My CEO Thinks I Am A Man

Chapter 4

The next morning, Alessandro desperately wanted to put on a bold shade of lipstick, but she forced herself to control the urge. It was her first day at work, and she wanted to look presentable, even though she secretly wished she could dress like a woman instead of pretending to be a man. She stared at herself for a moment before sighing softly. "Anyway, someday... soon. Very soon, I hope."

She quickly washed her hair in the men's bathroom and took a shower inside one of the cubicles. When she came out, she realised that she had left the floor wet. Feeling guilty, she quickly slipped a ten-dollar bill into the male cleaner's hand and gave him an apologetic smile. "I know I made the floor wet. Please clean it for me." The cleaner looked surprised by the amount of money, but he accepted it with a nod, and Alessandro hurried out of the bathroom before anyone could question her.

Once she reached the office, she excitedly removed her hooded coat and took the elevator to the seventieth floor of Valenti Holdings. The cute receptionist from the previous day had not arrived yet, and Alessandro stood near the reception desk, trying to remember her name. After a few seconds, her face brightened when she finally remembered it.

"Bianca," she whispered to herself.

She looked around and noticed a female cleaner working nearby, so she gave the woman a polite nod. The cleaner smiled back before returning to her work. Since there was still no sign of Bianca, Alessandro sat in the receptionist's chair and began looking around the desk. Everything was neat and organised, and a picture frame caught her attention. In the picture, Bianca was smiling brightly between two other attractive girls. They did not look like her sisters, so Alessandro guessed they were probably her friends.

"What are you doing in my seat?"

Alessandro immediately looked up and found Bianca standing in front of her with both hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised. She quickly stood up from the chair, feeling embarrassed. "Oh, sorry. I was just looking at this picture. You look really pretty here."

Bianca's expression softened, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Are these your sisters?" Alessandro asked hesitantly, pointing at the picture.

"My friends," Bianca replied fondly before looking at Alessandro with curiosity. "But I honestly don't know why he hired you."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, he sent all the other candidates home, and I was expecting him to throw you out of the seventieth-floor window too. Instead, he hired you as his PA. Who are you?"

Alessandro's confidence suddenly disappeared. Just that morning, she had convinced herself that she looked enough like a boy to fool everyone, but Bianca's words were already making her question herself. "I... I am..." she stammered before clearing her throat. "I am no one. I mean, my name is Alessandro."

"Mr. Bellandi, good to see that you are on time."

Alessandro immediately recognised Marcello Valenti's cold voice. She turned and saw him walking towards his office with another man who appeared to be his secretary. Relief washed over her when Marcello did not stop to question her.

"Bianca will explain your duties to you. Our meeting is just about to start," Marcello said before disappearing into his office with his secretary.

A moment later, a man who looked close to Marcello's age approached Bianca with a smile. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey, Matteo. Mr. Valenti is waiting for you people," Bianca replied with a slightly flirtatious smile before turning back to Alessandro.

"Today, I am the one taking his coffee to him, but starting tomorrow, you will be responsible for the boss's morning coffee. You will also maintain his schedule for the head office, while his secretary, Mr. Theodore Panks, will handle the rest of his timetable and planning."

When all the board directors arrived and the meeting began, Bianca took Alessandro to the kitchen on the same floor and showed her how to use the coffee machine. She switched on the cappuccino option and waited for the machine to finish preparing the coffee before turning towards Alessandro.

"Can you watch the reception area for a while? I need to take this coffee to the boss."

"Yeah, I can," Alessandro replied with a smile.

"Thanks. You are cute, by the way."

Alessandro became embarrassed when she realised Bianca was flirting with her. She quickly looked away, unsure of what to say, while Bianca simply smiled and picked up the coffee.

"Just wait for me. They are discussing the bidding that is taking place this afternoon."

"What? Bidding?" Alessandro immediately remembered the man she had seen near Amasa Street the previous night, the same man she had overheard speaking on the phone. The memory made her heart beat faster because she had a feeling that whatever he was discussing was connected to Marcello's business.

"Miss Bianca, can I take this coffee inside?" Alessandro asked.

"Please call me Bianca. But why do you want to take it inside? Are you sure?" Bianca asked, looking surprised. She still could not understand how this young man seemed so brave and did not appear frightened of Marcello at all.

Bianca had a serious crush on Marcello, but he had never encouraged her feelings. He was her best friend's brother, and he had only taken her on a date once because her sister had pleaded with him. From the beginning, Marcello had been very clear that he was not interested in a relationship with another woman because he was still searching for his wife.

Sometimes Bianca wished she could find the mysterious woman and convince her to divorce Marcello. When she had first started working for him, she used to look at him with hopeful eyes whenever he walked past, but after he continued ignoring her feelings, she finally accepted that she had to keep them to herself.

Alessandro picked up the steaming cup of coffee and walked towards the meeting room. She took a deep breath before knocking softly on the door.

"May I come in, sir?"

Marcello looked up from the documents in front of him, and several deep lines appeared on his forehead. He clearly did not like being interrupted, but he reminded himself that Alessandro was his newly appointed PA and was still learning how things worked in the company.

Alessandro walked inside and carefully placed the coffee on the table. She was supposed to leave immediately, but she found herself staring at Marcello for a few seconds. He looked incredibly attractive, and for one foolish moment, she imagined herself sitting on his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck. The thought made her want to laugh.

What if I tell him that I am the same River he has been searching for all these years?

She quickly suppressed the giggle rising in her chest.

"Mr. Bellandi, you are supposed to leave," Marcello warned her without bothering to look up again.

"I..." Alessandro nervously bit her lower lip before forcing herself to speak. "I need to talk to you."

