A Rival’s Overconfidence

~RYAN~

“We are here Sir”, Todd’s voice cut through the haze.

I looked up blinking as our surroundings registered. I hadn’t even noticed the car had come to a stop. I was too distracted by thoughts of the little vixen to think of anything else.

“Give me a minute”, I commanded.

“Alright sir”, Todd replied keeping his eyes forward.

My pulse was still hammering but I forced it to settle. I took a deep breath and reined myself in.

I cleared my head, shoving thoughts of Mila down and replacing them with what mattered right now.

The deal.

It was mine.

After I secured it, I would celebrate with Mila. I hoped she was having a great time. I’d made sure everything she could possibly need was available before I left for work.

When I returned, I was going to devour that sexy body again and again if she let me. Honestly, I didn’t mind begging for it.

I glanced toward the window.

The Legacy Gems stood tall, a massive building of glass and polished stone. It was a beautiful building, one that easily stood out in the entire city.

Outside, other businessmen moved towards the entrance with their teams. I had brought only Gary and Todd. I didn’t need an entourage to claim what was mine.

Gary and Todd were my bodyguards, while Todd doubled as my personal driver, he was still a trained bodyguard and lethal when necessary.

“Gary”

He understood immediately, stepping out of the car to hold the door open for me.

The morning sun was bright forcing me to squint as I stepped out of the car.

Gary carried my briefcase and I slid on my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the sun.

I stepped into the building with Gary and Todd following closely behind.

“Good morning Mr. Anderson”, the receptionist greeted me with a wide professional smile.

“Morning”, I replied, my voice steady and relaxed.

The lobby was already packed with people making their way toward the presentation room for the meeting.

I kept my pace steady and walked confidently towards the doors. It was already full of competitors.

As I stepped inside, the low hum of conversations faltered. Heads turned. Every eye tracked my movement, they knew exactly who I was.

My company stood at the pinnacle of the industry and my presence here was a silent declaration that the game had changed.

I took my seat with Gary and Todd flanking me on both sides.

The room was large and the seats were labeled with silver nameplates. We had submitted the number of teammates we would be bringing to the meeting, so everything was already arranged.

Mr. Smith sat on my right, his team of five flanking him. We exchanged a sharp, professional nod.

The front seats had been reserved for me, Mr. Smith, and Carlos, we had handled their last auction featuring new jewelry pieces.

I scanned the room and my eyes locked onto Carlos. He was already wearing that smug smirk looking too confident.

He had brought a full entourage with him and it was comical. His people occupied three full rows. The rows had four seats each. All of them wore matching black suits. In the back row, his muscular bodyguards sat like statues, their dark sunshades making them look like characters from a mob movie.

I returned his smirk with one of my own. He thought he was so smart, stealing my designs but he had only managed to steal the trash. I knew he would be up to no good, and I knew the identity of the mole he had planted in my company. I had purposely left fake designs for his foolish spy to deliver to him.

As of now, that mole was rotting in jail, that was after I taught him a lesson or two. No one messed with me and went scot-free.

Carlos offered a mocking exaggerated salute and I looked away. I had a deal to secure, I didn’t have time for his lousy games. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his sleazy face when he realized his useless plan had failed.

He had no idea what was coming.

He probably assumed I’d walk in here today with the exact same designs he had stolen. He was scheduled to present first, and my best guess was that he would present those copies completely unaware that he was about to make a fool of himself.

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. This was going to be fun to watch.