Chapter Three

Zara Howard

I think the Fish is my spirit animal. All I've done in the last few minutes is stare at Asher like a fish and anytime I've tried to say something, my mouth opens and closes like a fish.

We're sitting in one of his cabins. He's seated at his table while we sat just a few feet away from him on the sofa. I prefer the considerable amount of distance between us because I have a feeling I would combust if I get any closer to this man.

"So, Miss Howard, what brings you here?" Asher asked, his eyes glancing between me and Scarlett, not knowing which one of us is going to do the talking.

I try to mentally send a message to Scarlett begging her to do the talking because clearly by the looks of it I've done enough talking.

"Uh we are troubled by this local gangster, Victor Lawford-" Scarlett begins explaining the situation and my faith in my superpowers is reinstated.

Of course I was able to send her mind to mind messages.

Okay wow nervousness isn't a pretty look on me. I need to calm down. I just have to sit here for a few more minutes and it'll be all over in no time.

No more embarrassing moments, Zara. You've got this.

"Miss Zara, if I’m not wrong?" Asher looks at me and I drop a pen I wasn't even aware I was fidgeting with.

Way to go with the non-embarrassment.

I just nodded in response as I gulped.

Ugh! I did not expect him to be so intimidating. I mean I get that he is a dangerous Mafia boss but still. Too much.

"Why don't you tell me what exactly you saw when you walked in?" Asher asked as neutrally as ever.

What is with this hot man? He's almost like a robot. No expressions, just objective functions.

Stare. Threaten. Shoot. Repeat.

"I walked in to see most of the house trashed. Victor was yelling and threatening us. So I did the most obvious thing." I managed to utter. My hands felt clammy but I couldn't stop fidgeting.

Asher raised an eyebrow ever so lightly, silently insisting me to go on.

"I threatened him back. 3 flavours of pepper spray is no joke, Mr. Lancaster." I stated proudly. That's one hella collection. We need to buy more flavours. I've heard they have paprika and pepper combo too.

That's gotta burn.

I felt Scarlett swat my arm, making me look up at her and then Asher. He had the same glint of amusement in his eyes as before but this time it was much more obvious.

"Anyway, Victor wasn't a fan of me protesting in any way so he grabbed my wrist pretty bad. This obviously scared us because Victor was always full of empty threats but he never hurt any of us before this." I explained and I felt Asher's eyes on my bruised arm. But true to Mr. Robot's reputation, his face remained expressionless.

Clearly, I didn't have my 'who did this to you' moment from the fan fictions. I mean obviously he knows who did this to me because I literally just told him who did this to me but I have be petty about it. I'm going to un-like all those stupid false hope building fan fictions, maybe even report a few for toying with my emotions.

"But thanks to my presence of mind, I smashed a vase on his head and pepper sprayed him and then we kicked him out." I looked at Scarlett like we make the most baddass team ever.

"Where do you two work?" Asher asked but he was looking right at me.

Oh no. Please no. I don't want to answer this question. I didn't realize how stalker-ish this was until this very moment.

Scarlett was quick to answer. Obviously, her answer to this question doesn’t fucking involve the Lancaster enterprises and also the fact that Victor actually shows up at her workplace.

Asher's eyes stayed glued on me, almost demanding the answer to the question asked.

"I work as an assistant." I answered vaguely.

"I asked where, Miss Howard." Asher's voice made the hair at the back of my neck stand and I held back the urge to shiver.

Oh good god. I have never been scared shitless and turned on both at the same time. Why is he being so assertive and demanding about this without even doing much and why is it doing things to me?

"At the nearest sub-office of the Lancaster enterprises" I muttered, looking everywhere except in Asher's direction.

He cleared his throat and if I wasn't such a chicken to look at his face, I bet he had a small smirk playing on his lips. Just the thought of it made me cross my legs together. God, I feel so pathetic.

"I am guessing Lawford hasn't showed up at your workplace?" Asher asks. The last thing I trust right now is my voice so I just shake my head, gnawing on my bottom lip.

Why is this day turning into 'Let's see in how many ways can Zara embarrass herself'?

"I will look into the matter. In the meantime, I would like for both of you to keep me updated. Any threats via phone or in person, any verbal or physical altercations." Asher said as he reached for a piece of paper. He looked around on his desk but paused with something wicked in his eyes. He pointed towards my lap.

Wait shit do I have a boner? No wait, I am not a man.

I looked down to find myself fidgeting with the pen again.

Jeez I can’t believe boner was my first thought. I mentally slapped myself for that one.

How and when did I even pick this up again?

Actually how on earth do I have it with me in the first place?

I got up and handed him the pen. He wrote something on the paper and handed it over to me.

"This is my number in case of an emergency." He stated while all I could do is stare at the paper.

Mr. Robot has pretty good handwriting. Yeah I need help. At this point, anything and everything about him seems to be attractive.

As we headed to towards the door, his hands accidently brushed against mine, making my breath hitch. I just looked at him wide eyed like a glazed zombie.

Why the hell are my reactions to him so obvious? I could feel my brain screaming MISSION ABORT!

I am just going to pretend I reacted the way I did because it was my bruised arm and it had absolutely nothing to do with Asher Lancaster turning my body into liquid fire.

Just as we were about to take our leave, Asher said reassuringly "I will take care of it. You need not worry."

Oh well, at least the fan fictions were right about the 'I will take care of it' part.

Scarlett and I thanked him once again as we walked out of the penthouse. I let out a deep breath as we stepped out.

This meeting didn't quite go as I expected but at least we know Asher Lancaster has our back. The fact that he just offered to help without us having to spell it out made everything a lot easier.

Scarlett looked visibly relaxed. She had been feeling incredibly guilty that Victor hurt me when he actually came for her but honestly I feel the only reason he hurt me was because he didn’t expect any one of us to retaliate in any way. But thanks to Asher, he will ‘take care of it’

I felt my cheeks heat up as I replayed everything that just happened this morning. I most certainly underestimated how intimidating his presence actually is. He was a couple feet away and it still felt like his presence was consuming. Just the mental image of him gazing at me sent sparks right to my core. And his unreadable handsome face didn’t help one bit. The only things his face is capable of doing is staying enticingly indifferent, the smallest curl of his lips into a smirk and a questioning raised eyebrow.

Mr. Asher Lancaster