Chapter 639: Sneaky

Through Ubi, the jewelry line she collaborated with the Lee Group on, Mina was invited to a charity event meant to raise money for new books and learning supplies for schools within low tax bracket districts. She was meant to give a speech at the event, and she wanted every second of it to count. She also wanted to look her best because she knew that the attention span of the people she would be speaking to was short. If she wanted to keep their attention, it would have to be visually. They likely would only hear half of what she said, but it was the private conversations that meant more, and Mina was willing to repeat her speech as many times as necessary.

Mina dug through her closet, almost feeling as though all her dresses had gone missing. She considered asking President Lee about it, but they had already travelled down that path, and he claimed that he had never removed clothing from her closet. Mrs. Ruby was still recovering, so she was not around, and Ellie was still playing nurse to her mother, so that left Mina to call Mills, who picked out something way too revealing.

"Mills, this is a speech about improving education standards in poverty-stricken areas; not a nightclub."

"Will there be music?" Mills asked, and Mina laughed at her racy friend. She chose not to answer the question and gestured for Mills to follow her into President Lee's study.

"Are you busy?" Mina asked. She could see the man writing but he was always writing, and she had seen his notes, most of them were tasks that could be handed down for someone else to take care of, and with a lot of persuasion, she was able to partially break the man out of his micromanaging habit.

"I'm just writing down what has already been completed for the week." Mina chuckled and strode up to the man's desk. He moved the paper just as she reached to grab it. "Okay, I lied. I am compiling a list of things I want to double check."

"President Lee, you are torturing yourself and your employees. Do you know how terrified they become when you go over their work?"

"You told me, and I'm trying to change, but Mina this is money."

"And wasted time. Your company only hires the best, there are better things you could be doing right now. Like tracking your financial records. I noticed thirty discrepancies the last time I checked."

"When did you check?" Ian asked. He had only shown Mina his books a few times, and those were from years prior.

"Don't leave things on your desk if you don't want me to look at them." Mina heard Mills hum in the background, and she changed the subject, not wanting to waste any more time. "Anyway, that is not why I came in here. I need your opinion on this dress." Mina held up the garment and President Lee looked back at Mills, who shrugged at the accusation in his eyes.

"The conversation we were just having is not over," Ian warned. He did not mind that she had gone through his things. He too had noticed the pushed numbers, but it totaled less than two hundred dollars in losses, and it was likely that lunch was purchased, and receipts were never logged. Still, the fact that she did not tell him her findings was something serious. "Where are all your other dresses?" Ian asked, coming back to Mina's question.

"I can't find them."

"Did you tell the staff not to move your last season items into storage?" Mina made a face; she had not done that because she had not known to do it. "Either you go shopping or you go down to the basement to search through storage, because I'm almost positive that is where your things are." Mina and Mills exchanged glances, and both women darted out of the study, making Ian stand to chase them.

When he caught up with the women, Ian asked them why they were running, and Mills told him that they had both wanted to see the basement for a long time. Mina believed there was torture rooms in it, while Mills believed it had a secret vault. Instead of finding it funny, Ian found himself wondering if he had made a mistake in the construction of his home. He had made the basement storage, but Mina and Mills had better ideas of what the space could have been used for and made a mental note to call a contractor to see if it were not too late to change things.

Finally at the entrance to the basement, both women paused, turning to him as they clearly expected some sort of password to be necessary, but Ian just pushed one corner of the door and it slid open. The idea was to keep things simple for staff who went up and down with their hands full. They could use their feet to get the door to open, and after five minutes, it would automatically close on its own.

"Not everything has a password," Ian said and both women looked at each other as if communicating that there were other rooms they wanted to investigate. "Most of them do," Ian clarified, and he watched the curious expressions that had been on their faces fall.

Neither woman was the first to enter the elevator that led to the sublevel. They waited for him to go first, and when they stepped into the area filled with clothes they gasped before darting to either side of the room. Ian had to keep reminding himself that both women came from nothing, and what they were seeing was something they had only dreamed about. Even Luna, who spent very little time in his home, had tons of clothing in his storage, and those were the things Mina and Mills were rummaging through.

