Nathan

Standing in front of the conference room, I mentally prepared myself for what I'd meet on the other side of the double doors that stared back at me. For the millionth time I let out a deep breath, feeling my palms sweaty and my heart beating fast, I closed and opened my eyes for more than five times.

It's gonna be okay, I kept chanting to myself. There's gonna be people there, not just the both of us, but my mind would still drift to his side. I wished I could just turn around and high tail out of here but I can't, I can't leave just like that, sooner or later I have to face him, and if there's one thing I've learnt over time, is that sooner is better than later.

Throwing caution to the wind, I pushed the doors gently and stepped inside, even without seeing him, I could already feel the air in the conference room shift, everything became cooler and more intense.

I discreetly let out a deep breath as my eyes moved up and scanned the room, seeing the familiar faces of the men I'd had three consecutive meetings with about this project, my eyes counted four men on one side of the table, totally eluding the fifth person, I looked to the other side and saw my secretary.

My mind was trying so hard to stop my eyes from wandering, but as rebellious as they are, the slowly moved towards the fifth person on the table and i sucked in a sharp breath, feeling my heart skip a beat, his eyes were already on me.

Scrutinizing, piercing and sharp, hard grey eyes stared back at me, but unlike before they didn't scare me, but they didn't look comforting either, they carried a lot of emotions in them, but his face, his face still looked the same as they did a week ago. Making my mind drift to what happened a week ago, his hands wrapped around my throat as he choked me, I cleared my throat swallowing hard before I looked away from him.

Making my way towards my chair, I avoided all forms of eye contact with him, but my skin could still feel the piercing gaze of his eyes on me, I could feel holes being drilled inside my body with his eyes.

"Sorry for the delay gentleman" I mutttered, looking at all of them and a few nodded before I grabbed the chair and fixed myself on it.

I was sitting directly in front of Spade, he still hadn't looked away and I still couldn't look at him again. "Shall we begin"? I asked with a heavy sigh as they all nodded in agreement, I looked at my secretary and nodded before she got up, opening the Manila folder, she passed out the paperwork around to each five of them

I watched them all as they went through it, they were the plans for the project. Thank God I had them drafted out way before the whole Spade and my father charade and also Matteo kind of helped me go through it, made a few changes.

We kind of talked a lot after that night that he came to my apartment. It was too soon but I kind of feel safe around him, more than i felt with Spade, but still something inside me was still itching for even a second with Spade, just like I spent with Matteo.

With Matteo it's quite different, I don't feel the things I feel whenever I'm around Spade, with Matteo. The tingling feeling, the chills, the excitement, none of it I feel around Matteo. It's just very normal with him But with Spade nothing was normal, nothing at all.

I could see some of them nod their heads as they went through it, all except one person, the man sitting across from me, he hadn't even looked at the piece of paper in front of him

Apparently there was something about my face that was so interesting to him that he couldn't look away, maybe he was planning different ways to kill me, or maybe he was looking at the bruises on my face that had almost completely healed.

"That piece of information in your hands are the new plans drafted for the project" I muttered catching all their attention as I held the pen in my hand, twirling it "It's gonna take a lot of time to put in place and it definitely gonna take a lot of resources, I can't promise that it'll take effect quickly as I still need time to put something's in place, but with those plans already on paper and in front of you, I assure you the project's gonna be a complete success" I explained, their eyes were on me and I could see the doubt in their eyes.

I know they only let me handle the project because of Spade, if not for him they probably would have given it to someone else, someone more experienced and older.

And knowing they didn't trust me fully to handle the project didn't help with my insecurities as I could already feel it crawling out from where I hid it, breaking every strong wall of resistance I put up.

"Mr Miller" one of the men sitting on the right side, just close to th last seat called my name, making me look at him, I barely even know their names "These are really good plans, they're quite resourceful when implemented, I bet they'd generate a lot of revenue in years to come, even months" he paused looking at the piece of paper before his eyes found mine again "but I must say they're quite expensive to carry out, these are gonna consume a whole lot of money to implement, the time is not the problem but have you calculated the cost to get these materials, the cost of labour"? He asked turning to look at the other men who just nodded in agreement "we can afford to put in the money, but what if after that and we don't get it back? It's gonna be a huge loss for us son" he finished, I sighed out seeing the others agree with him.

"I understand your fear Mr Stewart, I do but business is all about taking risks, if we don't do this now, we will never get to know how much revenue we could generate with something like this" I explained, my eyes moving from each one of them but my brain refused to stop or even look at the one man that hasn't blinked or looked away from me since I stepped into the office "I can assure you that if this project is a hit, we would be talking millions of dollars on a daily basis" I further clarified, I could see their faces as if they were buying it but there was still some doubt in there

Another of the men spoke, making me look at him "You already said it yourself Mr Miller, if and it's a big if, we're not sure about this" he muttered making me sigh out "let's assume we agree to do this, fund it, how long before you start"? He asked making me look at him

"One week tops, with the right equipment" I tell him and the whole room erupted in murmurs and whispers as they all start talking amongst themselves, I can still feel Spade's eyes on me, it was making my body twitch, making me feel so aware of how intense he was looking at me, he wasn't even making it subtle, like he didn't care if I knew he was staring at me.

"Mr Miller one week is a very long time, we have limited time here, we have opposition and they're working as hard as we are to capture the public's attention" one of the men spoke up

"I understand perfectly well, but if we want perfection, we have to do it right" I explained, the room goes silent with each of them looking at each other, whispering and deliberating, I look to my right at my secretary and she has the same look of tiredness on.

"What do you think Mr DeVille"? One of the men asked all their eyes moving to Spade, I don't wanna look but the intensity of his stare, is making it difficult for me to resist. I slowly move my eyes and I could feel my body freeze up and my breath got stuck in my throat as I stare directly into his eyes.

