*Knock, knock, knock~*
Shortly after Pepper left, another knock sounded outside Leon’s office.
“Come in.”
Accompanied by the light click of high heels against the floor, a blonde young woman pushed the door open and walked in.
She wore a purple off-the-shoulder pencil dress, her plump, shapely thighs wrapped in sheer black pantyhose.
It was none other than the female SHIELD agent who had disguised herself as a brilliant university PhD graduate to get close to Leon—Sharon Carter.
According to the profile Pepper had brought, she was born in 1986, making her only twenty-two years old this year.
Leon, who was born two and a half minutes after Tony, was a full sixteen years older than her.
If one were feeling criminal, he could barely pass as her father.
If Leon hadn’t known her true identity in advance, her age alone would have made it hard for him to connect her with a SHIELD agent.
She should have been just an innocent girl who had barely entered society.
What on earth had SHIELD been doing to her!
Leon couldn’t help but feel contempt and condemnation in his heart, before giving a mental thumbs-up: *Fantastic job!*
“Hello, Mr.
Stark.
I’m Sharon Carter, applying for the position of your secretary.
It’s a pleasure to serve you.”
“How much pleasure?”
“Uh…”
Leon’s very first greeting left Sharon momentarily speechless.
“Just a joke, don’t take it seriously.”
Leon chuckled and raised his hand, gesturing for Sharon Carter to sit down.
“Alright.”
Sharon Carter gave an accommodating smile, smoothed out the folds of her pencil dress, and sat down opposite Leon’s desk with somewhat stiff movements.
It was hard to tell whether she was genuinely nervous or just putting on an act with her acting skills.
Afterward, the atmosphere in the office fell into an eerie silence.
Leon didn’t say a word, merely staring straight at Sharon Carter, his gaze wandering up and down her body as if trying to devour her whole with his eyes alone.
After a long silence…
Sharon Carter finally couldn’t bear the pressure Leon was exerting on her.
Pursing her plump lips, which were highlighted pink and full by lip gloss, she spoke up:
“S-Sorry~”
“Mr.
Stark, I thought today was just an interview, so I didn’t wear a work uniform.
If you think this is inappropriate, I can go home and change right now.”
With that, Sharon Carter made to get up, but Leon raised his hand to stop her.
“Hey, hey, sit down, sit down.
Nothing of the sort.”
Leon rose from his executive chair, walked behind Sharon Carter, and placed both hands on her exposed shoulders.
The moment he touched her, Leon could clearly feel Sharon Carter’s entire body shudder unnaturally for a brief second, though she immediately forced herself to suppress it.
Seeing this, Leon’s lips curled up.
Her acting skills were top-notch, maybe even mixed with a little genuine emotion.
In short, things were getting interesting.
Leon’s favorite thing to do was to take a piece of black paper disguised as a blank slate and dye it completely in his own color.
Just as Leon was thinking about how to use this opportunity to subtly turn Sharon Carter into one of his own…
*Beep, beep, beep—*
“Young Master Leon, there’s an incoming call from the Stark Villa,” JARVIS interrupted his train of thought somewhat inopportune via the Bluetooth headset Leon was wearing.
“Patch it through.”
Feeling slightly annoyed, Leon removed his hands from Sharon Carter’s shoulders and stepped to the side.
At this, Sharon Carter instantly felt a wave of relief.
She let out a cautious, long breath.
She had actually thought Leon Stark was going to try something right upon their first meeting.
However…
Leon Stark in person was indeed even handsomer than in his photos.
Sharon Carter sneaked an appreciative glance at Leon’s back, her mind quietly beginning to ponder how to pry the intelligence Director Fury wanted out of his mouth.
If she could complete the mission without intimate contact, that would naturally be best.
But if intimate contact proved necessary, Sharon Carter felt it wasn’t entirely unacceptable either.
After all, objectively speaking, even if Leon Stark had a terrible reputation, he still relied on his devilish, mature charm and immense fortune to remain the dream lover of women across the entire United States—from elderly women with one foot in the grave to naive young girls experiencing their first awakenings of love.
If there were a ranking for the person women fantasized about at night, Leon Stark would unquestionably top the list.
It could be said that being handsome, insanely rich, and a wild playboy combined together to produce an effect no less powerful than a nuclear bomb.
Leon: “Hey, big bro.”
Tony: “Are you ready, my suit boy?
The Grim Reaper is stepping out.”
Leon: “You know I’m always ready.”
Tony: “Good.
Waiting for you at home.
Oh, right, the stuff you asked for has been fixed too.”
Leon: “Really?
I’m coming back right now!”
After the brothers finished their brief phone call, Leon intended to set off immediately, but he found that Sharon Carter had anticipated his move and stepped in to block him:
“Mr.
Stark, where are you going?
Miss Pepper instructed that before the company gets through this crisis, you can only stay in the office for the next few days.”
“Oh?”
“Is that so?”
The corners of Leon’s lips curved into a charming smirk.
He advanced step by step toward Sharon Carter, quickly trapping her against the wall in a wall-slam!
“Then let me ask you, Carter.”
“Are you my secretary, or Pepper’s?”
“I…
I’m your secretary, of course, Mr.
She didn’t dare to meet Leon’s gaze, looking like a child who had done something wrong and was being scolded by an adult.
“Since you’re my secretary, you should listen to me.”
“Now, Carter, I order you to step aside.”
“B-But Miss Pepper’s side…”
“Carter, you wouldn’t want to be fired by me on your very first day at the company, would you?”
“No…
I don’t.”
“That’s more like it.
Good girls obey orders.”
Leon patted Sharon Carter’s cheek, then pushed open the door and stepped out.
“I’m leaving the company’s affairs in your hands.
I trust you can handle it well.”
“Phew~”
Once Leon left the office, Sharon Carter felt a wave of immense relief.
Heaven knew how much pressure she had been under just now.
Leon Stark seemed to know her weak spot, backing her into a corner where she didn’t dare resist with just a single simple threat.
Biting her lip, Sharon Carter used the wall for support to stand up.
She noticed that her pantyhose had gotten snagged and torn on the floor earlier.
Seeing that there was no one around, she kicked off her high heels, her stocking-clad feet stepping onto the bare floor.
Placing both hands on the hem of her pencil dress, she prepared to pull down the ruined pantyhose.
However…
*Thud!*
The unlocked door to the Executive Director’s office was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
“By the way!”
“I think you look great dressed like this.
Just dress like this in the office normally.
You don’t need to learn from Pepper and wear OL suits all day—I’m tired of looking at those.”
“Uh…”
Nothing was worse than a sudden, dead silence.
When Leon clearly saw the situation inside the office, he froze for a moment and immediately shut the door.
But after thinking about it outside, he opened the door again with a conflicted expression and instructed Carter:
“Darling~”
“Relieving yourself in the office is strictly prohibited.”
“If you’re really in that much of a hurry, the restroom is right next door, just a couple of steps away.”
“!!!!!!”
“I’m not!
I didn’t!
You misunderstood…”
Leon’s misunderstanding caused Sharon Carter’s brain to stall in sheer embarrassment and fury.
By the time she threw out her triple denial, Leon had already shut the door again and left, uncomprehending yet respectful of her privacy.
Failing to clear up the misunderstanding on the spot, Sharon Carter was left wanting to cry, but having no tears to shed.