CHAPTER TEN

　　Occazia is one of the biggest empires in Los Angeles owned by popular business tycoon Frederick Jimenez, he was a business-minded man and gregarious as well. He was running for mayor in his city so he planned on building a convention centre to get the attention of the people and he needed Damien’s help with the designs, he trusted Damien to do a good job besides Damien designed Occazia himself.

　　Damien walked into Fredericks's office, and the smell of cigarettes filled the air as he walked in. seeing Damien, he stood up to welcome him.

　　“Hello Damien, nice to finally meet you again, have your seat please,” Frederick said pointing to the chair in front of him

　　“Hello, Mr Frederick,” Damien said as he sat down.

　　He offered Damien a cigarette which he refused with a frown

　　“Thank you, I don’t smoke,” he said

　　“Of course, you don’t, how can I forget that? So can I see the design you have for me?” Frederick asked

　　Damien presented the designs in a blueprint and Frederick was impressed by the presentation, he loved the design.

　　“So what do you think?” he asked

　　“This is perfect, exactly what I need,” Frederick said

　　“So do we have a deal?”

　　“Not yet, Mr Reed, Ross empire has a better offer than what you are offering.”

　　“What do you mean? You just said you loved it” Damien was angry now. Ross's empire was his rival in the business and his firm had managed to remain at the top after beating them to it.

　　“I know I said so but……..”

　　“But what!!” Damien cuts in “you know what, keep your deal, I’m out of here” Damien said as he got up to leave

　　“Hahahaha, aguanta mi amigo. I was only joking. Relax we have a deal” Frederick said amidst laughter.

　　“I have a party this night at my club, be there and we’ll discuss things better” he added

　　“I don’t have time for that, I’ll rather we discuss things now,” Damien said

　　“You never have time for anything, loosen up a bit my friend. The ladies are going to be there; you are going to love it trust me” he said trying to convince Damien

　　Damien thought of it, it’s been ages since he went to the club but that wasn’t what he needed at this time.

　　"Nah, I’ll pass, maybe some other time,” Damien said.

　　“Alright, that’s fine,” Frederick said raising his hands in the air, he knew Damien would decline, it wasn’t going to be the first time

　　In his hotel room, Damien continued his search for ladybird, he searched for organizations with the image of a bird but found nothing. Finding ladybird seemed impossible but he wasn’t ready to give up yet. After hours of searching with no positive results, he got tired and decided he needed a distraction so he got dressed and headed to the club to meet Frederick. He texted Frederick to inform him of his presence.

　　“This way Mr Damien,” said one of Frederick's guards,

　　“You made it Cabron,” Frederick said feeling excited, he wasn’t expecting to see Damien at the club.

　　He quickly ordered the waitress to get Damien a drink while they sat and discussed.

　　“Hey, look at that lady in the black dress, she’s been checking you out since you got here,” Frederick said “you should go say hi” he added

　　“I don’t have time for women, besides she’s not my type,” Damien said

　　“I see, your loss anyways,” Frederick said giving her a wink

　　Damien turned and caught her staring at him, she raised her glass as she smiled at him. Damien faked a smile as he raised his glass at her too.

　　A while later, Damien decided it was time to leave, he went to the men’s room to ease himself. After doing that he washed his hands and face then he noticed someone enter the men’s room, it was the lady checking him out earlier.

　　“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought it was the ladies' room,” she said as she looked at him seductively. She bit her lips as she walked up to him, she tried to touch him but he stopped her immediately

　　“I’m sorry, you’re not my type,” Damien said

　　“What? I’m not good enough for you” she said as she placed her hands on his chest caressing him. Damien felt his body respond to her touch so he quickly grabbed her hands and pushed her away. Then he noticed the tattoo on her wrist as she fell to the ground, it was similar to the image he saw on the bloody package he received at work, he pulled her up from the ground and got a closer look at the tattoo. It was exactly the same as the one from the package

　　“I know this tattoo. Who do you work for?” He asked as he pinned her against the wall squeezing her neck with his big hands

　　“You work for ladybird, don’t you? Who the fvck is ladybird?” He was losing his patience now. She tried to struggle her way out of his grasp but his grip was tight so she kicked his groin with her knees, she dashed out of the men’s room and out of the club. Damien tried to chase after her but the pain in his groin wouldn’t let him. He managed to chase her but before he could get to her, she had escaped in a cab.

　　Out of animosity, Damien went back to his hotel, he had just lost his chance of getting ladybird. He lay on his bed feeling dejected, he still felt pain in his groin, at least he knew now that ladybird existed and was after him. After much consideration, he decided to hire a private investigator, since finding the ladybird on his own had proved abortive, it was time he needed help, he couldn’t do it on his own anymore.

　　THE NEXT DAY, Damien left Los Angeles after a brief meeting with Frederick, the contract had been signed.

　　The plane touched down at the airport at midday, he got off the plane looking very exhausted. He needed a new assistant as soon as possible. After firing James, he never thought of replacing him until now. His chauffeur opened the door as he got to the car

　　“Good day sir” his chauffeur greeted and as usual Damien didn’t respond.

　　He got into the car and was soon on his way to his office. He thought of the events that happened in Los Angeles. He was still pissed at himself for not catching the lady but it wasn’t time to blame himself, it was time to get ladybird.

　　Getting to his office he immediately rang his secretary and in less than a minute she was in his office.

　　“Good day sir, how was your trip?” she asked but got no reply

　　He handed over some documents to her as he stared at her for a second

　　“I need this ready before the close of work today. No mistakes” he said

　　“Whatever” she mumbled as she left his office

　　“What did you say to me?” Damien asked in an angry tone

　　“I said nothing,” she said as she stormed out of his office

　　I need to do something about that secretary, he thought as he got back to working on his laptop.

　　Esme walked into his office, she was excited to have him back. She wrapped her hands around him and kissed his cheek.

　　“Hey pumpkin, I’ve missed you. How did the meeting go?” she asked as she sat on his desk.

　　“it was ok. How have you been? So you missed me huh?” he winked at her

　　“Eww, are you hitting on me Mr Damien Reed?” she teased

　　“I’ll never do that,” he said, then he gave out a long sigh.

　　“Is everything ok Damien? Esme asked, looking confused, “talk to me, what’s going on?”

　　“I was close to finding ladybird and I blew it,” Damien said looking forlorn

　　“What? How?” she asked, she was scared for him now

　　Damien explained everything that happened at the club in LA, he told her about the lady with the tattoo and its resemblance with the package he had received.

　　“Wait, what package? You received a life-threatening package and you didn’t tell me. What the hell Damien!!” she was furious now

　　“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bother you besides you were out of town so telling you would have destabilized your job causing us to lose our clients. I know you care about me but this isn’t your problem to handle, I’ll handle it myself. Don’t bother yourself ok?” he said reassuring her.

　　“What are you going to do now? It’s obvious you’ve been found, you need to be extra careful now” she advised, “I think you need to hire a private investigator and you need a bodyguard now, one that we can trust with your safety. I know a good private investigator; he is good, trust me” she added.

　　Damien knew she was right, he couldn't do this on his own no matter how he tried to deny It. He needed one as soon as possible if he wanted to find them.