Chapter 4

Evangelina rushed into her office; she was agitated, her breathing was ragged, and she felt extremely nervous. She had to clutch her chest to calm herself. What she had seen was too much for her.

"Why does he want to know if I'm a virgin?" she asked herself, banging her head. "And what did you tell him, Eva, what a fool," she reproached herself.

"Miss Evangelina, come out of there, for God's sake!" her boss shouted, knocking on the door on the other side of the office.

Eva trembled with fear, felt her body shaking, and could hardly speak.

After her boss left the office, she finished reading some documents. There was an important meeting in the afternoon and she didn't want to miss the opportunity to learn more about her field.

She left for lunch at twelve o'clock. She had hired a caterer to personally deliver the food to her boss, because she didn't want to see his face after this morning.

When she arrived at the cafeteria, most of the tables were full. Eva walked in silence, under the eyes of the people who talked about her and her short stature, but she could hear them clearly.

She sat down at a table and started to taste the delicious tuna cake she had ordered, when a man approached her.

"Hello, Eva, may I sit with you?" asked Antonio with a smile.

Eva greeted him and allowed him to sit down, he seemed nice, besides he was the manager of the company, why not?

They began to talk. Antonio was surprised by Evangelina's intellectuality, she was extremely intelligent, you could talk to her about any subject.

"I would like to invite you to dinner tonight," Antonio said with a smile. Eva looked at him blankly, dinner? She had never had dinner with a man before.

"Sir, I don't think I should," Evangelina tried to excuse herself.

"Please, Eva, come on, what can I do for you?"

"Antonio!" a loud voice interrupted her, a red-faced and angry Demetrio made his presence known.

"What are you doing here Evangelina, why didn't you bring me my lunch personally?" he glared at her angrily.

"Sorry, sir, it's just that..."

"It's nothing, and what are you telling my secretary Antonio, where did you invite her?" Antonio smiled, unlike Demetrio who looked like he was about to explode with rage.

"Excuse me, but what you do outside this facility is not your problem, Mr. Demetrio." The Italian's eyes widened. "And if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She rose from his chair in annoyance. "And yes, I agree to go out with you, Senor Antonio."

Demetrio looked at his friend who was about to murder him and then saw Eva who immediately got up and almost ran out of the cafeteria.

"What are you doing, Antonio? Stay away from my secretary," he said angrily. The veins in his forehead were clearly visible.

"What's the matter, Demetrio, are you jealous? Not that she's not your type? That she's ugly and all?" Laureti turned pale.

"Yes, and she is, but she's my secretary and I wouldn't want you to cheat on her..."

"Since when, brother, do you care about a woman's feelings?" said Antonio, and it was true, Demetrio didn't care at all about what a woman felt, he just took her to bed and that was it.

"It's not that, it's just..."

"It's just, you want to sleep with the ugly one, after all she's interested in you," Antonio said with a sideways smile.

"Stop talking nonsense, man, how can I be interested in Evangelina? You'd better get ready and prepare the staff, the Chinese must be coming and stop wasting your time conquering secretaries." He glared at him angrily.

"How do you command, boss?" replied Antonio mockingly and Demetrio shook his head.

Oh my God, what happened to me with the ugly one, you can't want to sleep with her, not like that, he thought, clutching his head in frustration.

Evangelina arrived at the office. Tamara was waiting for her at her desk; she had her legs up on it while she painted her lips red.

"What are you doing here, can I get you anything Miss Tamara?" she looked at her with a grimace as she got up from her seat and stood in front of the young woman who looked at her quizzically.

"I don't want anything from you, I just came to warn you that no one can find out what happened in the boss's office, otherwise you'll have to deal with me." Eva clenched her fists in anger,

Who was she to threaten her? And who could she tell about it? Had she gone crazy?

"I don't understand what you're talking about, who could I tell that you and Mr. Demetrio are lovers?" she asked sincerely.

"I don't know, but I don't want your grandfather and your father to know, do you hear me, I know the ones in your class, they are all dead gnats and in the end they are bitches." Eva glared at her with hatred, walked over and slapped her across the face, making the blonde fall to the desk.

