The Scandal

Ravien's POV

I could see the hesitation in her eyes even as she refused my offer. 

"You've done enough, Mr. Drayton," she said.

"I'll manage from here." She said in front of the hotel she had said she'll stay for the night.

"Are you sure?" I asked, though I wasn't sure why I was giving her another chance to change her mind.

She nodded. "I'm sure. Thank you for everything."

"Fine," I said curtly, and drove off.

My phone rang as soon as I opened the front door to my house and it was Camden, my assistant. I glanced at the time, nearly midnight and this couldn't be good.

"What is it?" I answered, loosening my tie as I stepped into the penthouse.

"Sir, we have a problem." Camden's voice was tight with nervousness. "Elara Voss. The model you were supposed to meet tonight for the luxury brand collaboration."

I poured myself a whiskey, already knowing where this was going.

"Let me guess. She's upset I didn't show."

"More than upset, sir. She's threatening to withdraw her endorsement. The deal was worth fifteen million, and she's telling anyone who'll listen that you stood her up. Two other partners are reconsidering their contracts as well."

I took a slow sip of my drink, 

"If she wants to walk, let her," I said, 

"Drayton Dynamics doesn't bend for anyone, Camden"

"But sir..."

"Handle it. Or don't. I really don't care which." I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the leather sofa.

I loosened a button on my shirt and caught my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows. For just a moment, my mind flashed back to the car, to Elise straddling my lap, her head thrown back, and her voice breaking as she said my name.

I shook my head, irritated with myself.

"Get it together, Drayton," I muttered. 

"She's just another woman."

But even as I said it, I still couldn't shake her off my head. There was something different about Elise Anderson, something that unsettled me in a way I hadn't felt since Clara destroyed me three years ago.

I picked up my phone again and typed out a message to Camden:

"Reschedule with Elara. Make it happen."

If my mind keeps going to what happened in the car, then I just had to distract myself with something else.

I had barely woken up the next morning when I got a call from my mother.

"We're going to have dinner tonight," Evelyn Drayton's voice came from the other end.

"Your father insists you should be there, don't be late, darling" she said and waited for my response

"Mom..." I tried making excuse but she cut me short

"Seven o'clock at the estate. Don't disappoint us, Ravien." She said and hung up before I could refuse and I just stared at the phone, with my jaw clenched. 

I had to leave home early because my mother just won't stop disturbing me with calls. When I got in, they were all already seated at the dinning and it felt like they were waiting for me, but beside my mother stood a woman I didn't recognize.

I walked up to the dinning and sat across my mother, my father was also seated at the head of the table.

"And who is this?" I asked as soon as the cook startedcall serving the meal.

"You've refused every introduction I've arranged, so I decided to bring the next one directly to you. Meet Celeste Winton, daughter of the Winton Group's chairman."

Celeste extended her hand delicately, 

"Mr. Drayton, it's an honor." But i didn't take her hand.

"Mother, this isn't happening."

"It already has," my father's voic came from the head of the table.

"You either accept this alliance or you get married on your own terms, and fast. The company needs stability, Ravien. The board is getting nervous about your reputation. We need to show them you're serious about this business, about this family."

"My personal life is not up for negotiation," I said, my voice dangerous.

"Then make it irrelevant," my father shot back. "Get married. Settle down and stop giving the tabloids ammunition."

I was about to tell them all exactly where they could shove their demands when a maid approached my mother, whispering something urgent into her ear and handing her a tablet.

My mother's expression changed instantly. At the same time, my phone buzzed and Camden's name flashed on the screen. I stepped away from the table to answer.

"Sir, you need to see this. Now." He said with urgency in his voice 

A link appeared in my messages  and i tapped it, and the screen loaded with a news article. My legs almost gave out.

"Billionaire Ravien Drayton Spotted in Intimate Moment with Unknown Woman  Inside His Own Car." The article read.

The photo was blurred but unmistakable I was visible. My shirt half-open and my hand tangled in dark hair with a woman whose face was blirred pressed against mine through tinted windows. The angle was from outside, it was taken through the fogged glass like someone had been watching us.

This was not my first time doing things like this, else I've not been that risky to do it in a car. I had never been caught. Who took the picture, and how?