Chapter 89
Locking eyes with Leandro, Seraphina waved at him, then skipped over to the chair opposite his desk, plopping down with a smile. “Mr. Reynolds, long time no see!”
Leandro merely shot her a glance, then walked over to his desk, hit the intercom bulton, and hollered, “Keen”
Three seconds later, the office door was gently knocked twice, and in walked cautious Keen “Mr. Reynolds ”
Leandro glanced at Seraphina, then at Keen. The message was clear
A bit flustered, Keen explained, “Ms Bennett barged in, I couldn’t stop her”
Leandro just stared at him, clearly not satisfied with the response
With a helpless shrug Keen addressed Serapluna. “Ms Bennett, please leave. Mr. Reynolds has a meeting soon and really doesn’t have time to entertain you”
“He’s not in a meeting now, is he? Seraphina shot back, lounging comfortably in her chair. “Are you now stopping me from meeting my fiance? Since when do you have that authority?”
Keen looked to Leandro for guidance, but he was now engrossed in his meeting files, leaving Keen to solve the problem Gathering his courage, Keen warned, “Ms Bennett, please don’t make this difficult. If you continue, I’ll have to call security”
“Go ahead and call security Seraphina retorted, nonchalantly swinging her legs onto Leandro’s desk. “If you call security, I’ll call the press. Let’s see who ends up more embarrassed”
Keen thought for a moment, then decided to deal with the immediate problem, leaving the rest for later.
Just as Keen was about to call for security, Leandro finally looked up at Seraphina
Seeing this, Keen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left the office
Outside, Yasmina was waiting with her laptop. Seeing Keen exit, she looked surprised. “What’s going on? Is the meeting still on?”
Wiping sweat from his brow, Keen replied, “I’m not sure, we’ll have to see
Yasmina raised an eyebrow and said, “If today’s meeting is cancelled, my respect for Mr. Reynolds is going to take a serious hit. Even if Ms. Bennett is as stunning as the
rumors say”
All Keen could do was sigh
Back in the office. Leandro finally broke his silence by asking. “What do you want?”
With a gentle smile. Seraphina responded, “Just to see you it’s been days. Don’t you miss me?”
“Now you’ve seen me Leandro’s eyes flicked to her legs on his desk, his face impassive
Seraphina knew the upcoming meeting must be important. She slowly retracted her legs, stood up, and moved to Leandro’s chair
“Is that enough?” As she spoke, she sank into Leandro’s lap. “I plan to give you my entire evening
She slowly leaned into Leandro, her lips almost touching his, but he abruptly turned his face away
Seeing his jawline harden, Seraphina suppressed a smile and said, “The other day you said my offer wasn’t enough. Now I’m all in, isn’t that enough?”
As she spoke, she reached out to loosen his tie. When he snatched his tie back, she moved her hand to his shirt, slowly pulling it out from his trousers, then slid her hand to his toned abdomen.
Leandro immediately grabbed her hand, and at the same time, the computer behind Seraplana chimed with an incoming video call
Turning around, Seraphina feigned surprise ‘Oh, there’s a video call? What should I do? Hide?”
Leandro just stared at her. She quickly ducked under his desk, glanced up at him from his knees, and giggled innocently, “How about here?”
Leandro pulled back slightly, but she plopped onto his knees and said, “I must be the first woman to hide here, right? So thrilling, my heart’s racing. You go ahead with the video call! I’ll hide here and promise not to cause any trouble.”
Ignoring her Leandro stood up and hit the intercom button again.
“Yasmina, tell them the meeting will be delayed by five minutes.”
After saying this, he headed for the lounge.
Crawling out from under the desk, Seraphina followed him. “Five minutes? Don’t you trust yourself?”
He responded with silence to her provocation
Following him into the lounge, she found that Leandro had partitioned a presidential suite inside his office–bedroom, living room, bathroom, even a walk–in closet filled with neatly hung shirts and suits–more than he had at his villa. It was clear how important work was to him, which gave her the upper hand.
As she scanned the lounge, Leandro was undressing, getting rid of the wrinkled shirt and changing into a fresh white and black suit She walked over and reached for his waist, saying “Let me help”
She said she would help, but unzipped his trousers instead
Once again, Leandro grabbed her hand
Looking up at him with innocent eyes, she asked, “What’s wrong? Isn’t this how negotiations work? Give and take. If you keep shutting me out, how can we strike a deal?”
“No need for negotiations Leandro said, “I accept your conditions”
Seraphine was stunned, still trying to process what was happening Leandro had already leaned in, whispering in her ear, “I can tell you, the night Janetta was killed, Balch
was at home”
Seraphina suddenly locked her gaze with him and said, “You got proof?”
According to records, when Janetta was murdered, Balch was supposedly on the highway between Sunburst City and a neighboring town. But here Leandro was insisting Balch was home that night
This possibility excited and surprised Seraphina, but she needed evidence.
Leandro didn’t bother answering her question again, he just said. “Get your terms ready. I’ll be around to collect them later”
Clearly Seraphina’s mind had drifted away from the so–called “Terms“. As Leandro turned to change his tie, she moved closer to him and asked, “Could you testify that he was home that night?”
Leandro glanced at her and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t waste any more time here.”
Seraphina held his gaze for a moment, then, after a brief silence, she indeed turned and left.
As she stepped out of the office, she found Yasmina checking her watch and counting time.
When the door swung open and Seraphina walked out, Yasmina looked up, surprised at fast, then let out a long sigh of relief.