She was used to being called ugly, but BITCH, she wasn't a bitch and she had to know it.

"Look, I tried to keep my cool in front of all of you." She spoke as she paced back and forth. Tamara touched her burning cheek. "But you all whisper and I ignore you, but this is the last straw for you." She pointed her finger at her. "That you sleep with your boss in his office and call me a slut." Tamara looked at her in surprise, she never thought that Evangelina could have a strong character, she thought that because of the way she dressed, she was a woman who was easily bent, but she was wrong, the woman had a character that would put anyone in her place.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do." She glared at her. Tamara couldn't stop looking at her angrily.

"You will pay for this, you insignificant thing," she said before leaving.

Evangelina breathed calmly, trying to contain the sudden anger this woman had caused her. 

Is this how the days are going to be in this company? she wondered.

A few hours later, however, they found themselves in front of the new investors; luckily, Evangelina spoke a little Chinese, so she took note of everything they talked about without missing a detail; it was an opportunity to learn more about her industry. Her dream was to be one of those executives, that was what she had studied for.

The room was full of people, there were many employees who had started to present their proposals for apps for mobile devices, there were twenty-two people counting her, who was standing next to her boss, taking note of everything they were talking about.

"Eva, please pass out the brochure about the reading app I want to create," Demetrio said.

Eva took out the folders and started handing out the project, it was simple, a reading app where people could read books online and pay an amount per chapter.

Everyone started to read the young CEO's proposal. Demetrio's father and grandfather were also in the room, waiting for the Chinese to agree to implement this system in their cell phones.

"What do you think of the proposal?" asked Laurenti, looking at the faces of the Chinese engineers, who had some doubts in their eyes.

"You see, there are already many reading applications, it would be too much competition to have to implement another one, besides, forming a new world, another application, the users and the writers we hire will not be sure to sign a contract with us, sorry, but I don't like the idea," said one of the Chinese.

Demetrio's face fell. This was the project he wanted to implement; some of the apps he wanted to promote on mobile phones, but the Chinese simply did not agree.

"Sir, excuse me, can I give you an idea?" Evangelina said into Demetrio's ear, who was seething with anger at not being able to close this deal that would have made him a millionaire.

Demetrio looked at her as if she were crazy, yes, she was an engineer, but she did not have the capacity, much less the experience, to speak on the subject. But what the Italian did not know was that Evangelina was a woman with an intelligence that pierced the minds of many of those present.

"No, Evangelina, stay out of this," Demetrio said curtly. Eva looked at him with pity, she only wanted to help but had been denied the opportunity.

"Miss Anderson, I have spoken," said Andrea, Demetrio's grandfather, who had been watching Evangelina since she arrived.

She smiled and asked to speak.

"Excuse me, Mr. Seung-gi," she greeted him in Chinese, and everyone looked at each other in surprise, including Seung-gi, who looked at her doubtfully as soon as she greeted him in his language, and smiled in satisfaction.

Eva stood up and took out a small booklet she had organized by hand, she was one of those who said, if a project doesn't work out, show him the second option, but make him sign.

"Yes, there are a lot of companies with reader apps, but do they think about the readers? No, most of these platforms require a payment for the authors, which of course many of them make a living from, but there are many books that don't know how to pay or don't have the possibility to pay," everyone looked at her expectantly, the way she unpacked herself was incredible. "What we offer you." She handed the brochure to Demetrio, who opened his eyes wide. "It's a completely free cyber-reading application."

"Free?" they all began, muttering to each other. "What profit could that possibly bring?" they thought.

"And what remuneration would your company and ours get from it?" asked one of the Chinese who had been silent until now.

"Here I come," said Eva calmly. "It would promote a system of advertisements that the user would have to watch in order to complete the missions, and that's where the remuneration would come from."

"But it would be too little for the investment we made," he replied, now a little more interested.

"And what would your company and ours get out of it?" asked one of the Chinese who had been silent until now.

"Here I come," Eva said calmly. "It would promote a system of advertisements that the user would have to watch to complete the missions, and that's where the remuneration would come from."

"But it would be too little for the investment we made," he replied, now a little more interested.

