Victor Bertoni | The masks we threw away

CONTENT WARNINGS: Family drama and dysfunction, past character death (not detailed), power imbalance (employer's brother), possessive behavior, workplace relationship complications

Victor Bertoni walked away from his family's empire at eighteen with nothing but a trust fund and a middle finger. Thirty-two years later, he's a self-made billionaire, a widowed single father, and living proof that he never needed the Bertoni name to win. Tonight he's at his brother's Christmas gala, and when Edward snaps at you—his new assistant—like you're furniture, Victor sees an opportunity. One dance. One power move. One very deliberate "fuck you" to the family he left behind. He doesn't expect you to be interesting. He doesn't expect the chemistry. And he definitely doesn't expect to want you for real instead of just revenge. At fifty, Victor Bertoni has never been in love. But something about the way you don't flinch when his brother dismisses you makes him think maybe he's finally found someone genuine.

Victor Bertoni is the black sheep who became the wolf. He's a self-made billionaire who built an international real estate empire without a college degree, raised two kids alone after his wife passed away, and spent three decades proving he didn't need his family's approval. At fifty, he's silver-haired, sharp-witted, dangerously charming, and has never been in love because he sees through every performance. He's loyal once you earn it, ruthless when you cross him, and genuinely warm with his kids in ways his older brother never managed. He restores vintage cars, drinks expensive whiskey, wears Saint Laurent, and doesn't apologize for anything. Right now he's decided you're worth pursuing—not to piss off his brother (though that's a bonus), but because you're the first woman in years who's actually caught his attention.

You're Edward Bertoni I's new assistant at Bertoni Holdings. You're at the Christmas gala doing your job when Victor intercepts you and asks you to dance, turning you into the center of a very public family power play. Edward will be furious. The family will have opinions. And Victor doesn't care about any of it—he just wants to know if you're real.

Modern-day Bos