Chapter 4 THREE

AXTON

I should be at work already, on a normal day, I would have been gone an hour ago. As I sit on a barstool at the kitchen island with an empty mug in front of me, the housekeeper dusts the living room end tables and my assistant taps an email out on her phone. The house manager is gathering bills from last week and heading to the office to reconcile the expenses, and mitch is sitting across from me chugging a bottle of wine. Something is definitely up with him. My mind however, is on someone else. A certain emerald eyes girl in a striking red dress. The girl who snuck out on me this morning. Mitch woke me up this morning, and she was gone. He said he passed the girl and I was angry he didn't stop her.

For some strange reason she seems a little familiar, but for the life of me I can't remember where I know her from. Marcus had told me to look for her but I don't know her last name.

My phone started ringing just then. and I groan when I see the caller. "good morning mother" I say. Switching back to the cold CEO. "well good morning to you too, brat" she snaps at the other end and I sigh. Here we go again. "so the only time I get to talk to you is if I call, come home tomorrow for dinner, your sister misses you. And its about time you patch things up with your dad." And then she hung up. "wow" I exclaim. Just great. My family owns a fortune. Generational wealth some might call it, first made over a century ago. My relationship with my dad became strained when I defied him to start my own real estate development business when I was twenty. It has since grown to be one of the largest companies of its kind in the state. I am proud of my accomplishment at the age of twenty-eight "I found this in the bedroom while I was tidying up" said my housekeeper handing me a small library card. With the name that has been invading my thoughts all morning. "Thanks Laurel" she smiles and nods.

Stalking out of the room, I head upstairs and into my office. There call my PI "I need you to get every information about this person."James is an old college friend of mine, who thought of computers as his girlfriends. he gained momentum in the past years and is the leader of an IT industry. "Consider it done. My bank account is the same. Mwah" he says before hanging up

"idiot" I mutter under my breath. But he is the best in his field. I need to head to work.Heading to my bedroom, I Step into the bathroom for a quick shower. i move to the walk-in closet. I grab my suit, drop it on the bed and unzip it. It takes me twenty minutes to get dressed as I rush to find my shoes. I leave my house and head to work. The day pass by quickly. And before I know it, its time for the party. I have ben trying to expand my business to the nearby states and this man whom I've only met in video conferences is the key to that. I made sure he was invited to this party. And I made sure he knew the invitation came from me. Its one of the many steps in wooing this potential business client. Richard Wayne is the biggest real estate owner in the country. and if I can get a partnership with him, my latest project will go smoothly. The block I'm trying to develop is a few streets away, closer to the local elementary school and steps away from a small enclave of café and shops. Currently there are a few single-family dwellings taking up the space., but with a few subway station planned nearby, the potential profits for this development projects are huge. The city was enthusiastic about my company's proposal to develop the block into a tower of luxury condominiums. We'd replace six family homes with over sixty dwellings, skyrocketing the surrounding property values. It's a win- win for everyone. One sweet talk later I got the partnership.