Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Vega POV.

Jake got to my room before me and when I arrived, he was cradling Markus who was groaning on the floor.

"What happened," I asked, my gaze frantically, looking around the closet.

"There's no one in there. I tripped that's all", he grunted, like he hated the thought of being seen as vulnerable.

But it was a freaking relief because I knew I and Jake had thought something worse had happened.

Jake looked at me. "It's pretty bad, so we might have to go to the hospital".

I nodded, grabbing my stuff as he helped him get to his feet. I got the files I would be needing for the meeting I had in the morning, then my laptop, and I was done.

"I'm so sorry you got hurt, Markus".

"It's fine. We'll do anything to make sure you're safe.".

Jake nodded in agreement. "Especially because we don't want you murdered in your own house like Nicole, I still get shudders when I think about it".

He was right and even tho she'd been my bully, I wasn't cool with the way she was murdered, and that too by her best friend. It was absurd. And they still haven't been able to find Jenny, even though Arielle pumped all her money into it and I wondered where it was she was hiding all these years.

"Let's go" Jake prompted and I nodded, feeling out of it.

Jake gave me a ride to Andrianna's house, then left for the hospital with Markus.

Andrianna was drinking at her bar when I got in. Joey walked towards me, his face drawn tight with worry.

"She won't stop drinking".

"I'll take care of it" I assured and he looked relieved to hear that.

"Thanks, Miss Vega, her parents will be arriving tomorrow and it won't be too good if she's hungover," he said and everything suddenly made sense.

I nodded in understanding. "I'll make her stop. I promise" I said, choosing to forget about my problem or the fear that lurked in my head.

Andrianna laughed as soon as she saw me. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Jake called but I couldn't get what he was mumbling about, you'd think he could speak more clearly on the phone but he can't".

"Or maybe your ears are just not working right after all those drinks you've been chugging," I said, taking her glass from her even as she protested. "You need to stop drinking so much".

"Come on, I'm not even shit-faced drunk yet, because if I was, there will be no way we would be having this conversation. I'm sure Joey told you my parents will be here tomorrow morning, so I need to be hungover to piss them off, cause I just can't stand them".

"But why? They're your parents, they're only checking in on you cause they care about you".

She burst out laughing like I'd said the funniest thing. "They're not checking in on me cause they care about me. They just want to talk about Ray and how we need to speed up our marriage".

"Ray? I thought you two broke up after he was discharged from the hospital three years ago".

"Yes, and I thought I was done with that too, but he's been slowly building up his rank recently and now he's like the most suitable candidate... I freaking hate my life" she broke off with a yell, then sent the bottles on the floor crashing.

I rushed toward her and patted her back slowly until she calmed down.

"It's gonna be fine and I promise to be right here with you when they get here".

"You can't. You have to meet with the investor tomorrow or we're going to have serious problems at the company" she reminded and I wanted to smack myself for forgetting about it. "I'll be fine, but I'll just have one more bottle ok".

"No more Andria, you need to drink water instead," I said, expecting her to argue but she just nodded and let me lead her to her room.

********

Getting prepared for work and telling Andrianna about everything that happened took less than thirty minutes and at the end of it, she was more paranoid than I was.

"Don't argue about this Vega, you need bodyguards. Jake is right, you're a very famous billionaire, someone might be obsessed with you or something".

"You all keep screaming billionaire like I have such insane money in my bank account".

"You don't but the company is worth more than that and with this investment, we're going to be on top of our game again, so you have to be more careful".

I nodded, too tired to argue. "Fine, do whatever you want to. And about the terms that this investor stated in the contract, I don't think I am cool with it".

Andrianna stood up from where she sat, placed her hands on my shoulder then looked me in the eyes. "We already talked about this, and I think it's pretty reasonable. He says he's only going to invest if you give him the chance to run the company as the CEO for five months, I think that's a pretty good deal for the millions he's going to be pouring into our company".

"I know that, but I think it's a bit shady that he also included the fact that he would be making most of the major decisions, where does that put me".

"You're still the CEO Vega, all the workers know that. This little clause shouldn't hinder us from taking this amazing deal and we need it too if we're planning to survive our competition".

I exhaled, knowing she was right. "It's cool. I'm just feeling a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Maybe I'm just still paranoid about the break-in last night".

Andrianna agreed with me. "Exactly, now take a deep breath and sign that contract so we can take the company to a greater height, and maybe I can get my parents off my back if I can bring in a lot of cash".

I laughed, despite the serious conversation we were having. "It's always cash with you".

Andria smirked. "And it's always working with you. Now go get that deal, and also leave the house before my parents get here"

"Fine, I won't be here when the executioners arrive".

"Ha ha, very funny" Andrianna said, rolling her eyes.

"See you after work, and don't break anything ok," I told her because one of her tendencies, when she got mad was to toss or throw things. She nodded unconvincingly, but I was late, so I wasn't going to get into it with her.

*******

BOARD ROOM

"It's been an hour, if they were going to be late, they should have had the courtesy to call in advance and tell us about it" Linda, one of the directors complained and the other shareholders nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure they'll be here soon, maybe they got into some trouble on their way here".

"I hope so because If he's planning on becoming CEO in your place, he shouldn't start by giving us a bad impression", Eugene pointed out and everyone nodded again.

"Like I said" I paused, looking at each of them and hoping to put them at ease. "He'll be here soon, and then you all can go back to your work. Let's just wait another thirty minutes and if he's still not here, then we'll reschedule" I said because we didn't have a choice. It was either that or start looking for new investors, or take an insane amount of loan which I didn't need because it would be a dark cloud that would take years to clear off.

"We'll wait" they agreed and I smiled. The clock ticked by, the sound of it increasing as the stipulated minute I gave drew nearer.

My assistant, Maya walked into the room and the others looked at her expectantly, but she came straight to me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked and she leaned in towards me, then whispered.

"The investor sent his lawyer. He said something came up and he can't make it today. He said to give the contract to the lawyer and that he's going to return it signed".

I gritted my teeth. "But that wasn't the agreement. He was supposed to sign it in person" I explained, then sighed because it was no use. Maya wasn't the mysterious investor, so there was no point in taking my anger out on her. "Tell the lawyer that I don't agree with that. If he's not here for the signing, then we don't need his money in this company" I decided. Maya's eyes widened but she must have seen that I looked serious because she nodded and left.

I turned to face the board members who were already staring in my direction, waiting for an update.

"We'll wait until the minutes are up and then we'll call it a day and we might also not reschedule a meeting," I said and Linda nodded in agreement.

The time went by and Maya texted that she'd already delivered my message and that the lawyer was talking on the phone.

"It's been thirty minutes already," Linda said, her chin pointing at the clock.

"Thank you, Linda, well like I said, this meeting will not be rescheduled, so let's just start from scratch and start looking for new investors".

The door opened all of a sudden and the first thing I see is an expensive pair of designers shoes stepping through it, then custom-made pants with the nicest blue material I'd ever laid eyes on, then a matching suit on a white shirt that stretched over what seemed to be a very muscular chest, a simple gold chain wove around his neck and when I got to his face I froze in my seat, my heartbeat going from zero to a hundred in seconds. He smiled, his eyes moving from mine to the others in the room. His lawyer and PA stood behind him, also looking impressive but I could not keep my eyes off their boss.

"There will be no need to look for new investors because I'm here. My apologies for arriving late. I'm Zach Dante."