Jason's POV
"Well, this is just the beginning. It is a pleasure to work with you, Mr. Cartwright."
I couldn't help but smile at the deal he had just proposed. The benefits are great, the plan is brilliant, and they align with my ideas.
It's perfect.
Mr. Russo stood up and began shaking Matt's and Chase's hands. I stood up from my seat, shook his hand politely, and then nodded to the rest of his team, including the advisors and lawyer. Matt started escorting them out of the room, and my eyes quickly snapped back to Chase, who slumped back in his seat with a heavy sigh.
What bothered me about him was that he had worn his dark shades the entire time and hadn't bothered to take them off during the meeting. I cleared my throat to get his attention, and he stood up again, facing me.
"You were late again today." He just nodded and stared at the portrait hanging on the wall near the door.
"I had to meet up with someone first. Thought it was important, but I guess I was wrong."
With his shades on, I couldn't tell if he was being serious or just joking around.
He had interrupted today's meeting by walking in as if he were just on time for a movie, and it kind of worried me what the Italian guests might think of his behavior. They could say we weren't serious enough with our offer.
"By the way, why do you still have your shades on? Are you hungover or something?"
I asked, making my way out of the room, and he slowly followed me.
"No, somebody clearly has an overprotective older brother who surprisingly called me this morning to talk, but guess what? He didn't want to talk, he wanted to give me this!"
He stopped in front of me and took off his glasses, and that's when I finally saw what he had been hiding behind them.
I almost burst out laughing when I saw the dark, purplish bruise surrounding his left eye.
"Whoa. Dude, that looks bad." He angrily put his shades back on and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, well, when it comes to Shawn Falcon, this is nothing compared to the 'bad' thing I did to his sister during our date."
My eyes widened in surprise at what he had just said.
"Shawn Falcon did that to you? And what exactly did you do to his sister that pissed him off?"
He stopped walking again, bowed his head to the floor, and sighed.
"I'm not in the mood to explain. She's unbelievable! I swear to God, I willâ"
I glanced at him in confusion when he suddenly stopped talking and looked straight ahead.
"You will what?" He slowly pulled his glasses down to the bridge of his nose and pointed at something in front of us. Or rather, at someone.
"You!" He exclaimed in a furious tone.
I followed his gaze, and my eyes landed on the blonde standing just a few feet ahead of us, staring back at us, mirroring Chase's expression.
What's going on?
Shay's POV
I stormed my way out, with many questions burning in my head, searching for a reason to understand why, of all places in the world, he would be here!
I was fully aware that he was hot on my trail, so I stopped in a corner where there weren't too many people around and turned to finally face him. He stopped two meters in front of me, his mouth set in a hard line, before pointing his finger at me.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here. What are you, spying on me or something?" I scoffed and folded my arms in front of me.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Now it was his turn to scoff in disbelief while running his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated.
"For your information, I work here. This is my company. Now, your turn. If you dare lie to me again, I'll have security escort you out immediately."
My arms went limp at my sides as I debated how to tell him the truth now that I knew he owned the place. He must be the other boss Sylvia had been talking about.
Lord, why?! Why does it have to be him of all people?!
"I... work here too." He started to laugh and wagged his finger at me again.
"Nice try. I'm calling security right now."
"No, wait!"
"You're not gonna lie your way out again this time."
"I'm serious, Chase. I really do work here. Believe it or not, you can even ask the Department of Registrar of Companies if you want. I'm not here to spy on you; like, c'mon, that would be the last thing I'd do with you. I'm telling you the truth."
He kept staring at me without saying a word. I tried to figure out if he believed me, but it was hard since he had his shades on.
"You have got to be kidding me! Seriously? Why would someone like you be working here, of all places? Hang on, does your family even know you're here working for me?" He asked, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"No, and they don't need to know. We'll keep it that way."
He smirked back and suddenly took off his sunglasses. That's when I saw the dark bruise around his eye.
"Yeah, I don't think so. Your brother will have to pay for this-" He pointed at his eye. "-and I think Mr. Falcon would like to know what his precious daughter is up to these days."
My fists clenched tightly at my sides as I tried to come up with a deal or something to keep him from revealing my secret.
"Look, Chaseâ"
"I don't think we're close enough for first-name basis." I bit my tongue and forced a smile.
"Mr. Evans, I think we should just let this go, just this once. I promise I won't be any trouble to you, and I'll stay out of your way. You just have to promise to keep my secret. Do we have an agreement?"
He smirked and folded his arms across his chest.
"And what makes you think I'll agree to that?"
I pretended to think for a second, then shrugged.
"Because I don't think you'll want my brother to repeat the same thing on your other eye. I'm sure you know by now what he's clearly capable of, so if you don't want a 'permanent bruise,' we should just agree right now and keep this conversation between us. What do you say?"
His smile slipped, and his jaw tightened. It took him a couple of minutes to blow out an exasperated breath and glare back at me.
"Fine, whatever! Just stay out of my sight, and we won't have a problem."
With that, he turned and stormed back inside.
I let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the bench beside the flower garden behind me. I thought I was going to be screwed today, but I was actually glad I handled the situation so quickly.
But that doesn't change the fact that he still owns the place and that he's also my boss. If there's one thing I know I'm good at, it's avoiding people who need to be avoided.
So, Chase Evans, staying out of your sight isn't going to be a problem at all.