Emily laughed. “I’m quite sure it can. Vonnie
could probably run everything, or most of it, by herself at this point.”
Derian chuckled. “You’re absolutely right.”
“Although now, until my visa situation is
straightened out, I don’t want to leave the country.”
“Sorry?” Derian frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, it’s just some kind of snafu,” Emily
said quickly. She hadn’t intended to bring her problems to Derian. “It’ll get
sorted out as soon as things settle down a bit.”
“What kind of snafu?” Derian said
insistently.
“Henrietta was just telling me, right before
it happened,” Emily said, “there may be difficulty renewing my visa.
Immigration policies have gotten a lot more restrictive, and unless…until the labor
application is approved, I’m a little bit in limbo.”
“Who’s handling it?”
“The agency’s attorneys, but I confess, I
don’t actually know who.” Emily gasped. “Oh God, I hope it’s not Donatella.”
“Donatella?” Derian frowned. “What has she
got to do with anything?”
“Oh, do you know her?”
Derian snorted. “Donatella has been around as
long as I have, I think. She’s something of a hatchet man for my father—she
takes care of trimming the fat, in his words—weeding out personnel and
retooling acquisitions that aren’t producing.” She made a wry face. “I used to
think there was something personal between my father and her, and maybe there
is, but that’s not something I really want to think about. So what about her?”
Emily had a hard time imagining Donatella
Agnelli intimate with anyone, but then, her idea of intimacy was a lot more
than just sex. “It’s really not something you need to be worried about right
now.”
Derian studied her for a long moment. “Why is
that?”
“You’re here for Henrietta, and once she’s
well, your job is over. The agency isn’t your problem.”
“How do you know Donatella?” Derian said,
ignoring Emily’s attempts to change the subject.
“She showed up this morning at the agency and
says she’s in charge.”
“Martin’s idea, I’m sure,” Derian said.
“I didn’t think to ask exactly where she came
from. She was already ensconced in Henrietta’s office when I arrived, and it
didn’t occur to me that she might not belong there.”
“The lines of command in Winfield Enterprises
are pretty tangled, but Martin and Henrietta are siblings, as you know, and
inherited all of the family’s holdings when my grandparents passed on.
Henrietta didn’t care to be involved, so I understand, in anything other than
the agency. She’d already been there from the time she got out of college. In
order to keep the peace, my father went along with it, and they basically separated
the business interests between the two of them.”