His Queen

Chapter Twenty-Four

Arielle stared at the large steel doors as she got out of her car.

It was the warehouse.

She had only been here twice.

Once when Sebastian had introduced this other half of his life to her, and the other when he was called urgently because of some sort of classified files being leaked.

The warehouse was large from what Arielle knew.

Multiple dorms that house his workers, along with office and control centers.

It sometimes took her back at the grand scale of things when she realized that the same Sebastian she knew to be so soft and adorable could be such a busy man in charge of the income of so many.

"Hey? Are you lost?" Someone called as he walked towards Arielle before pointing to her car, "This yours?"

Arielle looked at the man who seemed no older than 25, dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a white tee.

"I know my way a bit," She responded, "Yea, it is."

He looked over at her Range Rover, admiring it before turning back to her, "My name is Adam. I can take you inside, assuming that's why your here."

Arielle nodded as she caught him glancing up and down at her. He sheepishly smiled at getting caught before extending his arm to point at the door, "This way."

Arielle glanced at her phone and dialed Sebastian's number yet again.

"So, which one of the guys are you here to see?" He asked, "I haven't seen you around before but assuming you got in here without an escort, you must be pretty important."

Arielle smiled as she listened to her phone ring.

"Are you here for one of the executives? One of the head captains?" He asked, just as he noticed her take her phone away from her ear.

The lack of response from Sebastian put Arielle on edge but she shrugged and gave Adam a warm smile at him causing him to blush, "Something like that."

"Sorry, I can't take you farther than this. It's the rules." Adam told her as they made their way into the lounge, "Hey, I also never got your name."

Arielle shook her head at his apologies, "I understand, Sebastian's rules are probably strict around here. It's—"

"Ms. Arielle!" She was interrupted as the men in the room halted whatever they were doing to stand and turn to her.

Very few of the men had been able to see her in person but those that have described her to be beautiful and breathtaking from stories and rumors that were passed around. Her face was always hidden and prohibited from being the focus of pictures so the sight of her in the flesh, startled some of the men while others looked in awe.

"Ari-I mean Ms. Arielle?!" Adam exclaimed in shock as he pulled himself away from her, increasing the space between them.

Arielle shook her head, "Please, go back to what you were doing! I would hate to interrupt. I just need to talk to Sebastian."

Her smile slowly melted the tension in the room as some of the men began to whisper amongst themselves.

"She's so pretty!"

"To be honest, with Mr. Cattaneo's personality I didn't expect her to be this nice."

"Is that the Arielle?"

Arielle recalled being told that all the men who had worked in this building and their guests had to sign confidentiality agreements as a protocol for working and visiting at the warehouse. The NDA they had to sign stated that after learning about Arielle's identity, her identity and the fact that she existed had to be a secret that they carried to the grave.

At first, only the highest men in power knew about Arielle's existence but as rumors soon spread, those who were in lesser positions began to question whether or not she was real or just a myth that was passed around.

It was said that the only way one could escape Sebastian's wrath was with Arielle but he had never let her get close to anything that dealt with his darker side of work.

"Ms. Arielle, my name is James Takahashi." A man in his late forties introduced himself after making his way over, "I'm one of the five main department heads here at the warehouse."

With a quick nod for him to leave from James, Arielle watched as Adam scurried off to his coworkers.

"Please, call me Arielle. Sebastian is a stickler for titles but I don't mind it at all."

The entire room gasped as they heard her call him a "stickler".

"So she is true!"

"Did she just call boss a "stickler"?"

"That's knocking on death's door."

Arielle's quiet laugh eased the tension yet again, "Sebastian wouldn't hurt anything if you all didn't commit treacherous treason or something like that, I don't know. Regardless, just stay safe you guys, he's pretty scary isn't he?"

The men watched her sweet voice flood the room, confused as whether to agree and nod or stay still and quiet.

After all, to them, it was still their CEO's girlfriend.

"Do you mind if we talk Mr. Takahashi?" Arielle questioned, knowing that he would know most about Sebastian.

He nodded, "Of course, please this way."

As Arielle followed him, she watched as he spoke into his in-ear piece. "Please head to conference room #1, we have an important guest."

Immediately after sitting down at the head of the table, she watched as four other men filed themselves into the room before closing the doors.

"I hate to seem rude, but pardon me for getting to the point, have you guys happened to hear anything from Sebastian?" Arielle asked, her hands fidgeting under the table.

It was rare that her anxiety spiked these days with her medication but she couldn't help it as she stopped her rounds of medication long ago. Subconsciously, she began to slip back into her bad habits.

To her, anxiety was the least of her worries right now.

The men looked at each other, cautious to not cause any false fear but couldn't help the look of confusion that plastered their face.

"Is he not with you?" The man sitting next to James questioned.

His look of confusion puzzled Arielle, "No, I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"Did you happen to see Mr. Zach Larson before coming to us?" A voice spoke up, "He's in charge of the head of security at the company. Sebastian should have a line-up of security surrounding him at all times."

Arielle nodded her head, "Zach said he hadn't seen Sebastian either."

"Zach wouldn't know too about this side of Sebastian's work but out of the 8 protective staff around Sebastian, two belong to our staff." The man stated before tapping his in-ear piece, "Can I get a location check on the two men protecting Mr. Cattaneo? ASAP."

"Is something wrong?" Arielle asked, confused for the need of clarity.

"Mr. Cattaneo sent in an official message this morning from his company saying that he wasn't visiting the warehouse or the office today because he was going to be with you."

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Updated: 6•15•20