It didn't look like he was pissed off or angry, and he didn't seem happy either, maintaining eye contact with me, it made me self conscious of my environment, I could feel my body itch, I felt uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time

"Two weeks" he muttered still looking at me "two weeks Miller, and all the resources you want at your beck and call" he added still looking at me with intensity, it felt like his words had a double edge to it, I could feel the sweat in my palms, and the sound of my heartbeat was wild. Did he just give me two weeks? It was even a longer time than I'd asked for, and plus he was giving me all the resources I'd need "Is that okay for you"? He asked in somewhat of a whisper as if it was just us both in the office. I swallowed hard, finding it difficult to look away from him, all the noise and whispers in the office had suddenly died down

"Uhm... Yes, yes it's okay Mr DeVille" I whispered back to him almost face palming myself at how pathetic I sounded, my voice coming out in almost a desperate squeak

"Then I think we have our answers gentlemen" he muttered finally breaking eye contact with me and looking at the other men, I could still see the doubt hidden in their eyes but they couldn't speak up against Spade, asides the fact that he was the biggest shareholder, most of them already knew how dangerous he was and speaking against him would totally be a suicide mission.

They all nodded in fear making me let out a deep sigh of relief, looking at my secretary, I could see the relief in her eyes too, I gave her a reassuring nod before my eyes moved back to Spade's and he was still looking at me, I swallowed and quickly looked away, all the men stood up and a few shook hands with me, concluding the meeting.

I was packing up the papers and listening to my secretary talk endlessly about something I wasn't even paying any attention to.

"It would seem you have found favour in the eyes of Spade" one of the men muttered standing close to me, almost startling me. But what caught my attention was the fact that he called him Spade and not Mr DeVille.

"Uh...." I was at a lost for words as I watched the man, he smiled, his cheek crinkling and the side of his eyes wrinkling up

"Don't fret it kid, you're lucky, if I were you I'd use it wisely, not everyday somebody like Spade stands up for people" he muttered before giving me a light tap on the shoulder.

I watched him walk away "What was that all about" I heard Jade's voice beside me, making me almost jump as I turn to look at her, hovering beside me, her face very close to my ear.

"I have no idea" I mutter with a heavy sigh "but I have some work to do in my office" I mutter, without looking to see if Spade was still in the room, even though I could still feel his presence and his eyes on me, I walk out of the meeting room and headed for my office.

The words of that man replaying in my head, what did he mean Spade was standing up for me? Spade doesn't care about anyone, I could hear my own mind jeering at me, asking if that was true. Does Spade really not care about anyone or that's what I keep telling myself so I don't fall deep into this abyss of strange feelings, and also so I can keep hating him.

I clenched my jaw as I open the door to my office and step inside, walking towards my chair I sit on it and let out a deep breath.

The meeting went more smoothly than I expected, asides the fact that Spade didn't take his eyes off me for one second and him giving me more time than I needed and more resources than necessary, every other thing went as smooth as possible.

I rubbed my temple with my hands, I haven't heard from my father and it's been a week, making me wonder if Spade had gone to him about the ultimatum, if he did why didn't my father reach out to me, not once since I left his place.

Usually radio silence like this from my father scared the hell out of me, it has never ended well if my father go this silent, especially when he has someone like Spade on his back.

I heard the soft click of my door as it opened up, already expecting to see my secretary, I don't look up "Just drop the minutes and go" I mutter with both my hands on my temple

"You expecting someone else Miller"? I froze and my head whipped up so fast I thought my neck would break from the impact.

Standing in front of me was Spade, in all his attractive glory, perfect squared shoulders, chiseled jaw filled with beards but not over filled, dark lips, and grey beautiful eyes that immediately captured my attention, with his hand tucked safely in his pocket

My mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say to him, I swallowed, my eyes darting to the door and then him, why didn't Jade tell me he was coming in?

As if reading my thoughts he spoke up "oh don't worry, I told her you were expecting me" he muttered nonchalantly.

I sighed out, narrowing my eyes at him, up close he still looked the same, not that I expected him to change or anything. But I didn't expect my heart to still beat this fast around him, I should be scared of him, I should be freaking out after what happened last week, but I'm not, instead I feel kind of relaxed. There's just something about Spade that makes it hard for me to be afraid of him, even though I know and have witnessed how dangerous he can be.

"What are you doing here"? I asked and he just sighed out, kissing his teeth. It looked like he was thinking of what to say, with his eyes still on me

"I just came to see if you were okay" he muttered, surprising me. Did I just hear him right? "Are you okay"? He asked surprising me even more, I looked at his ears to see if he was on call because there's no way he'd be talking to me, but I found nothing. He was indeed talking to me.

I swallowed, feeling my throat dry up, even though my mouth wasn't open. I wanted to ask him why, why was he suddenly acting all weird and gentle? After what happened a week ago in my apartment, this was not what I was expecting. But then remembering my conversations with Matteo, I quickly hold the words in, but what am I gonna say to someone like Spade asking if I was okay? And his eyes were looking at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to say something.

"I'm not dead, if that's what you're asking" I whispered watching the way his facial expression changed just for a split second, I saw something like guilt mask his emotions, but it was quick to disappear, leaving me wondering if I saw it or my eyes were playing tricks on me

He sighed out "that's not what I mean" I was quick to answer him

"It doesn't matter what you mean, what are you really doing here"? I ask in a whisper and I watched as he clenched his jaw, making my whole body go hot, feeling the heat on my neck and the way my heart rate spiked up, just that single action from him and I was already losing my mind

Decided to do this 😊😊

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