Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Surprise
By week two, Lena discovered that working for Roman DeLuca was like walking through a minefield lined with silk. He wasn’t cruel, but he was ruthlessly efficient. He expected tasks completed before they were assigned, demanded absolute precision, and had zero tolerance for excuses. Yet, contrary to her darkest suspicions, he never crossed a personal line. He treated her with a cool, unyielding professionalism that was both infuriating and undeniably respectful.
Her primary assignment was overseeing DeLuca Holdings’ community investment portfolio—a collection of mid-market commercial properties across Chicago that Roman’s board had been attempting to liquidate for quick capital.
On a rainy Thursday morning, Lena was summoned to the main boardroom on the thirty-eighth floor. When she entered with her tablet in hand, the room was already filled with six senior vice presidents in identical gray suits, their faces tight with impatience.
Roman sat at the head of the mahogany table, reviewing a digital spreadsheet. At his right hand sat Marcus Vance, the chief operating officer, a man whose smile reminded Lena of a barracuda waiting for chum.
"Ah, the new hire," Vance said, his voice dripping with condescension as he eyed Lena's simple navy shift dress. "Roman, surely we don't need a former diner waitress weighing in on the commercial redevelopment of the West Loop district. We're discussing a forty-million-dollar strip liquidation."
Lena felt the familiar prickle of defiance flare in her chest, but she held her tongue, waiting for Roman's cue.
Roman didn’t even blink. He tapped his pen against the blotter. "Miss Brooks inspected the properties on Tuesday. You haven't set foot in that neighborhood in three years, Marcus. Let her speak."
Lena stepped up to the digital presentation screen. She didn’t stutter. She had spent the last five days walking those streets, talking to the local shop owners, reviewing foot traffic data, and pulling the actual maintenance logs Vance’s team had buried in the archives.
"The proposed sale price of the Michigan-Grand plaza is thirty percent below market value," Lena began, bringing up the financial breakdown. "Mr. Vance is recommending an immediate sell-off to a private development firm called Apex Holdings. But Apex isn't planning to redevelop. They’re planning a leveraged leaseback that will gut the existing retail tenants—tenants who have maintained ninety-eight percent on-time rent for over a decade."
Vance’s face darkened instantly. "This is absurd. Apex is an institutional partner—"
"Apex is registered to a shell company in Delaware whose primary stakeholder is your brother-in-law, Mr. Vance," Lena interrupted, her voice steady and clear. She brought up the corporate registry documents she had spent till midnight uncovering. "You're trying to dump corporate assets into a family holding company at a deep discount, pocketing a six-percent finder's fee on the transaction while leaving DeLuca Enterprises to absorb the tax penalty."
Dead silence fell over the room.
The other board members looked at Vance, then quickly looked away, terrified of being caught in the crossfire. Vance stood up, his chair scraping violently against the hardwood.
"This is an outrage! You bring a street girl off the floor to slander my professional integrity?"
Roman slowly pushed his chair back. The room seemed to drop ten degrees.
"Sit down, Marcus," Roman said softly.
Vance froze. His jaw worked silently before he sank back into his seat, sweat beginning to bead at his hairline.
Roman turned his gaze toward Lena. For the first time since she had walked into his office two weeks ago, there was something undeniably warm—something resembling genuine admiration—gleaming in his steel-gray eyes.
"The liquidation is canceled," Roman announced, closing his tablet. "Miss Brooks will assume oversight of the Michigan-Grand restructuring. And Marcus... you have until five o'clock to submit your resignation. If it isn't on my desk, legal will be opening an external audit into your last four acquisitions."
As the board members scattered like frightened pigeons, Lena remained standing by the screen, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Roman approached her slowly, stopping just a foot away. "I told you that you were hired to tell the truth."
"You already knew about Vance, didn't you?" Lena asked quietly.
"I suspected," Roman admitted. "I needed someone who couldn't be bought off with golf club memberships or country club gossip to prove it. You did well, Lena."
May you like
Hearing him use her first name sent a quiet shiver down her spine. "I was just doing my job, Mr. DeLuca."
"Tonight," Roman said, his gaze lingering on her face longer than business strictly required, "we celebrate. Seven o'clock. Don't be late."
