Edge of Deception

CHAPTER FOUR

"And guess what happened then? The very next week their engagement was announced and I was getting microphones and cameras shoved into my face outside the office asking me if the boss and the lady were really engaged and it was not another fake news to stop from their shares plummeting."

Tanya finished tucking her shirt neatly in the austere skirts she had lately taken to wear, resisting probing the girl loudly regaling the ladies' room audience agog with curiosity with the incident of her fifteen minutes fame. She knew the girl. Her name was Sophia something and she was a junior in the Marketing & PR department. But her main identity was of being a notorious gossip, most of which tended to turn out to be true. The other girls said Sophia got her insider knowledge from the boss' brother, with whom she has been having an affair reportedly since the month she joined the company.

But, as the official policy was no-dating-your-colleagues, neither Sophia nor Mateo ever confirmed it out loud. Given that Mateo never stopped asking Tanya out every chance he got, she had decided that even if an affair did exist, he wasn't serious about it. Which made her feel bad about Sophia.

"What is the big deal anyway?" One of the girls asked Sophia. "So the Visconti empire got into a bit of a mess, so what? These big businesses, they always find ways to survive. Why did Ilario agree to marry that brat?"

"It is not only the business that is floundering, it was the heiress as well." Sophia's eyes gleamed with the knowledge of something that others didn't have. "It was her reputation as well. You see, Apollonia Visconti was apprehended by the police from a very questionable nightclub in Amsterdam. Alongside a very questionable man."

There was an exchange of knowing glances and smirks. People tended to feel delighted at other's bad lucks.

Despite her intention of not engaging in office gossip, Tanya couldn't keep quiet anymore. She liked Apollonia, the older girl was always polite and friendly towards her.

"Which I believe may not be entirely true." She spoke up.

"How do you know?" Sophia asked aggressively, who had a marked dislike for Tanya, no less because of Mateo's open affection towards the latter.

Tanya shrugged. "She just doesn't seem to be the type. If she really was in that nightclub, she must have been tricked. And that man she was with, he is a renowned movie producer."

"Yes, with a notoriously bad reputation." Sophia gave a sharp laugh. "Oh, you are so naïve Tanya. You think good of everyone."

"Just telling the way it is."

"You know nothing of what you speak of." Sophia dismissed her without another second's notice. Turning back to her devoted audience she proceeded to explain the entire backstory of the big boss, Ilario Orlando De Russo.

"Papa Russo and old Visconti were school friends. So Russo extends a helping hand for the Visconti Hotels. And when it came to save the fragile reputation of the Visconti princess, whom do you think old Russo called upon?" The relish in Sophia's voice was palpable. "The crown prince of his empire, Ilario Russo."

"It's hard to believe that such a gorgeous male would be single. Apollonia is so lucky to have landed him." Sighed one of the girls. "I wish I were her."

"She landed him only because she is rich." Cut in her friend. "You and I don't stand a chance babes. Stop day dreaming."

"Also", chimed in Sophia. "they are not exactly in love. From what I hear, there is trouble in paradise already and that the man wants out."

"How so?" Once again, Tanya couldn't stop her tongue from asking the question.

Sophia slanted an eyebrow. "Knew you cared. Huh!" She vented a short laugh. "Rumour has it..." she lowered her voice for dramatic effect, "the big boss has fallen in love."

There was a sharp intake of breath from all the three girls, including Tanya. "With whom?"

Sophia sighed in frustration. "That's the mystery. Even Mateo didn't know who." Unconsciously revealing her relationship with Mateo, she continued, "But then, Ilario is known to be very tight lipped, playing things close to his chest. I wonder who caught his eye."

There was a silence while every girl fantasized about being the mystery girl Ilario De Russo has fallen in love with.

Tanya was remembering the way he had looked at her in the morning. How their eyes had locked together. How his gaze had seemed to caress her while his lips had been on another woman's mouth.

She felt guilty, but excited at the same time for some reason. If it was true and he was in love with someone else, it didn't explain why Ilario had looked at her like that, the cryptic remark he had thrown her way.

But then she remembered how he interrogated her, implying she was having an affair with his brother, his expression sombre, his demeanour contemptuous.

She shook her head.

It's all in my head. I was being a nosy parker and he set me straight. And who knows if Sophia is telling the truth.

She exited the washroom without further comment and went to sit at her desk outside her tormentor's cabin.