Amanda
It had been two days since I had last seen Marco. Not that I was complaining but so far things were looking a bit grim from his side. There was not a time I went on my phone without hearing of his scandal filled affair with a married woman.
It seemed he had crossed many lines throughout his life but this one seemed to be the final straw. Sleeping with a business partner's wife was a whole different scandal especially when that business partner was the reason the House of Agassi became one of the leading fashion houses in the world.
Even though it was humorous to see how desperate Marco was to control the narrative, I was worried. I had plans to sell to the Agassi's and if their business fell because of their most notorious son's bad boy reputation this would be terrible for Amy.
Marco would allow me to still have creative freedom over everything I did whilst I knew another company would not. He was family afterall and Edward had a lot of connections, if he believed another company would not take advantage of me he would have suggested me to them instead of Marco.
There was something Marco had about fashion and design. The way he talked about textiles and fabrics. The connections he had. I knew Marco was my solution to growing my business and even though I hated it I knew I had to help him out of this disaster he had created for himself and save us both.
I let out a deep sigh as I held my phone to my ear waiting for the Italian man to answer. I knew I had a week before I had to be in his office and at this rate it seemed that would never happen. He was up in his ass in scandals and my company specialised in public relationships and his team seemed to be doing a terrible job at helping him.
"Amanda," that was always his greeting. Just my name and it weakened my defenses each time.
"Your team is doing a terrible job at your PR management Mister Agassi," I tried to sound nonchalant but the smile that crept up onto my lips was betraying me.
His chuckle was a breath followed by him smacking his lips, "And you think you could do a better job?"
"I believe I could," I nodded firmly.
He kept quiet for a few minutes then let out a sigh, "Do you want to go out for lunch?"
"In the midst of turmoil you want a lunch date," I laughed but immediately stopped when the word 'date' spilled out of my mouth. "Well not date, a lunch meeting. A friendly hello you know what I mean."
"I think I need a friendly face," I could hear the stress in his voice, "I've been enemy number one to everyone for the past two days. A lunch date would be a welcomed difference."
I debated the idea for a few seconds but I was no monster. "Fine, I'll accept your invitation. Where should we meet?"
"I'll pick you up in an hour." Before I could even respond to him he ended the call leaving my stomach twisting with an unfamiliar feeling.
'A lunch date'. Gosh, why did I even suggest something so outrageous. I knew he was just teasing but it still made me feel nervous. It made me dizzy with unknown emotions that Marco wanted to see me in his midst of turmoil, but I knew I was probably his last resort.
I quickly went to my room to change into an ankle length and sleeveless white floral dress. I let my hair down and wore beige sandals then quickly grabbed my handbag when I heard my phone ring.
When I got to the lobby and stepped out of the elevator, my feet faltered when I saw Marco standing there, in washed denim jeans, a white simple v-neck shirt, tanned sneakers with sunglasses covering his eyes. Even though him being dangerously handsome was enough that was not what had me frozen.
In his arms was the largest bouquet of red roses I had ever seen and by the way he was smiling at me I knew they were meant for me. Every woman in the space seemed to know they were for me and I knew if looks could kill I would have already been six feet under.
He met my walk halfway with a confident stride whilst I felt like I was simply floating.
"Amanda," he leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek whilst his other free arm wrapped around my waist.
Instinctively I pressed my trembling hands to his shoulders, "Marco."
"You look beautiful," he smiled as he handed me my roses, "I got these for you."
I stared at them in amazement. My arms were barely big enough to wrap around them. It made my head dizzy to get roses from someone besides my brother and father. This was something new for me and for a moment I almost wished it was not Marco who was the gifter. "Thank you."
"Let's go," he took my tiny hand in his and led me out.
"Where are we going?" I asked almost in a daze as he helped me into his convertible Bentley Continental GT that currently had its roof down allowing the warm LA sun to heat us up.
"My Malibu beach house," he smiled.
I almost choked, "You could have sent Cody to pick me up to save you the drive."
"I thought you would have preferred the ride from my car with me in it," he smirked, flashing me his flawless sparkling white, blinding teeth.
I held the roses closer to my chest, unable to form any kind of argument against his proposition. "Malibu it is then."
"You're going to love it," he leaned over to open up the glove compartment and handed a sunglass case with Dior sunglasses inside them. I thanked him weakly and put them on before he peeled the car from the parking causing a stir and speeding down the road.