Chapter Nineteen

Nicholas's POV:

After dealing with the Lopez problem, I flew back to Seattle to continue with my business. She must think that I was no longer in the picture because there has been no communication from my end.

She has heard nothing but silence, and that must be a relief. In a way, it made me laugh and only made the game more interesting. When she least expected, that is when I will strike with full force.

I got an invitation to give a speech at the graduation ceremony of one boring high school in Texas. Normally, I would have rejected it since I got tons of such offers. When I noticed that it was her school, I accepted the offer.

As early as the first stroke of light the next day, I got ready. I would say that more than the owners of the ceremony, I was too excited. It wasn't my intention to take her yet, I still wanted her to wait for more. The uncertainty must be killing her, and it made me excited more.

As her eyes landed on mine, she became pale, as if she had seen a ghost. It only made me more interested in playing with her emotions. I rendered the speech and concluded to watch from afar.

Today was her big day, I was going to let her enjoy it. After the ceremony, she moved to an after-party with her friends. At the party, she kept lurking around one ugly-looking boy who I knew was hitting on her.

"Take me back to the office," I instructed the driver as soon as I got a message that a potential buyer had arrived.

The anger that boiled inside me could push me to kill someone at that moment. I don't know if I was upset because she was flirting with someone or because I regretted giving her breathing space.

It can't be. There was no way a mere slut could affect me in this manner. She was nothing more than a plaything, and playthings don't offend their owner.

My men had surrounded the perimeter, making sure that it was safe.

"Robert, my good friend," Maksim greeted, rising to embrace me briefly. Maksim was a bulky, tall, blonde in his early forties. The only space you could see was his eyes. The rest of his body had been covered in tattoos. He was a walking artwork.

"Let's get to business," I said, breaking off the fake predatory hug.

Men like Maksim always had an ulterior motive up their sleeves. First, they try to make you comfortable and when you let your guard down, they strike. That is what I have discovered in years of involvement with this line of work. There was no need to make it look like we were friends, that is unnecessary.

"Okay, my friend," he gave his chin a jerk and his men brought briefcases containing dollar bills. "Can I see the product?"

"Yes," I raised my hand and his truckload of guns arrived.

I had chosen this location which would be easy to take care of Maksim if decides to double-cross me. It was an abandoned warehouse that was bought and rebuilt to be one of my offices. It had cameras everywhere and an automatic self-destruct system built into it.

Whistling, "krasivyye mladentsy," he said. Meaning, beautiful babies. "I would take all of them."

"Then the price doubles," I said sternly.

"Sure," he snapped his fingers and his men brought more suitcases containing dollar bills.

We exchanged. His ammunition got loaded in speed boats and I had a helicopter move the money. The transaction went smoothly and everyone went their separate ways. That was good. It doesn't happen often. Other times, the buyer would get greedy or disagree with increasing the funds and would want to take both the ammunition and his payment.

Exhausted, I slouched onto the leather seat in my office and poured myself a glass of whiskey. Smelling the harsh content, I gulped it down. Her image kept coming into my head.

The way she had been fearless and stood up to me, and, the way she moved in the tiny gown she wore to the club. I tried so much to get rid of her thought, but it just wasn't working. I kept thinking about her until I could no longer take it.

*****

Just like every other day, I handled a few businesses back in the office. One which I was very much distracted because of her.

"Zack, secure my acquisition today," I instructed as I sat in the office.

He looked at me confused. Right, I needed to specify because we handled a lot within just a day.

"Talia Jacobs," I said, my face unreadable.

"Of course," he responded, a sound of pity underlying his reply.

Thankfully, the rest of the day went by in a blur. I was in the process of signing a document when a message chimed on my phone.

Zack: secured, it read.

All of a sudden, I felt a stream of enthusiasm rushing through every nerve in my body.

I couldn't get myself to stay. I had my new assistant tidy up the rest of my activities and I left to meet my new plaything.