Never the Same

Chapter 4

"Love you, too."

He lets go of my hand and I get out the car.

"Thank you, Carlo."

Carlo nods and I step away from the car and towards the entrance to the office building where Oscar is standing waiting patiently on me now he's finished his phone call.

"Good morning," Oscar greets.

"Good morning to you, too, if it still is morning."

I hug him and we enter the building.

"The black haired woman by the turnstiles is Mr. Bailey's assistant," Oscar explains as we walk across the marble floor in the direction of the turnstiles. "She came down to the lobby while I was waiting for you and introduced herself. I think her name is Suzanne something or other. I can't remember."

"I see." I pull at the sides of my long navy coat and adjust my bag so it sits on the crook of my arm. "Before we even go up to the offices, I have to tell you something so you're not going into this meeting blindsided."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Nadia Bailey is Luca's ex and mother of his child," I confess.

"What!?!" Oscar yells, catching the attention of everyone in the lobby. He looks around and raises a hand. "Sorry."

I give him a stern look before Suzanne looks up from the iPad she's holding and smiles when she sees us walking to her. I clear my throat and lower my voice. "I'll tell you more when you need to really know it but I thought it'd be helpful to know that little titbit before we go into the meeting."

"Yeah, I did need to know that." He agrees.

We stop in front of Suzanne but she doesn't introduce herself to me like I'm expecting her to do. Instead, she scans her ID card over the nearest turnstile, waves us through before walking ahead of us to the lifts.

The journey up to the thirty-third floor is silent and quick. When the doors open, Suzanne walks out first while pointing to the right as we follow a few steps behind.

"Mrs. Bailey is in the meeting room fifth door on the left," she informs before walking off in the opposite direction.

We walk away from the reception area, turning to the right.

"Okay, before we even go in there, you need to validate something for me." Oscar starts, his voice a lot lower than usual. "The woman we've all been helping plan a wedding for is the mother of your now fiancé's daughter?"

"Yes," I confirm.

"So I take it she married a male member of the Bailey family?"

"The only male member of the Bailey family, yes." We slow our walking down when a male comes storming around the corner with an angry look clearly visible on his face. I stop walking and grab a hold of Oscar's arm to stop him from going any further. "Who just so happens to be coming in our direction right now."

I take a deep breath and make myself stand as tall as possible, putting on a show that tells everyone that I am not going to be messed with. Or so I hope that is what my stature is now saying. Oscar adjusts the strap of his black leather satchel on his shoulder and stands at an angle to my right, bracing himself for what may or may not happen next with Finn Bailey coming towards us.

"You," Finn seethes, a finger pointed at me. "I want you out of my place of work and out of this building."

He doesn't slow his pace as he approaches, his eyes fixated on me. He only stops when Oscar holds a hand up that comes in contact with his chest and stops his from getting any closer to me. Oscar gives Finn a firm shove that has him backtracking a few steps before turning his gaze from me to him.