Chapter 4 - The Aftermath and the OfferWhen the final note of the waltz echoed through the grand ballroom, the applause was polite, stunned, and overwhelmingly fake.
Matteo didn't care about their applause. As soon as the music stopped, he took my hand, leading me cleanly away from the murmuring crowd, past the rows of photographers whose camera shutters sounded like a swarm of angry hornets, and straight toward the private exit leading to the subterranean parking level.
Before I could even catch my breath, Kyle was holding the door of a sleek, matte-black bulletproof Maybach open for us.
“Get in, Ayla,” Matteo instructed gently, helping me into the plush leather interior before sliding in beside me.
The heavy door closed, shutting out the suffocating noise of the gala entirely. The silence inside the car was thick, punctuated only by the hum of the climate control system and the quiet ticking of the engine.
I looked down at my hands, my chest tightening with a sudden wave of anxiety.
“You shouldn't have done that,” I said quietly, staring at my lap.
Matteo leaned back against the upholstery, resting one arm comfortably along the seat behind me without actually touching my shoulders. “Done what? Rescued you from a pack of hyenas?”
“Made an enemy of Mabel Laurent,” I corrected, looking up at him with serious eyes. “Her family holds massive influence in my company. Jean Dubois is terrified of them. By tomorrow morning, I’m probably going to be fired, blacklisted, and chased out of every marketing firm in Manhattan.”
Matteo didn't look worried. In fact, a faint, confident smile played at the corner of his mouth.
“Let them try,” Matteo said smoothly. “Laurent Inc. is currently leveraged up to its eyeballs on speculative real estate loans that my firm holds the underlying debt for. If Mabel’s father so much as breathes a word against you, I’ll call in their primary note by noon tomorrow and turn their corporate empire into a parking lot.”
I stared at him, my mouth slightly open. “You’re talking about a multi-million-dollar corporation like it’s a game of chess.”
“To me, it is,” Matteo replied calmly. He reached over, his warm fingers gently resting over my trembling hands, instantly calming the nervous tremor in my fingers. “And you are not a pawn, Ayla. You are worth more than every single person in that ballroom combined.”
The intensity in his gaze made it difficult to breathe. I pulled my hands back gently, not out of fear, but out of self-preservation.
“I can’t just let you fight my battles, Matteo,” I whispered. “I’ve spent my entire life standing on my own two feet. I lost my parents when I was twenty, I put myself through night school while working double shifts at a diner, and I built my career from the absolute bottom. I don't need a savior.”
Matteo’s expression softened. The cold, ruthless billionaire vanished, replaced by a man who looked at me with profound, aching respect.
“I know you don't need a savior, Ayla,” Matteo said softly. “That’s why I respect you so much. But even the strongest fighters need someone to watch their back when the whole city turns against them.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sleek, heavy business card made of brushed titanium, embossed with a single gold cipher. He placed it gently on the center console between us.
“Tomorrow morning, Jean Dubois is going to call you into his office,” Matteo predicted accurately. “He’s going to demand an apology for embarrassing Mabel, or he’s going to fire you.”
I looked at the titanium card, then up at him. “And if he does?”
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“Don't apologize,” Matteo said, his voice dropping an octave, wrapping around me like warm velvet. “Walk out that door, pick up your phone, and call the number on that card. Because by tomorrow afternoon, I’m launching a new philanthropic and digital division at Cipriani Global—and I need someone with your integrity, your grit, and your heart to run it.”
I sat frozen in the backseat of the Maybach, the neon lights of Manhattan blurring past us in a cascade of color, realizing that my life had just irrevocably changed forever.
