I walked out of the boardroom with more confidence than ever and a smile on my lips. This was insane, like the previous meeting; I aced this meeting too, irrespective of how big the bloody problem was. For the love of God, money has been defrauded, and if the person is not found, the company will be declared bankrupt, and still, I was able to shut everyone's mouth. This is just unbelievable. Yeah, I had super support, and most of the talking was done by them. Hey, no complaints; if being silent solves everything, then I am glad to shut my mouth.
"Wipe that smile, Rowan; this is not over yet." My dad had to ruin it. "Where were you? I don't know how many times I visited your place and tried to reach you." I can't ignore him as I did for Davis. "Somewhere safe, Dad." "You ran from the problem, Rowan; don't coat it in something else." "Still, I solved the problem with both the press and the directors. Look at them, shut their mouth; that's what you wanted, right?" I smirked as I watched my dad roll his eyes. "You have yet to resolve the major problem, so wipe the smirk off your face." I grinned at that. "It will also be taken care of in time; let me breathe till then."
"Baby." Hearing her voice was enough; my breath hitched, and I inwardly shivered a little. For God's sake, a guy could never get a break, especially from this freak. "You need to talk to her; don't run like always." My dad threatened. She hugged my dad and shook Davis's hand, and they both departed, leaving me alone with her. I gulped as I watched her, and her lips twitched as she saw me. When the hell will I get rid of her for good?
"How are you, baby? I missed you." I averted my eyes, like a kid trying to ignore her existence, as if that's even possible. "What do you want, Shreya?" "I just want to talk, Rowan, nothing else. Shall we go to a more private place?" I took a step backwards at her invitation. No way in the hell I am going anywhere with her. "No one is here; we can talk here, Shreya. If you want more privacy, we can go to our cabin." She chuckled, her gaze scrutinising me from head to toe. "No need to be afraid, Rowan. I promise, today we are just talking." I groaned at her taunt. "If my mind serves me right, we spoke, and I cleared things with you. What's there more to talk about?" I spoke in a sharp tone. "Honey, trust me, there is so much that you need to know. How much I love you, want you, and..." She paused; for the first time, she paused something in front of me—that's a big change. Yeah, that's it." She spoke; the words were hard when they left her mouth, and I chuckled watching her. "Should I remind you that I am not single anymore?" She was displeased to hear those words but tried to mask it with a smile. "I know, Rowan. I want to just talk with you." The vibe is not good from her; she's too desperate just to talk. "I should take permission from my boyfriend." She glared at that. "We are just talking, Rowan, nothing else." She was persistent, and no, I am not foolish. "I will call Dante." I took my cell, but she stopped me. "No, no, don't call him. It's ok; I will postpone this. Anyway, I have an important meeting that needs my presence." Even a chameleon couldn't change colour so fast as she could. "Could you walk with me to my car?" She spoke deliberately slow and soft, batting her eyelashes. She knows her game, so do I, as I am with Dante.
As we started to move, my guards followed without wasting a second. "Do you need guards everywhere? You are just walking to my car." She spoke in anger and irritation. "I should ask Dante's permission to get rid of them. Do you want me to call him?" "You can fucking go back; I can walk myself." She started walking without waiting for a response from me. What exactly has she planned this time? How can she come up with some or other thing whenever we meet up? God, she is innovative as hell in a fucked-up way.
I started walking back to my cabin. As I entered, the morning scene was repeated. I groaned as I occupied the chair. "I need to work; you people need to get out," I informed them as I started the laptop. "You won't explain shit to us?" Davis spoke in irritation. "There is nothing to explain; things are taken care of. That's all you are getting from me." Let's accept the damn fact; even I don't know what the hell was happening. I am just following whatever Dante is coming up with like a pro. Well, I don't want to dig deeper either; who cares? I just want to live in peace. "Rowan." My dad started. "What exactly is happening? What's this merger about?" "It's just a diversion I came up with, and that's it, nothing else," I proudly said. "Your grandfather will be dead against it, even if it's just a cover-up." Like I ever cared about his likes and dislikes. "You can console him, Dad." "Rowan." He gritted his teeth at me. "You have just given a damn statement that doesn't solve anything." "But I have bought us some time to solve the issue. Let's see, Dad, I am working on it." "You mean Dante is working on it." Davis barged in. "Fuck off." Also, I showed him the middle finger for extra effect.
We were silent; Danial was silently working on his laptop, not butting into our conversation. My dad took a long breath. "So, you won't discuss things with us?" "There is nothing to discuss, as I am still working on it," I stressed the last word so that they would get the memo to back off. "Well, I hope you know that because of you, this whole mess has been created." I had a good retort on the tip of my tongue but held back out of respect. I could show some respect at least some of the time. "Well, then let me be the one who takes my company out of the mess," I spoke in a sharp and confident tone. As I said, the company was mine boosted some energy into me. I can do this, well, with the help of Dante, of course. Who cares? Outcomes matter. "You both should leave me the hell alone. I am already stressed working on the mess I have created, and I need to come up with something sooner." I spoke to them too harshly; kind of, they deserve it. My dad and Davis glared at me and unwillingly got up from the chair. "Where are you living now?" "At my boyfriend's place?" My dad really needs to stop provoking. "You moved in just like that; it's been what months?" Davis's and my eyes met at that; I wanted to laugh at the situation, but my dad should be haunted by the idea of my boyfriend. "What can I say, Dad? Things clicked just like that." I answered him with a smile on my face. "I know this is all bullshit; let me know how long you're going to keep up." I nodded at that; I was eager to find out, too. "Well, goodbye then." I waved at them; by grunting, they exited my cabin.
