoes in the slightest, but these are different somehow. “All you need to do for the next couple of days is shadow me and takes notes of absolutely everything, okay? I’ll grill you on details every once in a while. I need you to understand everything that’s going on to the best of your ability. Don’t just repeat things verbatim, okay?” Alyssa nods seriously, as though she already knows the drill. She probably does. I wouldn’t put it past her to have interned here her entire summer. And I definitely wouldn’t put it past Charles to let her.