"Spill it, boy, and make it quick. We have a meeting in progress," Marcello snapped.

For a brief moment, Alessandro considered pushing the cold-hearted man away and walking straight out of his office. Why should she bother helping someone who could not even speak to her politely? She swallowed her frustration and reminded herself that Marcello had spent years searching for his wife, even though he had no idea that the woman he was looking for was standing right in front of him.

Keep looking for your wife, Monkey. You deserve this pain.

One of the directors, Cesare Moretti, looked at Marcello with a mocking smile. "I think he is only here to waste our time, Marcello."

Alessandro ignored the remark and looked directly at Marcello. "Sir, it is something private. Could you please come aside for a moment?"

"For God's sake!"

Marcello shut the file with a loud thud and stood up so quickly that his chair nearly fell backwards. He grabbed Alessandro by the elbow and pulled her into the adjoining room. Alessandro stumbled after him, shocked by the sudden outburst and the strength of his grip.

"Now we have privacy. What is it?" Marcello asked.

Alessandro stared at him for a moment, hurt by the way he had handled her. His grip had been painfully tight, and although she knew he was under pressure, it did not make what he had done feel any less insulting.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she pulled her arm free. "Please go back to your meeting. It is nothing important."

She stepped back and lowered her head, suddenly wishing she had never brought the matter up.

"Alessandro Bellandi."

She looked up when Marcello called her name.

"Good day, sir," she said quietly before turning towards the door.

"Alessandro."

He reached for her arm again, but this time his touch was gentle. "Listen, Mr. Bellandi. I am under a lot of pressure because of this upcoming bid, and I took my frustration out on you. I know I am probably going to lose this bid, and everyone in the industry already knows it, but that can never be an excuse for the way I just treated you. I am sorry. Please accept my apology."

Alessandro looked everywhere except at him because his blue eyes seemed to have some strange power over her. Whenever she looked into them, she found it difficult to remember what she wanted to say.

"Look, I am sorry, man. Now tell me what you wanted to say," Marcello said as he leaned against the desk and waited for her answer.

"It is about the bidding, sir. Someone inside your company is giving away confidential information."

Marcello's expression immediately became serious. He looked directly into Alessandro's grey eyes. "And how do you know that?"

"Last night, I was around Amasa Street when I saw a man talking on the phone. I could not hear everything he said, but I knew he was discussing something important."

Marcello listened quietly. He knew Alessandro was not lying, especially because he had also seen him around that street the previous night. Howeved knowing that she had been there was not enough reason to trust everything she said.

"How can I be sure that you are telling the truth?"

"Because no one except the people close to you knows that you are planning to put forward an eight-hundred-and-seventy-five-million-dollar offer."

Marcello froze.

The information was too specific for Alessandro to have guessed. The boy was telling the truth, and Marcello knew it immediately. He stared at him for a few seconds before making a decision.

"Will you accompany me to that meeting this afternoon, Bellandi?"

The offer caught Alessandro completely off guard. She stared at him for a moment before a huge smile appeared on her face. She had not expected Marcello to trust her so quickly, and the fact that he wanted her beside him at such an important meeting made her incredibly happy.

"Yes, sir."

Alessandro left the room with a smile she could barely hide. She had no idea that the meeting would also give her the opportunity to meet Marcello without her male disguise. For the first time, she would have a chance to stand before him as the beautiful woman she truly was.

She was over the moon because her boss trusted her enough to take her to an important business meeting, and he also wanted her to help identify the man she had bumped into the previous night. If that man was involved in leaking confidential information, there was a good chance he would appear at the bidding.

Alessandro did not need much makeup to get ready, but she certainly needed to use the bathroom before leaving. Since she was still dressed as a man, she went into the men's bathroom and locked herself inside one of the stalls. She could not use the urinals like the other men, so she stayed inside until she was finished and then began adjusting her clothes.

She was pulling up her trousers when someone knocked on the bathroom stall door. Alessandro frowned because there were several empty stalls, so she could not understand why someone had chosen hers. She decided to ignore the person, zipped up her trousers, and reached for the door.

The moment she opened it, she barely had time to react before someone pushed her backwards and locked the door behind him.

"Excuse me. What the..."

Alessandro stopped when she saw who was standing in front of her. It was Cesare Moretti, one of the directors at Valenti Holdings, and he was staring at her with an unpleasant smile that immediately made her feel uneasy.

"What's so special about you that Marcello is ready to take you to that meeting?" Cesare asked as he stepped closer and pinned her against the wall.

"I... I am sorry. Please let me go," Alessandro pleaded, her voice becoming weak.

"No, no. Don't be afraid. Just tell me what is so special about you. What are you hiding?"

Cesare moved his face closer to hers and took a slow breath, apparently trying to smell the perfume Alessandro had used to cover her natural scent.

"You smell good, by the way," he said with a disturbing smile.

Alessandro held her breath and tried not to show how frightened she was. Cesare continued to stare at her as though he was trying to figure out what made Marcello trust her so quickly.

"We directors have worked with him for years, but he never bothered to take us to such high-profile meetings. The only person he usually takes with him is his secretary, Theodore Panks. Yet look at you. You have barely started working here, and he is already taking you with him."

He leaned closer again, and Alessandro wanted to move away, but there was nowhere for her to go. She felt sick when his face came dangerously close to her cheek.

"I know your type, man," Cesare said with a sick chuckle. "In case you are confused, young boys are my weakness."

Alessandro's legs suddenly felt weak. Marcello was probably waiting for her, and they were supposed to leave for the bidding soon, but she was trapped inside a bathroom stall with a man who clearly had no good intentions.