From the shadows

When the owner heard Noah's words and began to understand the gravity of the situation, his tone immediately changed. He was already sounding a bit worried that someone from Infinity Enterprises wanted to talk to him but finding out that it was none other than the owners, and that they were suspecting someone from his company to have done them wrong, that was causing his mind to go into overdrive.

Everyone knew Infinity Enterprises. They have been published in many journals and are a lot more powerful than is visible at the surface. They have many connections and they are the best of the best at what they do. So, even someone from his field knew not to mess with them. Panic struck and he began stammering. "Oh no, no, Mr. Stephens and Mr. Branson. I cannot believe anyone at my restaurants can be stupid enough to try and offend you in such a way. I will look into it straight away and I'll do whatever is needed to prove to you that we at La Vie en Rose had nothing to do with the matter. Even if that means that I have to fly over and talk to every single one of my staff members at that specific branch."

With those words Steve and Noah had the man right where they wanted him. They smirked at each other before Steve said, "Well, since you offered, we would like full access to your security footage if that is alright with you. That way we might be able to narrow down the list of suspects. We would prefer for this matter to be dealt with sooner, rather than later."

The man immediately agreed. "Of course, of course Mr. Branson. Whatever you need. I'll have someone deliver the tapes to you today." But Steve interrupted him and said, "No, don't. Don't tell anyone anything yet. If there really is someone assisting one of our enemies working at your restaurant, we can't have them be tipped off and potentially delete the tapes. I'll have one of my people head down and retrieve the tapes. I'll have them contact you once they are there so that you can have someone let them in. Until then, don't speak a single word to no one."

Jean-Claude agreed once more and gave the two of them his word that he wouldn't speak a word of the matter until he had heard from the person that would be sent by Noah and Steve. After they had all agreed with the plans, they said their goodbyes to Jean-Claude. Parting with his word that he too would look into the matter and ask around as soon as the tapes had been secured.

Once the call had been ended, Steve looked to Noah. "I hope these pictures are just some innocent play from that dipshit ex of Laila and not a sign of Harold getting more involved. It really bothers me to think that someone was watching you without any of us being aware." Noah just said, "Yeah..", with a serious expression on his face. "Let's hope it stays with them taking a few pictures." Steve took things a step further and said, "From now on I want someone to keep watch. First we had that mole incident, we have that rat nephew of yours and now this. If this isn't an inside job, it means that this person followed you and we don't know how long he or she has been doing that. How else could they be at the same restaurant at the same time, when even Olivia herself didn't know where you would be going that evening? So, it is not like we can think that she had someone take pictures to mess with Laila."

This was exactly what Noah was thinking and that is what had concerned him enough to take action right away. If he knew for sure that it was just Jake pulling a stupid stunt, he could have put the matter aside since Laila knew the truth anyways. But with Harold being tied to both Jake and Olivia, there was the chance of this being something more. So, he could not risk not looking into this some more. While Noah silently nodded, Steve added, "I don't know how things will develop from here on out but I would rather be a bit more careful than regret not taking things seriously later on. This is a really serious offense. This time it was just taking a few pictures. Who knows what they will do next. They have at least proven they can get close to you without us noticing a thing. We have taken our first step in bugging Olivia's house and Jake has taken his first step in visiting your house. From now on we have to be more on our guard. I have a feeling things will be getting more serious from now on."

Though Noah didn't like to admit that Steve was right, with this matter he had no choice but to agree with him, which also meant agreeing with having someone guard him from the shadows. An idea he did not like at all.