My CEO Thinks I Am A Man

Chapter 3

"Yoohoo!" Alessandro squealed with excitement as she jumped to her feet. "I got the job, Ludovico! I actually got the job!"

She could not stop smiling. After everything she had been through, getting a job at Valenti Holdings felt almost too good to be true. She had been worried that Marcello Valenti would reject her, but somehow, she had managed to convince him to give her a chance. For the first time in a long while, she felt a little hope returning to her life.

"I love you, Ludovico!"

"That's great, but listen to me carefully," Ludovico Ferri said through the phone. He sounded happy for her, but there was still worry in his voice. They had been childhood friends for years, and he knew exactly how dangerous her situation was. "From now on, you have to forget that you're a girl whenever you're outside. You can't afford to make a mistake."

"What?"

"Yes, Alessandro. Stop thinking of yourself as Alessandra Bellandi when you're in public. From now on, you are Alessandro Bellandi. You need to walk like a man, talk like a man and even think like a man. Don't let your guard down for even a second."

Alessandro listened quietly.

"And keep your body properly covered under that shirt," Ludovico continued. "You have to hide your curves at all times. If anyone notices, we're finished."

"I know, Ludovico."

She sat down on a bench along the busy sidewalk and rubbed her hands over her body. The tight gauze wrapped around her chest made it difficult to breathe comfortably, but she had no choice. If she wanted to keep her secret, she had to make sure there was nothing about her body that could expose her.

Thankfully, the weather in Milano was cool that day. If it had been the middle of summer, she would have been in serious trouble. The heat could make her skin itch and leave painful rashes under the bandages. She could only hope she would not have to live like this for too long.

Ludovico's voice softened when he asked, "Are you still planning to spend the night at the train station?"

Alessandro looked around at the people walking past her. Families were shopping, couples were laughing, and workers were rushing home after a long day. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to go.

Everyone except her.

She gave a small, sad smile.

"Do I have a choice?"

"So you're going to keep sleeping in Metro stations and bus terminals?"

"It's only until the end of the month, Ludovico," she said, trying to reassure him. "Once I start getting paid, I'll find somewhere cheap to stay."

"You know I can send you some money. You don't have to keep doing this."

"No."

Her answer came immediately.

Ludovico went quiet.

Alessandro sighed. "I can't take your money."

She knew how much he was already struggling. Ludovico needed expensive medical treatment, and every amount he had was going toward his own care. He had already done more than enough for her by helping her create the identity of Alessandro Bellandi and finding a way for her to get a job at Valenti Holdings.

He was also working on something even more important.

Her escape.

Alessandro needed to leave Italy and travel to Turkey, where she could claim the property her mother had left behind. If she could get access to that property, she would finally have enough money to start over and pay for Ludovico's treatment.

Working at Valenti Holdings would help her survive for the moment, but the salary would never be enough to solve all their problems. More importantly, the longer she stayed in Milano, the greater the chance that the people looking for her would discover where she was.

That was why getting a job at Valenti Holdings was part of the plan.

She was buying time.

She only had to stay hidden until Ludovico could finish preparing her documents.

Back at Valenti Holdings, Marcello sat behind his desk while the members of the board discussed his decision to hire Alessandro Bellandi.

"Marcello, how could you hire someone so inexperienced?" Alessandro Vescari asked angrily. "That boy barely has the qualifications for the position. He also sent several candidates away from the reception area. Those women could make a complaint against the company."

Another director, Vittorio Bellini, nodded in agreement.

"They could even accuse him of harassment. We cannot allow a new employee to create problems before he has even started working."

Marcello barely looked up from the documents on his desk.

"He's confident, intelligent and willing to learn. He'll be an asset to this office."

"But his qualifications..."

"I said he'll be an asset."

His calm voice ended the argument.

The board members exchanged unhappy looks, but none of them challenged him again. They were used to giving Marcello their opinions, but they also knew that the final decision always belonged to him.

Normally, Marcello listened to their suggestions before making a decision.

This time, he had not.

There was something about Alessandro Bellandi that had caught his attention. The young man had been nervous during the interview, but he had also shown a level of confidence that Marcello did not expect from someone with such limited experience. He was quick with his answers, honest about his weaknesses and willing to learn.

Marcello believed he could train him.

He was even considering helping him get into university. Marcello's younger sister was a trustee at one of the best universities in Milano, and if Alessandro proved himself at work, he could recommend him for a scholarship.

For some reason, Marcello felt that the young man deserved a chance.

Later that evening, Marcello picked up his laptop bag and left the office.

His driver, Gabriele Conti, was already waiting for him.

"Sir, it looks like it might rain," Gabriele said as Marcello climbed into the limited edition Bugatti.

Marcello glanced at the darkening sky but said nothing.

He was not in the mood for conversation.

Usually, he would open his laptop as soon as he entered the car and continue working until he reached home. But that evening, he did not even open it. Instead, he leaned back and stared through the window.

Something caught his attention.

A bench along the sidewalk.

For a moment, he thought he saw someone familiar sitting there.

Marcello narrowed his eyes.

It was the young man he had hired that morning.

Alessandro Bellandi.

What was he doing there?

"Stop."

Gabriele immediately slowed down.

"Sir?"

"Reverse the car."

Gabriele looked confused but obeyed.

Marcello continued watching the bench. He was almost certain he had seen Alessandro eating something there. What bothered him even more was the large backpack sitting beside the young man.

Why was he carrying such a big bag?

A strange thought crossed Marcello's mind.

Is he homeless?

The question stayed in his mind as the car stopped nearby.

Meanwhile, Alessandro finished eating and threw the sandwich wrapper into a nearby bin. She picked up her large backpack and strapped it onto her shoulders before starting toward the Metro station.

She needed somewhere to spend the night.

She also needed to wash her hair. The only place she could do that was in the bathroom at the station, using the small basin there.

Her mind was so full of worries that she barely noticed the people around her.

She was thinking about her new job, Ludovico, her mother's property and the people who were still searching for her when she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, you little piece of..."

The man stopped himself and looked at her angrily before returning to his phone conversation.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Some boy was walking without looking where he was going. Anyway, tomorrow is the bid. I have solid information that Marcello Valenti has prepared his offer at eight hundred and seventy five million. We need to go below that."

Alessandro stopped for half a second.

She had been about to continue walking, but the moment she heard Marcello's name, her attention changed.

She turned her head slightly.

The man was still talking on the phone as he walked away.

"I know. I know seven hundred million is already lower, but we need to go even lower. If someone tells him about our actual costs, we'll have a problem. We need to play it safe."

Alessandro's eyes narrowed.

Seven hundred million?

She immediately understood what was happening.

The man was planning to beat Valenti Holdings' bid.

And now she had information that could be important to her new boss.

So you're trying to steal Marcello's contract?

A small smile appeared on her face.

Fine. Let me teach you a lesson.

She looked around and noticed that nobody was paying attention to her.

I'll tell Mr. Valenti about this.

Alessandro continued walking through the crowd while keeping enough distance from the man to avoid being noticed. She had completely forgotten about her own problems for the moment. Her new job had given her a reason to care about what happened at Valenti Holdings, and she was determined to prove that Marcello had made the right decision by hiring her.

What she did not know was that only a few metres away, Marcello Valenti was still sitting inside his car, watching the crowd.

His eyes searched from one person to another.

He was looking for Alessandro.

But he had no idea that the person he was searching for was already disappearing into the crowd.