Chapter 4

~Skai

His hand stretched towards me for a shake. I let my lips curl into a smile that barely reached my eyes. I looked down at his hand for a while and took it in, tightening my grip.

“It's an honour to meet you in person, Mr Collins.” I muttered, my voice calm and curious, as I paid attention to the words I'd utter.

Juliano looked startled; he hadn't seen me smile or speak randomly.

"Please, have your seats.” Tillard moved back, gesturing to the empty seats behind the big board desk.

“Thank you.” Juliano helped himself to a seat, his hand adjusting his shirt.

“Can he stay outside while we discuss?” A young man I hadn’t noticed said, his voice unwelcoming and dripping with pride. I could feel his disapproval of me.

I was less concerned about whatever they wanted to do. The room heated against my skin like a rock on a summer afternoon. I needed some fresh air before I lost my self control.

Are they alliances, or was it just business? I thought to myself as I looked at Juliano.

“Let him stay; I trust him.” Juliano’s voice clipped as though it was something secretive; my eagerness peaked, and the urge to leave the room decreased slowly.

I stood right behind him, bitting my inner lips to calm the storm brewing inside my head. Even though I wanted my hands around his neck and to strangle the life out of his dickhead.

“So…we're deliberating on the contract.” Tillard looked in at the man that swivelled in his chair. His brown hair and black eyes meeting my gaze.

“Where’s your father? He's late again.” Tillard asked, his gaze on the door, sounding like he couldn't proceed without him.

“I'm here.” He emerged from the door, a cigar in one hand, the other sprawled to the end as though asking a question.

“What took you so long?” His son asked.

I could sense the unprofessionalism in their demeanour, even though their company seemed legal; something didn’t sit right with me. Apart from the fact that my uncle is one of the company’s owners.

“My name is Giovanni, Giovanni Auder, and that's my son, Carlo.” He pointed at the dark-brown-haired young man who seemed uninterested in whatever conversation they're about to have. An unreadable expression plastered on his face.

Juliano cleared his throat, his elbow placed on the armrest of the chair.

“I want my father to have his say in this decision; I need to know if you’re aware of the plan in place.” His eyes moved to the men in front of him.

“Well, you see. Our company's rule is to provide the service after full payment is made; we’re about to offer you the best service.” Tillard stated, my anger heightening with every word he said. I wanted to break his legs, but all I could do was stare.

“Mr Juliano, may I excuse myself for a bit?” I whispered into his ear; he answered with a light nod. Bolting out of the room, I felt my chest heave, my body stimulated with anger, pure rage.

‘I can’t stay out too long; I need to know their plans,’ I thought to myself as I pushed my back against the wall, almost dropping to my knees.

My uncle was alive and well, living like he didn't ruin my life.

A feeling of disdain twisted deep in my stomach. My heart ached; it started from the moment I set my eyes on his wrinkled and mangled face. My eyes fell closed slightly, my mother's tears flooding my mind.

After a deep sigh trying to push my anger down, I walked into the room silently like a ghost at midnight.

“We can go now,” Juliano said, getting up to leave.

“We're leaving, sir?” My tone conveying a question, trying my best to be formal.

“Yes, we'll be back with an update on the situation. Juliano said, his eyes straightened at the two older men across from us.

Without waiting for a reply, he touched me.

“Let's go, Enzo.” I noticed a change in his mood; I didn't know what they said behind the door.

When we got outside the building, He finally talked.

“I feel like they’re hiding something. I don’t like the idea of the collaboration. LIAS is a good company, but there's something off.” I opened the back door seat; he stepped in, peeping out of the window, his eyes on the building.

“What do you mean, sir?” Regularly, I don't interfere in his business talks, but I want to know every hidden aspect of Tillard's life. My voice was almost high-pitched and feminine, as though elated by the fact that he found something out of place.

“Why do you think you're hiding something, sir?” I asked, in the most manly voice I could muster, my throat almost dry.

“We'll talk about it in the office.” His voice was somewhat harsh, and I took in my lower lips; I shouldn't have gone further, but he brought it up. In fact, I didn't want to talk about it. He batted an eye at the building as the driver drove out of the compound.

I waited outside of Juliano’s office. My heart raced, my mind whirling. Every part of me had been unsettled after the meeting. But this time, I couldn't feel the weakness in me. Not after Tillard carted me away like a bag of dirt.

How could he be in Italy? Does Giovanni know of his past? Does Mr Bernard have anything personal to do with him?More unravelled questions stirred my mind.

Every time I tried to shake them off, another one appeared. They're stuck to my senses like opposite sides of magnets.

I rested my back against the door a bit. If I could make anything out of the words Mr Juliano and his father were saying, but no one had solved the huge puzzle – of no use to me.

Luckily, the hallway to the office was empty – just with a female-disguised bodyguard.

“Dad, you can’t be considering handing them the contract; they’re unprofessional and unreliable. We can't trust them with the company.” Juliano's voice like an arguing lawyer, I could visualise him throwing up his arms in the air, as though he was frustrated.

“That's my decision; you haven’t been in this business for as long as I have.” Mr Bernard's voice was calm as though Juliano’s yelling didn't move him. He was bent on making his decision.

“Dad, this is a new age. Those men are not professional. I sent you a voice recording of how the meeting went.”

“I'm going to give them the contract!” His father ordered.

A long silence followed – unsettling and disturbing.

Juliano cleared his throat.“What if we send someone to do some digging?” Juliano muttered in hushed tones. His voice careful enough not to annoy his father.

“How do you mean?” His father asked, his voice dripping with confusion.

“I mean, what if we send someone over there, one of our employees as a feedback transmitter or whatever we call it?” Juliano's voice became bold but still lower as though he was sure of his plans.

“I'm listening,” Mr Bernard said, and I heard creaking sounds of shoes approaching the door.

I straightened up and folded my hands behind me.

Juliano opened the door and tapped my shoulder. “Come on, you can enter."

I wondered why he didn't call me from inside and followed behind him impulsively.

“There's a job for you.” I levelled him with an amused stare.

“What's that, sir?” My thoughts moved in circles, but I couldn't quite guess what it was. I tried so hard not to scrunch my brows.

“I want you to go undercover,” he murmured.

Slowly, the edge of his lips tilted into a smirk.

“Not as a male,” he added, and my heart skipped.

My only reaction was my furrowing my brows at his suggestion – in confusion and fear.

“How would that be possible?”

“As a female”, he said slowly. Every word was like an aching bolt to my poor heart.

My stomach churned, and my pulses ached. “They've seen you, but they wouldn't recognise you as a female.

”He approached me slowly, pulling up a wig from the side of his desk.

“They wouldn't see you coming,” he said, placing the dark brown wig on my head. His expression shuttered closed, his gaze becoming unreadable.