REESE

chapter fifty.

Reese POV:

-BREAKING NEWS-

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROPOSES HISTORIC 300 BILLION DOLLAR WEAPONS DEAL WITH CRYPTIC INCORPORATED

"Last Tuesday, the Pentagon issued a series of statements informing the media of their intent to finalize an arms deal with Fortune 500 company Cryptic Incorporated.

Until now, Cryptic Inc, led by CEO Reese Vanderbilt, has never publicly announced their expansion into weapons manufacturing. Nevertheless, the American multinational technology and motor company has always dabbled in various profitable fields so it should come as no surprise that if approved, Cryptic and the Department of Defense's newfound partnership will become the biggest defense contract in U.S history.

A three hundred billion dollar defense contract, to be precise.

Sources confirm that the intended purchases in the contract include but are not limited to: tanks, arms, missile defense systems, radar, communications, cybersecurity technology, and information security.

Months earlier, Reese Vanderbilt made a resounding commitment to the world, announcing the imminent dawn of a new era for Cryptic Inc. True to her word, the young billionaire has undeniably delivered. Within its industry, Cryptic Incorporated's dominance remains impenetrable, and under her leadership, the company now strikes with determined vigor into uncharted domains.

Calling it impressive would be inadequate.

Stay tuned for more updates as they come."

-

Evangeline St. James was a beautiful woman.

Her forty-three years had done her well. That fact was clear the moment I watched her exit her car and every man's eyes in a one hundred meter radius followed her legs to my door.

I could have sworn I saw one of my security guards lower his sunglasses to the tip of his nose as she walked by. It was almost amusing to watch. I wonder if the infamous Chief of Staff knew why her Secret Service agents walked in a tight diamond formation around her. It damn sure wasn't to warn off incoming danger, no, there would be none of that here in the Russian backcountry. It was to warn off the inevitable stares.

"Evangeline." I greeted, moving forward stiffly with my crutches and extending a hand. "Welcome to Russia."

Waving off her agents, she took my hand into hers firmly. "Reese." She replied, sweeping her gaze up and down my body. Raising her eyebrows, her examination stopped short on my cast and crutches. I had taken my sleeve off so that I could use the crutches and I was glad I did. Evangeline didn't need to see the full extent of my injuries. "So the story I was fed wasn't bullshit."

Blunt and straight to the point. I liked that.

"Unfortunately not." I replied. Shooting her a tight smile, I gestured to the house. "Follow me."

Not wanting any prying ears listening in on our conversation, I led her into the quiet living room. Quiet was not an adjective I normally could use to describe the state of the safe house but right now since everyone in the house had clearly dispersed, it was the appropriate one.

There were only two people out of the twenty three that were currently residing in the mansion that I could account for. One was Carver, who was sleeping upstairs and two was Rocco, who was sitting on the couch before me. Rocco was also the sole reason this meeting had even been scheduled in the first place. Evangeline might have been dealing with me this entire time but it wasn't my genius behind this plan, it was his.