"President Lee, what happens to this stuff?' Mina asked. She picked up a suit that looked like it might fit her father well with small adjustments, and she wondered if she could have it.

"I have the fabric treated once every three months." Mina waited for more, but when she realized that was the end of the man's answer her mouth fell open.

"I'm taking it all," she replied. Ian stuffed his hands in his pockets and raised a brow at the woman.

"For?"

"I'll take some to my parents, and the rest I will give to some of the women from Free. Mills, do you want anything?" Mina asked as if it were her right.

"I want to send some of these things to Majha."

"You are not sending my things to criminals," Ian replied.

"They are no different from me. He just got a license to open a slot machine casino. He could use suits like these to help make him and his men look more professional. It would draw in more tourists," Mina responded.

"You've been in contact with them?" Mina tilted her head at President Lee, who asked the question with a hint of agitation in his tone.

"I couldn't just leave those children alone. They needed help." In some ways, Ian was relieved, but it suddenly made sense why she had no money.

"Did you sponsor them?" Mina stiffened. With the way the man was speaking, she felt as though she had done something wrong, but she could not see her mistake. All she had done was have a conversation with a local politician about the decreased crime and increase in tax payments that could be attributed to approving Majha's application.

Mills was quiet as she took in the interaction between President Lee and Mina. The woman looked perplexed, but Mills knew that she had taken a risk in lending her name to a gang, but she also knew that Mina did not see the men as anything other than kindred. She genuinely believed that they were good people forced into bad situations, which was true for a lot of them, but some just preferred to be feared.

"President Lee, can you just tell me what I did wrong?" Ian rubbed his forehead. He knew that Mina sympathized with criminals to a point that was annoying.

"Just tell me what the arrangement is so I can run it by Cam. I stay away from politics but if it comes out that you used the Presidential Mark to secure a business deal it will look bad.

"There was no mention of the mark. In exchange for Majha locating and helping the children who ran the sand art stand, I put together a proposal for him. I then explained it to the Commissioner of Permits and Licenses. He agreed to the plan but limited it to one card table and slot machines to prove that the environment will be safe for tourists.

"Mina, do you have a stake in the business?" Mina flinched.

"President Lee, that is personal information."

"And my finance records aren't?"

"You made the decision to leave them out. You can't blame me for looking." President Lee's eyes went wide, and Mills had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. "I'm sorry, but I keep my numbers up here for a reason." Mina tapped her skull and President Lee narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fine, but you will not send any of these things to them." Mina opened her mouth, but President Lee continued. "And you will not give them to anyone else who will send them for you." It was Mina's turn to be annoyed.

"President Lee, you are just being selfish right now," Mina said as she crossed her arms over her chest in the way that Ian usually found adorable, but not this time.

"And you are being sneaky."

----

After her petty squabble with President Lee, Mina found the perfect gown to wear and after doing her makeup, she pressed curls into her hair, pinning back one side with a pearl hair pin. She had also pulled out several items to send to her father, so she was in a good mood, despite President Lee having called her sneaky. She had not been hiding anything, she was just exercising caution. She had a stake in Goldfinger, the name of the small casino, but it was not in her name. If she revealed that information it would alert President Lee to her offshore account, which was her get away stash. She needed him to think that she was living off the money under her bed, and while she relied on it heavily, it was nowhere near the amount she had hidden away.

Stepping out of the car and into the venue, Mina was ushered straight to the stage, where she was expected to speak. The person who was supposed to open the speeches had come down with some sort of sickness and it had bumped her up to the first position, something Mina was not prepared for, but she was glad her speech did not include any pauses for her to draw back references from the person before.

Mina looked through the crowd and saw Drax and Mills flirting with one another in a corner, and not too far away, she saw President Lee and Miss Lisa, which immediately alarmed her. She felt her heart begin to race as she thought about the implications, but she was not sure what she was feeling. She did not like to see the man talking to his ex-girlfriend, but at the same time, she did not know why. If they got back together, it would stop President Lee from thinking he had feelings toward her, but it would also open her up to future torment from the pair.

"You look like you are about to be sick."

"Ash," Mina said excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm working, but I saw your expression change, and I wanted to cheer you up."