"But what makes you think that we won't have a number of users who will see it? We will be the only ones with this system, and therefore the best sellers," Evangelina explained, and everyone stood still, waiting for the Asian's answer.

"Where do I sign?" said the Chinese after a few seconds.

Eva felt like her legs were going to fall apart at that moment, she didn't even know how she had managed to explain the project she had created in just a few hours.

She turned to Demetrio, who smiled broadly at her, while Andrea looked at her in amazement.

They ended the meeting after a small snack, immediately Seung-gi approached Eva.

"You surprised me with your offer, engineer." Eva felt her world spin around. "Take her to set up the partnership with the Russians, I'd like to see her over there," Seung-gi said, speaking directly to Demetrio, who was pleased, in a way his secretary had saved his ass from letting a million dollar contract go down the drain.

"Thank you, Miss Anderson," Demetrio said, staring into Evangelina's gray eyes, which looked up at him excitedly.

"You're welcome, boss," she said sincerely, the challenge was more for her than for others.

"Now you have to tell me everything about this project, I have to organize everything before the trip," he said smiling. It seemed that just by smiling, she lit up the whole place.

"Okay sir, tomorrow I will tell everyone the idea I have in mind, here in the office," she said calmly.

"I'd better go to you, Evangelina, or you to me, it's something that needs to be worked out thoroughly." Eva felt the air leave her brain, she and her boss alone? This was definitely too much.

"I must congratulate your secretary, son," Andrea approached with a smile and kissed Evangelina's cheeks, who immediately blushed.

"I am Andrea Laureti, the first owner of this company and the grandfather of your cheeky boss," he said, making Eva smile broadly.

"Nice to meet you, sir, a pleasure, Eva..."

"I know who you are, you are a friend of Santino San Roman. He told me wonderful things about you, now I see why you are a sunshine, a sunshine," Andrea said smiling.

Eva looked at the other gentleman standing right behind Demetrio's grandfather, he was very similar to her boss but a little older.

"My name is Massimo Laureti, Demetrio's father, a pleasure Miss Anderson and thank you for saving my son from losing a bundle," the man said and Demetrio pursed his lips.

"Don't worry, that's what I'm his secretary for," she replied confidently.

Demetrio looked at Evangelina and winked at her, she felt her body shudder, she couldn't control the way her cheeks turned red, very red, an act that drove Demetrio crazy.

Oh my God, I'm going crazy, how is it that seeing her blush makes me feel these sensations, Demetrio thought.

"Hello Evangelina, what do you think about us celebrating that you have closed this contract?" asked Antonio, who approached Eva with a smile, who had been left alone in the middle of the room.

"It's just that I don't drink, Mr. Antonio," she said with a downcast look.

"You don't have to drink, we can talk, what do I know... Dinner, it's almost six in the evening," Antonio insisted.

Eva thought for a second, what could be wrong? It was just dinner with a colleague.

"Okay," Evangelina said, not too sure.

"Then let's go." They walked a few steps.

"Where are you going?" asked Demetrio a bit irritated, why was he so irritated? What could be so special about his secretary that he wanted to know what she was doing?

"Let's have a drink." Antonio relaxed and put his hands in his pockets.

"A drink? I didn't think you were a drinker, Miss Anderson," Demetrio said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it's just to celebrate," Evangelina replied, lowering her eyes, why was her boss interfering in her private life?

"Don't be a party pooper Demetrio, tomorrow is the weekend, we shouldn't be working," Antonio said looking at his friend annoyed.

"We'll go with you, in fact I had told Tamara to go for one, Tamara! Come on, let's have a drink." Demetrio's look was one of satisfaction as he watched Antonio boil with courage.

They all went to a club near the company, Evangelina felt uncomfortable, the women there dressed very vulgarly in her opinion and she simply did not fit in.

"It seems to me that you should look better, Eva, you don't fit in this environment," said Tamara, who was standing next to her and wasted no time in bothering her.

Eva clenched her fists in annoyance, it was an act she did every time she wanted to contain her anger.

