“I said something stupid.”
“You said something revealing.”
“It was a private conversation.”
The second the words left his mouth, Dominic closed his eyes.
Martha’s face went still.
Luca heard himself and knew he had made it worse.
“That came out wrong.”
“No,” she said quietly.
“I think it came out exactly the way you meant it.”
He moved around the desk.
“Martha, I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“You didn’t know I was there.
That is precisely the problem.”
That stopped him.
She picked up her tablet from the edge of the desk.
“My notice gives the company enough time for transition.
I’ve already organized the current acquisitions, travel commitments and board calendar.
Everything is in the folder.”
“I’m not accepting it.”
For the first time that morning, something like genuine anger flashed in her eyes.
“You don’t own my resignation, Luca.”
He flinched.
Not Mr.
Bellandi.
Not the careful professional tone she used when others were around.
Luca.
Five years compressed into that one name.
He reached for the only language that had rarely failed him.
“Double your salary.”
Dominic muttered, “God, Luca.”
Martha almost smiled, but there was no humor in it.
“You still think I’m asking you for something.”
“Everybody is asking for something.”
“That might be the saddest thing you’ve ever said.”
She walked out.
Luca remained standing beside his desk, the folder open behind him.
Dominic waited until Martha’s footsteps disappeared.
“Say it,” Luca muttered.
“You don’t need me to.”
“Apparently I do.”
Dominic crossed the office and picked up the resignation letter.
“She told you the problem and you offered her money.
Then she told you again and you argued jurisdiction over her decision.”
Luca pressed both hands against the edge of his desk.
“I made one comment.”
“No.
You revealed a habit.”
“What habit?”
“Thinking the people who make your life easier exist because you are important.”
Luca looked sharply at him.
Dominic did not retreat.
“You called her essential yesterday,” he said.
“Remember? Smart.
Efficient.
Essential.
You knew all of that.