Danial and Danial started to discuss things that happened in my absence, and I also tried to give him a glimpse of what was going on. I explained to him briefly as much as I knew. He nodded in understanding and clarified a few things. Danial is easy to deal with, not because he was my personal assistant but because he gets me in and out of trouble and was always there for me in every circumstance.
"We found him." As he disconnected the call, Thomas informed me. "Who is he?" "Sawyer's uncle, the same person who was director of Desmond Company." "Where is he?" "In the middle of the forest, enjoying luxury life in a mansion." "Who owns it?" "Sawyer." Of course, either it should be Meredith or Sawyer, but Sawyer's involvement is more. "How much can we recover?" "Only 50 or 60% of the money." I nodded at that. "It could balance Desmond's share for now, but I don't think it would help in raising the share value." Thomas hummed at that. "What did he do with the remaining amount?" "Gambled." I nodded at that.
We stayed silent, both engrossed in thoughts. "Considering his transactions, I think we could only recover 50% of the amount or below, too." I hummed at that. "What should we do now? Should we drag him and hand him over to the police?" I pondered that. "Not now, but please block him and also prevent him from spending further." Thomas nodded at that.
"Do we have anything against Sawyer's family?" Thomas thought about it. "Only a few videos of Tristian having sex. His parents' affair videos." I sighed at that. "That won't be sufficient to destroy them." "What about their business?" "The hotel chain is merged with Merdith's, so we can't touch that, but we can try to take over their construction, and again, that's not enough. Their grip on the oil business is strong, so I don't prefer that yet." I started tapping my fingers rhythmically, pondering Thomas's statement. "They have built a strong connection over the past few years; touching them is not that easy." I nodded at that. "What are you looking for?" "Something solid against them." Thomas nodded at that. "Let me see what I can do." "Probably shuffling through everything once again, we might find something. They are not that clean." Thomas nodded at that. "I will instruct our men." I nodded.
"What about Merdith?" "I have plotted something; it needs to be executed." "Shreya needed to be dealt with sooner before she does something crazy." "Yeah, I am waiting for the right time." He rolled his eyes at that. "Rowan has given a statement, and I am handling the media." I hummed at that. "You should handle your dad." I huffed at that. I should, shouldn't I, like always.
I entered the mansion and walked straight to my room as usual. Rowan was watching something on the laptop and smiled broadly as he saw me. "I aced it today." I chuckled at that. "Things went too well with Shreya, too." I stopped what I was doing and faced Rowan. "What about Shreya?" "She wanted to talk with me more privately but couldn't push me like before," Rowan spoke proudly. "More private?" I tried to cross-confirm. "Yeah, she wanted to take me to a restaurant or something, I guess." I don't think so, and I didn't loud my thoughts. "You are taking guards everywhere you are going." I cautioned him, and he was taken aback by hearing my voice. "Is she that dangerous?" I wanted to nod at that, but that only made him more terrified, and he would not leave the mansion from tomorrow. I can't take that risk; his presence matters the most in the present situation. "Nothing that I could handle, don't worry. You have too much attention due to the scandal, so." "Oh, ok." He nodded.
I freshened up and joined him. "Are you tired?" Rowan asked me in a soft voice; indeed, I was. "No." "Shall we watch the series? It's a crime thriller, and it's interesting according to the review." I should have known. I don't know how he was relaxed so much at a time like this, and I don't think anyone was capable of chilling in the situation like this. He is lucky, as he looks so relaxed, and I like to take the credit only a little. My interference had some effect on him. He had dumped everything on me, acting accordingly, and I am happy to help. "Ok," I responded to him, and his energy boosted after hearing my answer. "You are not sleepy, right?" He questioned me once again. "Play the series, Rowan." "Ok." Everything was at his fingertips; without digging, he started the series. He had planned, I think.
He grabbed the popcorn, which was on the side of the table, which I didn't notice, and kept it on his lap. "Are you ok to watch this way, or do you want to go to the mini theatre?" His eyes went wide hearing my words. "I should explore your mansion, but no, let's watch here; it's cosy." I hummed, at that.
We both leaned back; he kept the laptop in the centre. By covering a blanket on him, he started the first episode. By the middle of the series, he leaned too much on my side. The closeness and the scent of his body were too much for me to bear. I tried to make a distance, but where could I really go? I was on the edge, so only the floor was the option. He didn't take note of how I was feeling around him, too engrossed watching the series. I totally forgot about the series, and my mind stopped working. He was commenting in between, making various actions in some scenes, grumbling and cursing. I stifled a yawn as he kept asking about me getting sleep, and in no time my eyes felt heavy. Well, I tried my best to be his companion, but my sleep was always interrupting.
"Dante, what do you think?" I repeated the question twice, but I didn't get a response. I turned toward Dante, and he was asleep. This is turning into a habit. Why the hell will he say something and do something else? If he could have informed me, I would not have dragged him. I groaned as I watched him, but as usual, he was dead to the world. The way he slept, tomorrow his neck would be a bitch all the damn day. I had an urge to leave him that way for sleeping again, again on me, but I am not that cruel. I closed my laptop as I lost interest in watching the series anymore. I dragged Dante to the sleeping position, who didn't flinch a little. I huffed at that. Good night, Rowan. I muttered, and as usual, sleep consumed me.