"I'm fine like this," she said without importance, to the mocking laughter of the receptionist, yes, she was beautiful and that night Tamara looked spectacular, with a red dress tight to the body, a lipstick of the same color and black heels of ten centimeters; her long legs were shown as a trophy, but her dear boss was more attentive to Evangelina.

"Darling, let's dance," Tamara said, pulling Demetrio onto the dance floor.

Eva felt her blood boil for some reason; seeing Tamara with her boss made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable, so she picked up the bottle of whiskey and took a sip, swallowing the bottle whole.

"Hey, you shouldn't drink like that if you're not used to it," Antonio said, coming in with a new drink.

Eva smiled tensely at him.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked him, surely because she had a little alcohol in her body, she dared to show the forbidden steps for the first time.

Antonio nodded, not quite sure. Eva was dressed strangely, in his opinion not ugly, she wore a black skirt with gray that went above her knees, a baggy black shirt and old-fashioned needle shoes.

Eva got up from her chair and did the same as Tamara, forcing Antonio onto the dance floor.

The secretary's body moved strangely, inexperienced, to the music that was playing; Antonio couldn't help but laugh and with that Demetrio, who had left Tamara aside, grabbed Eva's arm to pull her away.

"What are you doing? You're making a fool of yourself, Evangelina," he said into Evangelina's ear as he dragged her out of the club.

"I'm dancing, just like Tamara is doing with you," she said with a red face, the alcohol had already flooded her body.

"No, you don't do that, Evangelina, let's get out of here, I'll take you home," Demetrio said angrily, Eva looked at him on the verge of crying, she wanted to stay, for the first time she felt free, the only thing she wanted at that moment was to drink and dance, to do the things she never did.

"No, I want to stay," she cried tenderly.

"We'll leave Eva, I'll take you home, it's my duty as your boss." He took her arm and made her get into the car.

Eva was silent, her boss's blue eyes looked at her piercingly, as if they wanted to inspect her inside.

She sat quietly, she was dizzy, she saw everything spinning around her, she tried to control her breathing, she looked like she was going to faint.

"Are you all right, Miss Anderson?" asked Demetrio, patting her face lightly.

"I feel sick, I'm hot and I can't breathe," she said, trying to control the ravages of her body.

"Give me the address, Evangelina, you've just been taken," Demetrio said, not too sure, Eva was pale and looked suffocated.

As best she could, Eva pointed him in the direction of her house and then fell asleep.

A few minutes later, they arrived at an apartment building. Demetrio's cell phone was ringing insistently, Tamara and Antonio were calling him every moment, he had completely forgotten about them.

"Eva, get up, we've arrived," Demetrio said as he got out of the car and tried to wake her.

"I hate you Demetrio, you're such a promiscuous idiot, you're so cute," she babbled, completely taken.

Demetrio smiled sideways, for some reason he loved that his saintly secretary also thought he was handsome, he was vain and loved feeling like the king of attraction.

"Damn!" he snorted, no matter how hard he tried to wake her up, Evangelina looked like death.

He looked behind his back; it was a modest place, but it seemed safe.

He searched Evangelina's purse for the keys to the estate. 

How does a woman have so many notes he thought, there were different sheets of paper scattered in her bag, but there was one that caught his boss's attention, a special pink one, it said days of work with Laureti he wanted to put the little notebook back there, but curiosity finally killed him and he put it in the left pocket of his pants.

He took the keys to the estate while Evangelina was still sleeping in his arms, luckily she was light and he could carry her on his shoulders without any problem.

Neat He thought as he entered the house, it was full of carpets and a few books on the table.

"Typical nerd," he said aloud.

He set her down on the sofa and started to leave, but stopped when Evangelina, still asleep, started to undress.

The Italian's eyes widened as Eva kicked off her shoes and hastily removed her clothes. Her secretary's body was exquisite, the best she had ever seen in her life, despite the darkness of the apartment she could appreciate her slender body and black lace underwear.

The CEO's body reacted immediately, but he pushed all thoughts out of his mind. 

Even though she has a beautiful body, she is no woman for you, he thought without even having logic in his words.

He left the property and went to find Tamara, he definitely had to calm his friend who had woken up like crazy seeing Eva like that.