CHAPTER 29

**CHLOE DUARTE**

This makes me wonder if James Colucci's residence is a house or mansion that is in a luxurious condominium, or if he is the type of modern man who lives in a spacious apartment that has the entire penthouse of a building.

“I'm sure they will serve a lot of expensive champagne, I have to control myself and not get drunk at a party like this...", Samanta murmurs thoughtfully.

“Trust me, this ball will have a spectacular menu, since I organized and took care of everything, Sam.", I tell her, reminding her of this fact.

“So if I get drunk on a few glasses of champagne or wine, it will be your fault?"

After about twenty minutes, the car goes through a huge gate that leads us to a long corridor full of green trees that complete the charm of the place.

Eager to see where the party is going to take place, I rest my forehead against the car window and see that several other vehicles are following the same route as us.

“My God!", I exclaim wide”eyed as we pass a security team and further on the property is revealed.

I don't dare blink when the car approaches a sort of mansion located in the center of the green and well-kept space, the property is like one of those from the Bridgerton series, the medieval type, but it seems to be modern inside.

Enchanted by the structure of the space, I see a crowd of people getting out of their equally luxurious cars and entering the mansion.

I observe the attire of the people wearing long and sophisticated costumes, but what intrigues me is that they are all wearing some kind of different mask.

Diego parks the car next to the stairs leading to the entrance of the house, he gets out of the car and hurries to open our door and help us out of the car.

Straightening the long skirt of my dress, we begin to climb the stairs, I am careful to keep walking, hoping my feet don't trip at a moment like this.

With the space all lit up by lights installed at strategic points and with the refreshing night wind, I feel my whole body go with a shiver when I see James standing at the end of the stairs and the side of the entrance.

I notice that he is wearing some kind of suit and that his face is covered by a golden mask, I frown continuing to walk up, but stop when he starts coming towards us holding some kind of box in his hands.

A crowd of people holding cameras surrounds us as James comes up to me, taking me completely by surprise when he takes one of my hands and brings it to his lips.

The noise of the murmurs around us gets louder, and the flashes of the cameras are shot at us.

James greets Samanta who immediately announces that she is going to see the place, which I know is a tremendous lie since she intends to leave me alone in James' company.

“You look spectacular, Chloe.", he whispers, his blue eyes staring intensely at me.

“You didn't tell me this was a masquerade ball...", I murmur, seeing that many of the guests stop to stare at us.

They are probably wondering who the mysterious woman is who is in the company of the powerful CEO and host of this glamorous ball.

“I wanted to surprise you...", he says, opening the little box and taking out a beautiful golden mask made of lace that perfectly matches his own.

His hands rush to slide the mask over my eyes and tie it behind my head, his arm goes around mine while his blue eyes watch me from head to toe.

“You don't know how much I want to kiss you right now, Chloe.", he whispers again as he leads me to the entrance of the mansion.

Before I can answer, James holds my waist and turns us to face the photographers and paparazzi who shout for more information, but James remains quiet, just posing for the pictures that are shot in our direction.

“Miss, look over here!"

“James, are you together?"

“Who is the mysterious young woman next to you?"

“Are you dating?"

I am confused by the shouts and questions that are being fired around us, and noticing my discomfort, James leads us inside where classical music is being played in the hall.

As we go through the double doors, everyone turns to look at us, I take a deep breath feeling James' touch on my waist become firmer as we go through the dance hall.

Further, ahead I can see Samanta and Matt sitting at a table, I nod in the direction of my friend who smiles, and sighs as James occupies it.

I can feel the poisonous snake's eyes roaming me with pure evil, I avoid facing Camily, I focus my attention on Adam who stands up to greet us.

“James, I can see you have excellent company tonight...", my former boss shakes James' hand while facing the hand that tightens around my waist.

“No doubt about it, Adam!", James says without any expression on his face, at this moment he keeps the mask of a cold and controlling boss.

“Miss Duarte...", Adam says nodding his head after realizing that James is not going to let go of me.

“It's good to see you again, Mr. Smith!", I smile gracelessly, still not looking at the piranha who out of the corner of my eye I see standing up.

“The party is spectacular, Mr. Colucci!", I control myself not to roll my eyes when I hear her annoying voice.

“I'm perfectly aware of that, but all this is to the credit of Miss Duarte, who took care of organizing absolutely everything."

A small satisfying smile grows on my lips, my God, if I could I would give so much to this woman.

“Congratulations Miss Duarte, but you must feel privileged and very lucky to be accompanied by an important man like Mr. Colucci, since it's not every day that a woman like you has the attention of James Colucci."

It's no surprise that the cow is wearing a very provocative and low”cut model, I still don't know how Adam manages to keep this woman around for so long.

I can't stay in the same environment as her for a mere two minutes alone, because the first chance she gets to piss me off, I may very well be fired from the company for assaulting another employee.

And I'm pretty sure that this bitch would be very happy if I was supposedly fired, so I can't give her that pleasure...

Before I have a chance to answer in a way that would make her very angry, James squeezes my waist and interrupts me:

“It's the other way around Miss Sparke, I feel very privileged to be accompanied by Miss Duarte...", Adam gasps breaking his gaze, I guess he also senses that this is not going to end very well.

Camily arches her eyebrow and nods her head with a huge forced smile on her face.

