When My CEO Begs to Reclaim Our Four Lost Years

Nicole's POV: The first time I saw Leonardo Atwell was on my first day at Atwell Group. He was hosting a foreign purchasing delegation that afternoon, and I watched him through the glass wall as he talked eight people into nodding along with him in a language I didn't speak. The interpreter stalled out halfway through, so he dropped in a greeting in their own language without so much as a pause, and the entire room broke into laughter. He was confident and controlled, and even the way he refilled a guest's glass carried a steady elegance. What went through my head right then was one simple thought. That man was supposed to be mine. I found out afterward that he was the director of strategic investment and would be my direct boss. Chasing him took me sixteen months. Everyone knew that a romance between a manager and his subordinate was a live wire, so I ran the whole pursuit like an underground operation. My reports were the sharpest on the team, I stayed later than anyone else, and my holiday messages always went out exactly one minute after the workday ended, which left me room to advance or retreat depending on how he answered. That was fine, because I was prepared to take it slow. It took three months before he held my hand and eight before he kissed me, and I didn't even let myself think about going all the way. Dating him felt like managing a corporate project where approval crawled, progress crawled, and the sign-off standards never once loosened. Leonardo booked the presidential suite at the city's best hotel the night I finally made the cut. We were drunk, and we stumbled toward the bed together, and somewhere in the middle of it, I understood that my trial period was over. What I didn't expect was that he would take me home to meet his parents almost immediately after. How do I put it? I was nervous, and underneath the nerves, I was thrilled. The man I had set my sights on really was the catch I thought he was. "Hi, I'm Nicole Rogers. Leonardo's girlfriend." I had not even brought a gift, and my greeting came out stiff and small. I only got halfway through it before Leonardo cut me off, and he spoke to his own parents with fewer words than he would spend in a board meeting. "My life is mine. Stay out of it from now on." I had no idea what to do, so I tugged at his hand, and before I could get a word out, footsteps started down the stairs. Leonardo gripped my hand back, and his hold was tight enough to hurt. I looked up and saw a girl coming down. She wore a thin slip dress, her makeup bright and bold, and flung her arms wide while she was still half a flight above us. "Leonardo! You finally decided to come home!" She swept right past me and went straight for him. She kissed the air by his left cheek, then his right, and her perfume was thick and sweet enough to taste. Leonardo turned his shoulder and lifted her off him the way one takes down a coat that somebody hung on the wrong hook. "So who's this?" Her voice came out syrupy and soft, like a little sister asking for a favor. Leonardo laced his fingers through mine. "This is Nicole. My girlfriend." He said it without any feeling at all, and yet I heard something mocking buried beneath, though I couldn't point to its source. I glanced at him and found nothing on his face that had changed. So I turned to his sister and smiled at her. "Hi, Nicole. I'm Leah." Her smile was shy and unsure, and it made one want to look after her, which didn't match her bold, striking face at all. At dinner, Leonardo's mother, Diana, got down to the real business of the evening. Leah had graduated from Hiland University in June and flown home the day her thesis defense ended, so the family was throwing her a graduation ball. The invitation list was already being drawn up, and everyone in the city who counted for anything would be on it. "My date is Leonardo, obviously." Leah propped her chin on her hand and looked at him like it wasn't even a question. "He's the only one in this family I'd pick." "No," Leonardo said. What he gave her was one flat word with nothing behind it to soften the edge. "Dad." She dragged the word out and turned to Dalton Atwell. Dalton frowned at her. "We're family. It's one dance, so what are you fighting me on? You want the whole city laughing at us?" Leonardo didn't say anything else. He set his fork down on the china plate, and it made a small, quiet sound. 'So there really is something this man can't get out of,' I thought. That was the first time I had ever seen it happen. I broke the gloom hanging over the table. "Leah, come by and see us when you have time." "Yes! I'll definitely come!" Her eyes lit up, and I had no idea then how often she would end up taking me up on it.