FORBIDDEN (#1)

Chapter 31

The first hour of the meeting was so boring, I had to force myself not to fall asleep. It didn't help that the restaurant I chose for breakfast had the best food and I overstuffed myself by a lot. But, it started to get interesting during the second hour. Roman started talking about acquisitions and that subject seemed to be a soft spot for the man he was speaking to. What was his name again? Samuel Redding? His face scrunched up in distaste and he shook his head.

            "Absolutely not. I am not parting with my company. Is this what the meeting was about? Why you wanted me to tell you all about my company? I didn't sign up for this!"

            "Calm down, Redding. It's only a suggestion. I don't have any concrete plans about taking over your company, though if I did, it certainly wouldn't take much for me to add it to my portfolio, now would it? From what I hear, you're so in debt you're thinking about filing for bankruptcy. Is that correct?" Roman folded his hands together on the table and Samuel was so flustered, he could barely form a proper sentence.

            "What is this? How do you know about that? That information is confidential!" He blurted out when he was able to get his words together. Roman chuckled, a confident look on his face as he adjusted his position in his seat. Samuel's face was beet red, and he shifted uncomfortably it seemed, in his seat across from Roman.

            "Don't worry about how I got the information. Just know that I have a credible source and I just wanted to have a discussion about it."

            Samuel glanced at me, then back at Roman. "I don't want to have this discussion in front of her. This is private information and the less people who know about it the better." He glanced at me again. "No offense."

            "Violett here is known for her discretion, isn't that right?" Roman glanced at me, and I nodded.

            "That's right, Mr. Drakos. My lips are sealed." I gave Samuel a big smile, but he still glanced at me nervously. He then nodded and began telling Roman about his company and what led him to where he was now. He was disclosing lots of secrets that even the most important people of his company didn't know. He would always glance at me when he would disclose a personal secret but continued telling his story until he finished. Roman thanked him for his time when he was done and dismissed him.

            "That was, a lot." I commented when Samuel was gone. Roman sighed and nodded, rubbing his jaw with his hand.

            "Indeed. I'm going to need to ask you not to say a word to anyone about what was said in this meeting." A serious look was on his face as he spoke to me, and I nodded.

            "Of course. I won't say anything, not that I have many people to tell anyway."

            "You're close with your brother and getting closer to Colton. I don't want either of them to know this information."

            I raised a brow. Now that was interesting. "I won't say anything to them, but I would like to know why you're keeping it a secret from your top executives."

            He drummed his fingers on the conference table, looking lost in his thoughts. "I only trust myself with the important information."      

            I didn't understand. "But they're your best friends."

            He chuckled at my words, which confused me even more. "Everything isn't always what it seems. Your brother, as nice as he is, has his own secrets. And Colton...be careful around him. He seems very charming until he's not." Roman seemed serious about what he was telling me, but I still couldn't help but think that the information about Colton was coming from a place of jealousy.

            "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Who are we meeting with next?" I asked, glancing at the door. He told me earlier that he would be meeting with people back to back. He looked at his sheet, finger sliding over the paper.

            "A Robert Lewis. He should be here at any moment now."

            I leaned back into my chair, ready for a boring start to the meeting. Being the CEO didn't seem as interesting as having the title itself. The door opened and I looked up and squinted. The person coming through the door definitely wasn't a Robert. The woman closed the door behind her and walked confidently through the room, the purple heels she wore accentuating her long legs. She had long chestnut colored hair and the formfitting dress she was wearing hugged her very well. She knew it, I knew it, and I knew Roman knew it even though he wasn't showing it on his face.

            "Who are you?" he asked, no pleasantries given to start. The woman smiled and sat down in the chair only adjacent to Roman, not on the other side of the table like Samuel.

            "I'm Anna Lawrence, COO of LeMan's. I'm so sorry Robert had an emergency and couldn't make it to the meeting. I'm here in his place because he still wanted very much to consider a partnership with you. I hope that's okay." She gave Roman a sultry smile and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Here we go.

            "I'm only allowing this because of my history with Robert, but I will not grant him leeway again. Let's begin this meeting." Roman got straight to business and Anna straightened up, a frown on her face. Must not have been the entrance she was hoping for. The meeting went on and Anna began to say her piece for the company she worked for. It was very info dumpy which made for a boring first thirty minutes of the meeting and had me spacing out. I was pretty hungry and was thinking about what I would eat for lunch. The restaurant that served breakfast would probably have great lunch as well, so I could go there again. A giggle from Anna had me tuning back into the meeting and I saw her bite her lip briefly before letting out another giggle. I glanced at Roman to see him relaxed in his chair, a flirty smirk on his face.

            "Well Drakos, I'll have to show you around the office at some point and more, if you're interested." Her eyes did a sweep of him, and they lit up when she took in his long legs, all the way up to his face. Roman did the same to her, giving her a nod, which had annoyance flaring up inside me. He would actually take her up on her offer?

            "You have my contact information. Let me know when. Just remember to relay the information we went over in this meeting to Robert." He gave her a crooked smile and I gritted my teeth.

            "Am I still in a business meeting, or am I here as a witness to your first date?" I interrupted their conversation and Anna glared at me. I could see Roman shaking his head at me from the corner of my eyes, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to sit here and watch them flirt with each other. I raised a brow at Anna, daring her to say something. Roman cleared his throat.

            "Well, that's all for today. It was nice to meet you, Anna. I hope we meet again soon." Roman stood up, reaching his hand out. Anna stood up as well and smiled up at him, fitting her hand snug in his.

            "Pleasure. I hope so as well." She grabbed her things and barely gave me a glance before saying my name under her breath. I didn't bother to acknowledge her.

            "That went well. Do you have any other meetings for the day?" I asked Roman once Anna was completely gone. He stared at me with humor on his face, but all he did was nod.

            "I do have a few more meetings. It's up to you whether or not you want to join me. You're free to do whatever you want."

            Hm. Attend meetings with Roman and get to be in his presence and learn from him or spend some time alone and possibly do another search for other jobs. I actually contemplated my options before straightening up in the chair.

            "Can we get lunch first before another meeting? I'm starving." I gave him an innocent smile and he laughed before agreeing with me.