I mentally wonder if James doesn't feel even a little empathy for this woman either, but he is the boss of everyone here, so it is his job to put up with the employees even if he doesn't like it.

“Excuse me, I'm going to check if the menu agrees with the order...", I smile and notice when James's blue eyes look at me intently.

He thinks that this bitch is putting me down and that this is somehow making me look bad, but I smile sympathetically, which makes him let go of my waist without really wanting to.

“Congratulations on the organization, Miss Duarte!", I can hear Adam's voice behind me as I walk away.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Smith!", I thank you by following you to the long tables where all the dishes and appetizers that I have carefully chosen to add to the prom menu are kept.

Several waiters are scattered throughout the long hall serving champagne to the guests, and I grab a glass as one of them passes me.

I stare at the clear, bubbling beverage before taking a small sip to savor the taste, I close my eyes as the liquid flows down my throat making me recognize the unmistakable taste of the brand of champagne I also handpicked.

As I continue my way to the tables, the curious looks of most of the guests are on me, I try not to pay attention, but it is getting to be too much of a bother.

Sighing with relief when I see that everything is according to order, I take one of the appetizers and bite into it, feeling the taste of the soft dough in my mouth.

“Wonderful, isn't it?", I turn around and hurry to swallow the rest of the pasta when a gray-haired man appears beside me.

“Yes, it's not every day that you find one like this...", I smile pointing to the tray of salty snacks.

“I must admit, yes, but have you tried the wine they are serving? I have been living in Italy for some years now, but I have never drunk a wine with such a unique and distinctive flavor...", he smiles, making his expression lines more apparent.

I look at the man's face, the hair that was once brown or black is speckled with white strands, but he is not an old man, he is a sophisticated man who seems to take very good care of his appearance.

“Not yet, but I hope it is to everyone's liking since that is the reason I chose that vintage for the prom menu.", I say, staring into those deep blue eyes that remind me of something

“Did you organize the menu yourself? Oh, my congratulations, you have just won this poor old man's heart...", I laugh, taking another sip from my glass.

“Thank you, sir?", I frown, realizing that we haven't formally introduced ourselves yet.

“Colucci, my name is Anthony Colucci, and you are?"

He is...

“Excuse me for asking, but are you my boss's father?", I ask, surprised to see the resemblance.

“If your boss is James, then yes.", he says, stretching out his hand in my direction, which I do not hesitate to shake.

“Chloe Duarte, nice to meet you!", I say delighted to meet Anthony Colucci himself in person.

James founded his own company alone, but the media always makes it clear that the young and promising businessman inherited the gifts of his father who had an empire at the same age as his son.

“Dad, I see you have already met my new personal assistant...", we turn around and find James walking towards us.

With glazed eyes I see the two men hugging each other, I notice that James even closes his eyes as his father pats him on the back in a gesture of fatherly affection.

The last assistant was right in saying that they have a healthy father”son relationship, a very strong connection.

This reminds me that with your mother it is different...

“Yes, I was congratulating her on the choice of wine they are serving to the guests...", Anthony says separating from his son.

James' blue eyes burn into me again, my heart seems to come out of my mouth just by the way this man is looking at me right now.

“Miss Duarte certainly knows how to throw a good party, when did she get here, Dad?", James changes the subject and focuses on his father with a frown.

“A few minutes ago, I was looking for you, but my attention was called by these little beauties here...", he says taking one of the snacks from the silver tray.

“I see that many guests with good influences attended this year's ball.", Anthony points with his head to the people who keep coming in through the main double doors.

“Yes, our goal is for this year's donation to exceed that of previous years, I'm counting on that heavily!", James says with a certain confidence and I can see the pride in Anthony's eyes as he looks at his only son.

“By the way, your mother has tried every which way to contact me again, in a failed attempt to get closer to you.", Anthony comments, making me pay attention to the conversation.

“That's nothing new, that's what she always does.", I can see the hurt and anger mixed in with James' sigh.

“I thought that after so many years, her advances were over, but I see that she still can't get enough of being so ignored."

The conversation between them about the woman who was once Mrs. Colucci catches my attention. I thought that between them there was only one of the traditional fights between families, but I can see from their expressions that it was much more than this.

This also makes me question the character of James' mother if this woman is so despicable as what they confirm to each other.

Realizing that my presence is becoming unnecessary in a private family conversation, I excuse myself and cross the room to the table my friends are occupying.

“Huum, it seems that Cinderella has decided to join the commoners...", Matt comments with a little smile and I control the urge to show my tongue.

I pull up one of the available chairs and sit down next to them, seeing that Matt's brown eyes are still strangely staring at me.

“What's wrong?"

“Nothing, you look very nice, Chloe."

“She looks wonderful! And all this is thanks to the generosity of Mr. Colucci...", I want to roll my eyes when I hear Samanta's voice telling our friend.

“Wow, so the guy is very interested in..."

“Can we change the subject, please?", I ask, trying to control my tone of voice so that I don't sound so irritated.

Seeing that I'm not in the mood to talk about it, Matt raises his hands in a surrendered expression while Samanta focuses her clear eyes on something behind me.

“Who is that man who was talking to you, Chloe?", I look back to find Anthony talking to a group of guests.

“That's Anthony Colucci, Mr. Colucci's father?", I say, seeing her eyes widen for a moment.