Chapter 11: Reasons why??

Jeremy's POV.

"The news is buzzing, Jeremy. You are making the headline.

The biggest ice hockey team in the country, Cheetahs' captain and star player, pops out with a new girl.

He's on all the news, and his best friend and wingman didn't even know about it."

Chris whined, and I threw him a shift glance as I raised my gym weights over my head.

"Come on now, man, I wasn't supposed to hear about your new girlfriend from the news.

I thought we were buddies."

He continued, and I groaned.

"It happened too fast, Chris.

Didn't want to rush things before it became official," I excused, as I continued to pump on my muscles.

"Really?" he scoffed.

"He didn't want to rush things, but the media knew about it before me?"

He grumbled, but I ignored his question.

"Tell me now, when did you meet her?

How did you meet her?

How long have you both been secretly dating?

I don't know nothing about your new girl, so much for being your best friend."

I turned to him as I chuckled dryly, dropping the dumbbells on the ground.

"You don't have to be all sassy to get info from me, okay?

As I told you, I don't want to talk about it."

I tried to dismiss.

"Can you just drop the new girl talk?" I said, grabbing my towel to dab the sweat on my face.

"When did you become so secretive, man? Tell me about your girl. I'm anxious to know.

Did you meet her before or after you broke up with Trisha?"

He continued, and I paused at the mention of her name.

Trisha...

We had a messy break-up after she cheated on me.

My dumbass was ready to give her another chance, but she insisted that I was the problem and called things off.

"Shortly after, Chris.

Let's say my Nadia was the peace I needed after the Trisha torture."

I remarked, and he chuckled.

"Nadia..."

He repeated her name after me as he followed me out of the gym room.

"See Chris, I want to get ready, I will see you later," I said as we walked into my room.

"Get ready?

Are you going on a date?"

He smirked, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Not quite. Dad offered Nadia a job, I just want to go see how she's doing," I said, hoping he would just leave.

"A job?

You never visit any of the companies... I guess ever since your mom..."

I turned to him, my eyes narrowed with a warning.

Nobody spoke about my mom.

At least not in front of me.

"You should leave, Chris," I said calmly, walking away to the bathroom.

***

I got out of the car and strode to the entrance of the building, my face barely visible because of the large sunglasses and cap I wore.

So much for being famous.

"Hey... Where can I find Nadia Smith?"

I asked the receptionist, who seemed stunned by my attire.

"Umm..." She stuttered, and I could sense panic, so I pulled my cap off.

"Jeremy Deluca..." She beamed, her eyes widened.

"I'm a big fan, Mr. Jeremy... I... I watch all the Cheetahs' games, you're my favorite player." She squeaked, "you look even more handsome in real life. OMG!"

As much as I was loving the praises, her loud voice was already grabbing attention.

"Hey... Where can I... Where's Nadia Smith's office? She got newly appointed."

I wore my cap back, dreading to be noticed by those ever-ready content creators and make-believe paparazzi.

She didn't give an answer, just kept speaking and gathering even more attention.

Okay, I had had enough.

Walking away from her, I went to the elevator. Even though I never involved myself with the family business, I still had a bit of recollection of my way around the building.

After taking numerous turns, I ended up tipping some security men to help me navigate. Finally, I arrived at the marketing department hall and instructed the security guard to go tell Nadia that I was waiting to see her.

"Miss Smith wasn’t in her office," the guard said as he returned.

"What?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"She isn’t there, and the head of department said she has been recruited elsewhere."

Elsewhere?

What the heck?

She was offered the job of the marketing strategist, then what the hell was going on?

"Umm, thanks. You can go, I’ll find her myself," I said, and the guard left the waiting room only for Silas to stride in.

"Oh, look who we have here, Jeremy Deluca. Captain and star player of the Cheetahs ice hockey team," he grinned, and I stood up from my seat.

"It’s quite a surprise to see you here, little brother. You never visit any of the companies, well, not after your..." He paused and smirked, and I felt my muscles twitch.

"Where is she? Where’s Nadia? Heard she isn’t in her office?" I asked, ignoring his taunts.

"She has been recruited elsewhere," I added, and his smirk deepened.

"Who would have thought, my little brother, who vowed never to step foot into this building, is now here waiting because of a lovely intern." He sneered, and I clenched my jaw.

Intern?

"What do you mean? Dad didn’t offer her a job as an intern, she…" I paused as I clocked it.

"What did you do, Silas?" I growled, as I walked closer to him.

"Me?" He jested, pointing to his chest. "I just put her in her place. She is a nobody, so she has to be treated as such. What do you think this is?" He drawled, letting the mockery cut slow.

"Getting a position in such a prestigious company without an interview? Come on, give me a break."

He scoffed, turning his back on me, and I clenched my fist even harder, trying to control the anger already boiling in my veins.

"It doesn’t work like that, sweet little brother.

She has to go through steps, training.

We can’t just give her such a heavy position by only trusting Dad’s intuition."

He scorned, his voice dripping of disdain.

"So, as the present operating CEO of this company, I thought it wise to make her an intern, just for the meantime. Well, until she proves herself worthy of being the marketing strategist."

He breathed as he turned to face me.

"And yes, before you ask, Dad does know about this. After due persuading and whispering, and a little bit of manipulation—I was able to get him to agree to test his little favorite staff. Hopefully, I’ll frustrate her and get her out of the company before she can prove herself."

He said boastfully, dipping his hands into his pockets, and I tilted my head, trying to wrap my mind around the obvious resentment he had toward Nadia.

"Why? You don’t even fucking know her."

I asked, finding it difficult to read his expressions.

"You should have remained the way you were, Jeremy, out of the family business. Things are better that way," he said and walked away, leaving me standing there perplexed and dead worried about Nadia.