A/N:
Happy New Year Lovelies🎊
I hope we all have a blessed year
❤️❤️❤️
Derrek's POV
"Ciao, cugino mio!" My cousin attacked me with a hug the moment I opened up my room door.
"Camilla, how are you?" I smiled widely as we pulled away from each other. She mirrored my smile, playfully hitting my arm before she attempted to shove me out of the way. I remained planted to the ground and she scowled at me before sidestepping me and walking into my room like she owned the place.
The new maid whose name I had found out earlier on to be Ann had been waiting patiently after bringing Camilla up to my room. I only noticed her standing there after Camilla walked in.
"Would you like some refreshments for you and your guest, sir?" She asked in a polite tone.
"Would you fancy some refreshments, Cam?" I turned to Camilla who was taking a tour round my room, assessing my book collection on the shelf and giggling at my throwback photos framed and placed on my bedside table. She always did that whenever she came over.
"Some camomile tea and ginger biscuits are fine for me." She answered, staring at a framed photo on my table.
"I'll have the same." I turned to Ann and she gave a little bow of the head before going on to prepare our orders.
"Da quanto tempo, Riko." Camilla turned to me, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't even bother to call these days."
"Scusa. There's just been a lot going on." I showed her to my balcony where there was a table and two chairs prepared for us before hand. I thought it would be nice to receive some fresh air while we were catching up.
Camilla was my older cousin, however, she was much more like the older sister I never had. She was the youngest child of my mother's eldest sister and had grown up in Italy, Venice to be precise. She had only moved to London to complete her tertiary education at the University of London and had been here ever since, occasionally going back to Venice to visit her family.
She had come by a lot during the weekends and holidays while she was still a student and we had become very close over the years. She was very easy to talk to and I had found myself opening up to her about things I normally would have kept to myself. She gave sound advice most times but other times, she gave advices that could have probably landed me in jail. However, it was always nice talking to her. We hadn't talked in a few months though as she had been traveling across the world with her new boyfriend. She was very happy to have finally found a man that truly loved her and I didn't want to bother her with my problems, so, I waited until we were face to face before I said anything.
"Perché? What's wrong?" She asked, taking her seat. Her voice laced in concern. "Is your father giving you trouble again?"
"Father plans to retire soon and he wants me to step up as the next CEO." I began, settling down in my chair beside Camilla.
"I thought he disowned you."
"You should know that he was never going to let me go. He made me step down as COO but it was never official." I scoffed. "Officially, I'm still the COO of D-Tech and the employees believe that I was away in Germany, taking an eight months long course."
"Wow." Camilla shook her head in disbelief.
"I was here last month to hand over to the new COO only to find out there wasn't one. I also had a mountain of work waiting for me. It took me a month to finish them all but once I had completed all I was legally obligated to, I submitted my letter of resignation and left. However, father refused to accept it and now he's holding my mother and siblings hostage. He's threatened to cut them all out of his will and cut off their current allowances if I don't come back to work."
"He wouldn't really do that."
"Yes, he would. My father would do anything to get his way. He will spare no one until he does."
My father could be a very scary man when he wanted to be. It was why he was feared in the business world. All who crossed him the wrong way were instantly reduced to nothing, be it friend or foe. I didn't doubt that he would have thrown his own family to the streets if it meant he could get what he wanted. It was sad but true. His business came above all else.
"It sucks but I can't really blame him for trying to keep you. Letting you go would be a huge loss to the company." Camilla interjected. "You're equally as good a business man as your father and he sees it. Don't you remember how you saved Uncle Stefano's business from going bankrupt?"
I sighed. Of course I could remember.
"With a little knowledge in business management, anyone could have solved the problem. It was no big deal."
"And the Light Ink merger last year? That was a huge acquisition for D-Tech and it wouldn't have been possible without you, you know that. Everyone at the company knows that."
"You seem to know a lot about a company you don't work in."
"I've got my sources." She flipped her hair over her shoulder smugly and I chuckled.
"You mean Anitta? She could get in trouble for sharing company secrets to outsiders." I teased and she rolled her eyes.
"She barely gives me any of the juicy details. Don't worry your little arse about it."
Just then Ann returned with a tray of biscuits, a jug of tea and two teacups. She set them down on the table and gave a little bow before retreating.
"Why don't you just admit that you are gifted in this line of work? I know you say you hate it so much but what if your father is right. There is clearly something he saw in a twelve year old child that made him entrust his entire company into your hands."
I was good at my job but it was expected, considering I had been drilled ever since I was a child, however, I never thought I was any better than my father or any of the other workers at the company.
"The only reason he chose me as his heir was because he thought my brother was a good for nothing troublemaker." I reminded and she shook her head in disagreement.
