His Dangerous Love On Ice (Olivia and Zane) novel Chapter 161

Olive’s POV

1 stared at the notification on my phone again and again, my eyes widening with each re-read like maybe the words would change if I just looked at them enough times.

“Oh no, no, no…” I whispered under my breath, dropping the phone down on my desk like it had burned me as I grabbed the folder Jessica had left with me earlier, frantically flipping through the strategy documents she’d arranged for Antonio’s assessment.

Antonio’s image filled most of the pages, professional headshots, action shots from games, statistics and analytics that Jessica had clearly spent hours compiling.

My phone rang again and when I looked at the screen, Nina’s name was displayed in bold letters that felt almost accusatory.

I groaned out loud before picking up.

“Olive, I believe you must have seen the message by now,” Nina spoke in that perfectly professional tone that somehow always made me feel like I was being evaluated. “I trust you’re prepared for Antonio Mercer’s early arrival?”

Early arrival was putting it mildly, he wasn’t supposed to be here for another two days, and now he was apparently already in the building.

“Yes, I saw it,” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “ll be in the conference room in five minutes.”

“Make it three,” Nina said before ending the call, leaving me sitting there wondering how the hell I was supposed to pull together a presentation I wasn’t mentally prepared to give yet.

The second I opened my office door to head to the conference room, I was immediately faced with Jessica’s panicked expression, her eyes wide with what looked like genuine terror.

“Oh my god, Olive,” she said breathlessly, grabbing my arm like she needed physical support to stay upright. “Antonio is here. He came so much earlier than we planned and we’re not even fully ready for this and I don’t know if my presentation is good enough and-”

“Jessica,” I interrupted gently, placing my hand over hers. “Breathe.

We’re going to figure this out once we get in there. Just don’t panic, okay?”

She nodded frantically even though her eyes were still wide with apprehension, clearly not believing my words any more than I believed them myself.

“Sophia won’t make this easy for you,” Jessica whispered as we started walking toward the conference room together. “She’s still angry about what happened last time with Zane choosing your strategy over hers.

She’s going to try to sabotage this however she can.”

I wanted to tell Jessica she was being paranoid, but honestly, she was probably right.

Sophia had made it abundantly clear that she viewed me as an enemy, and having her brother choose my work over hers had only intensified whatever personal vendetta she’d decided to wage against me.

We reached the conference room and I took a deep breath before pushing open the door.

Sophia was already inside, sitting at the table with that particular expression on her face that screamed she was plotting something, but surprisingly, when she saw me walk in, she didn’t say anything…didn’t throw any cutting remarks or make any snide comments about my being there.

She just sat there quietly, completely ignoring my presence as if I didn’t exist.

For a second, I was genuinely surprised by her silence, had expected some kind of confrontation or at least a passive-aggressive comment about my relationship with her brother.

But then I realized I was actually glad for the moment of peace, even if it probably wouldn’t last long.

At least | could take a breath and mentally prepare for whatever was about to happen without having to defend myself against her attacks.

Nina was already seated at the head of the table, reviewing something on her tablet, and Stephanie was hovering near Sophia like always, playing the role of loyal minion to perfection.

I moved to take my seat, gesturing for Jessica to sit beside me, and we’d barely settled in when the door opened again.

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