Facade

“And yet you haven’t gotten up and walked away.”

We stared at each other for a long time as the waiter set glasses of water on our tables. Derek ordered for himself before he ordered for me, and I sat back and watched him. Analyzed him in his own environment. How pompous he was and how he assumed he knew everyone around him. He talked friendly with people as if they were old friends, but all of it was a ruse.

There was something he was hiding, and I still wasn’t convinced someone was legitimately threatening his life.

“My COO knows. Jacob Carl,” Derek said. “He knows about the threats.”

“Anyone else?” I asked.

“Obviously, the security personnel at my home know. But in terms of the company? He’s the only one.”

“Not even Emma?” I asked.

“Certainly not Emma,” he said. “She’s a young girl who can’t stop flapping her jowls. She’s good at what she does, but secret-keeping is not her forte.”

“I take it you’ve learned from experience,” I said.

“No, but with the gossiping she does in my office when I call her in to change something in my schedule, it’s obvious.”

“So, Jacob. Your COO.”

“He was the one who encouraged me to get the police involved, but I wasn’t going to have it. If the media gets wind of this, it’ll be a massive event.”

“A massive event might scare the assailant off,” I said.

“It will also tank my reputation and taint my company. They’ll start digging into my past to try and figure out why someone would want me dead.”

“Care to enlighten me?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m cocky. Slightly arrogant. I built a billion-dollar company with my own two hands all throughout my twenties. When kids my age were accruing thousands of dollars of educational debt, I was accruing thousands of dollars in profits. Of course, people hate me. People love success stories but hate actual success.”

“Uh-huh,” I said.

Spoken like a true pompous asshole.

“If you don’t want me pretending to be someone you date, I can be another assistant or whatever you want. But just to make this clear, you’re the one who reached out to us. You’re the one who decided you needed additional protection. And you can’t do business if you’re dead. You built one company, so you’ll build another. My job is to keep you alive.”

I could see the shock rolling over his face. A man like him wasn’t used to people talking so bluntly to him. This was probably the first time he was experiencing this kind of demeanor from a woman. He struck me as the kind of man who enjoyed a proper woman. Thin legs, petite nose, milky skin with a nice smile. Graceful in a dress and tactful in heels. I could be that when necessary, but that was part of my training.

I wasn’t that way naturally.

But he was also uncomfortable. My bluntness had put him on high alert. His eyes were darting around, and they were growing wild. He was shifting in his seat, probably turning my words around in his head. I had to get him to calm down. If he wanted to keep this under wraps, then having some sort of mini breakdown in the middle of a nice restaurant like this would prove fatal to what he wanted.

“Tell me a bit about your company,” I said.

“What?” he asked.

“Your company. How did you start it?”

“Well, that story starts with my family.”

“Then start there,” I said.

“I came from wealth. My father was a millionaire, and I was the son destined to take over his business. I was put through private school and Yale, my father’s alma mater. Got a degree in business, exactly like he did. He groomed me to be his replacement, but his business wasn’t what I wanted. Real estate wasn’t my passion.”

“What was?” I asked.

“It started in the business-to-business supply chain stuff. I moved into corporate investment after I excelled in that field, and that was how I broke off into my billionaire status. Made my first billion in corporate investing when I turned twenty-six. I did very well picking companies and opportunities I could pour my resources into and make great. Restructuring failing companies is what I was meant to do, not sell land to over-fattened assholes. It hurts most companies in the short term, with layoffs and the shutting down of stores if they’ve franchised, but it helps the economy in the long term by giving them the ability to expand stability and provide jobs to communities that need them the most. Sucks for the short term, helps for the long term.”