13 DAYS TO CHANGE THE MAN 13 DAYS TO GET MARRIED RUMORS TRAVEL FASTER THAN THE TRUTH

The room went even quieter.

Nathaniel looked at her for a  moment without speaking. 

His expression did not change in any dramatic way. His lips did not tilt in amusement and his mouth did not open to tease her like the way he did the past minute.

He simply looked at her, and Zoe had to bite her the tip of her tongue to keep herself from squirming.

She met his gaze head-on, half surprised that someone who did not grow up with the knowledge of managing people could make her compelled to want to reveal all of her secrets.

"That is very interesting."

Those were the four words that left his mouth surprising Zoe.

"Yes." her ramrod back stood even straighter, an evidence of her etiquette classes as an old-money raised child.

“I do not own an entertainment --er, what do they call that --”

Zoe watched him cautiously, if this man refused to become her weapon, she would have to beat him into submission else she’d have revealed all her cards to a potential enemy for no reason.

“Do you mean a social media agency?”

“Yes.” He rubbed his palms together.

“I’m uninterested in the personal lives of you guys, and I don’t own blogs that make money off information like this.”

Zoe bristled. There was the word again, ‘You guys’. While Nathaniel Quest sought ruthlessly to be considered ‘worthy’ enough to sit in conversations between old-money tycoons and gleam of insider-training knowledge, here he was, constantly reminding her of the chasm between them.

“You keep mentioning the words, ‘you guys’, yet no-one has an obsession with us more than you do.” Zoe raised two fingers in quotes at the word ‘us’, biting back.

“Excuse you?” Annoyance settles on his face, drawing his cheeks closer.

“I will not be excused Mr. Quest. I acknowledge that you have done mighty well for yourself, but your actions need to corroborate with your words. Do you or do you not hate the old-money circle?” Zoe stared straight into his eyes, her aura sharp and undiminishing, capable of cutting into steel.

Nathaniel leaned back in his couch, his legs crossing the other by the thighs, a sudden sense of nervousness creeping up the nape of his neck.

"Fine” he shrugged.

“Let’s say I take you seriously. You are his fiancee, not his wife. What could you possibly know that my own people haven't already found?"

Zoe matched his noncomittal shrug, “The same way I know you’ve been seeking to destroy him.”

Her eyes burned brighter with a sharp light that shocked Nathaniel.

“Bold of you by the way, to seek the extinction of a person’s financial resources in a circle you’re desperate to enter.”

Nathaniel said nothing, just stared at her with unblinking eyes.

"Your people look from the outside. I know what happens inside his house. I know which accounts he moves money through and when. I know the name of the board member his family has been paying at Meridian Capital. I know about the paper company in registered under his cousin’s name." She paused. 

“I know where he keeps the second phone which holds the documents that supports the tax evasion. How else do you think that company has been surviving with the money grubbing parasites attached to it?"

“I don’t need to know your reason or reasons. My belief right now is that an enemy of my enemy is a comrade.”

"And I know that three months ago he paid to make a problem disappear in Tokyo. I know the name of the problem and I know that problem can cost him up to three months in federal prison. I have documentation for some of it."

She reached into her bag, took out a folder, and slid it across the desk.

Nathaniel’s eyes twitched at her forwardness, he did not pick it up immediately. If this was bait, he had to admit, it smelled delicious and he freakingly wanted to bite the hook!

His eyes travelled back to the stunning Zoe seating on his couch without a care in the world as if she had not just handed him a ‘supposed’ folder on how to destroy one of the world’s richest families.

He cleared his throat, "Why?" 

"I told you. I want—"

"I heard what you want. I'm asking why you want it." His voice was even, unbothered, the complete opposite of the raging excitement and caution within him.

"Women engaged to men like Emery Landon do not walk into offices like mine days before their wedding." 

“Looks like you don’t know women that much then, Mr. Quest.”

“Women do not naturally --”

“It is not in your place to assume what women as an entirety want. Not even I, being female all my life can assume what all women are like.” Zoe crossed her legs at her ankles, trying to mirror his expression as much as her face would allow.

A loud sigh escapes Nathaniel’s mouth, “I’m trying to understand you, Zoe Beckett.”

“That’s a futile attempt. Surely, a man as smart as you should know that.” Zoe retorted sharply.

Nathaniel nodded,"What did he do to you?"

Zoe’s eye twitched. She couldn’t possibly say she was squeezed out of resources and value by Emery who still did not spare her family.

“He cheated.”

“Ouch.” 

“With his female bestfriend. For a year and has been keeping me in the dark all these while. Wouldn’t that be making me into more than a fool?” Zoe scowled

“Yeah …. I mean, No. Cheating is a reflection on the cheater’s character, not the partner in the relationship.”

“I’m not here to define what happened Mr. Quest. I’m here to make sure Emery Landon cannot have his cake and eat it. I want to destroy him.”

Nathaniel stared at the stunning woman in front of him, his heart beating faster.

“What are your non-negotiables?”

“My wedding is in thirteen days. I’m not cancelling it.”

Nathaniel’s amused look returned, “A different groom?”

Zoe shrugged, “And groomsmen. What do you say to my proposal, Mr. Quest? We’ll be destroying a mutual enemy?”

Nathaniel uncrossed his legs, leaning forward, a toothy grin spreading across his inviting pink lips, “Where are my manners? Would you like a glass of water, darling?”