"Joha hasn't gotten into half the trouble you have and you know that." She pointed out and I sighed. She was right but I would have never admitted it.
I had misbehaved more badly than Johanson ever had but still my father refused to cast me aside like he had my brother and there were times when I wondered why. Was it because he was too closed minded to let one of my sisters take up the position? Was he so keen on letting D-Tech stay a family business that he didn't consider any other qualified persons outside the family?
Sometimes, I envied Johanson for being able to break free from our father's influence and I wondered how he had been able to do so consequence free because it seemed that no matter how hard I tried to escape, my father knew just how to reel me back in again. I was done this time, however. I wasn't going to let my father pull me back in anymore. I was going to cut the ropes once and for all.
"It doesn't matter now, anyway." I got up to my feet and walked over to the railing. I glanced down to the garden that was right below. Pink, white and yellow flowers stared up at me. "I'm done with it all now."
I could still remember the words my father said to me before I left for Nigeria last month. They were the same words he always said to me whenever I tried to walk away from it all.
"You'll be back, son. You'll loose a lot more than you'll gain if you don't."
Those words never left my mind. They pushed me to prove my father wrong and they had pulled me right back to him again. This time was going to be different however and that was because I had found something more important to me than wealth or power. I had found peace, passion and love and they were worth more.
"Are you sure?" She joined me by the railing. I nodded.
"For the first time in my life, I'm truly happy. I've started this whole new life in Nigeria and I've found something that I'm passionate about, something that makes me look forward to the future and I couldn't be happier." I smiled. "I'm in a relationship with the most amazing girl and everyday with her makes me realize that I never knew what love really was until I met her."
"You sound happy." Camilla patted my back and I smiled even wider. "You must really be in love."
I laughed awkwardly. Camilla and I never talked about our relationships. I could talk to her about anything else, just not my romantic feelings. She would have never let me hear the end of it.
"Tell me about this lovely lady that has captured your heart." She poked my arm playfully as she wiggled her eyebrows at me. "I sure hope she's a lot better than all your other exes from hell."
"Tiara is heaven sent. I can assure you."
"Grazie a Dio!" Camilla threw her hands up dramatically as she stared up at the sky. "I have prayed for you for so many years and God has finally answered my prayers. You have been delivered from a toxic love cycle. Complimenti, cugino! Congratulations!"
"Don't be so dramatic about it." I mumbled, embarrassed. Camilla knew my dating history. She had tried to intervene in them more times than I could count but I was just too stubborn to listen to anything she had to say at the time.
"What's she like?" She questioned and a smile crept onto my face.
Just the thoughts of Tiara alone was enough to brighten the worst of days. She had the most beautiful smile and captivating eyes. She also had a pure heart which was what I loved most about her.
"Are you going to speak or just keep smiling like an idiot?" She flicked my arm, bringing me out from my thoughts.
"Where should I begin?" There was so much I could say about Tiara. I could talk about her for hours on end.
Tiara was an inspiration to me and I had learned a lot from her. I was a confused lad who didn't know what I wanted out of life when I met her. I was living someone else's dream, fighting for something that I never even wanted and I was holding onto to someone who was practically drowning me.
Over the months, I had watched Tiara fight against Ruby, Candice and anyone else who had tried to put her down. Even when she was afraid, she never backed down and in the end, she defeated all her adversaries. She showed me that there was hope and no matter how hard it seemed, I could break free from my father and I was finally ready to give it all up to be free. I was no longer a little boy who my father could bend to do his will. For the first time in my life, I felt like an adult in charge of his own life and I wasn't going to let my father take back my power.
"Mr Dune." A voice called in urgency from my room.
I turned around to see Ella, another one of my family's maid rush through the room. She looked anxious.
"What's the matter, Ella?" I asked as she rushed out onto the terrace.
"The Chairman is home." She informed.
"What? He's supposed to be in Milan." My father had a conference in Milan and was supposed to be back in three days time. Why was he here now?
"He's calling for you, Sir. He's in his study." She relayed and I took in a deep breath. I would have lied if I said I wasn't anxious in that moment. "Sir, he doesn't seem to be in the best of moods. He just fired Ann."
"What? What was her offense?"
"She dropped his coat."
"Well, son of a gun." I sighed. My father was clearly in a sour mood. The entire house was surely going to be on fire today.
********************************************
Glossary:
*Ciao, cugino mio - Hello, my cousin.
*Da quanto tempo, Riko - Long time no see, Riko.
*Scusa - Sorry.
*Perché - Why?
* Grazie a Dio - Thank God
*Complimenti, cugino - Congratulations, cousin.
Do you guys enjoy Derrek's POV?
Does anyone miss Tiara's POV?