Cassian Black was standing in front of his floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the Los Angeles skyline when a soft knock sounded on his door.
He already knew who it was from the rhythm.
“Come in, Jax.”
His secretary and best friend stepped in with a tablet in his hand.
“The dealership has sent over the final delivery photos for the car you purchased yesterday,” he stated as he swiped through the images.
“Linda wanted to confirm the presentation details before—”
“Fine, leave them on my desk.” Cassian cut him off without turning around.
“I’m just going to scroll through them to make sure there aren’t any issues.” Jaxson continued swiping through the images before he went completely silent.
“Actually,” he started slowly.
“You might want to see this.”
Cassian turned around, looking at Jaxson, who looked at his tablet with full concentration.
Cassian walked over and took the device from him.
The image was a professional capture of the car he had bought yesterday, looking sleek under the bright showroom lights.
But his eyes strayed quickly away from the vehicle.
In the background, partially blurry, was Aurora Bennett standing besides a sports car, her hand extended like she was selling the car to a client.
Her expression was warm as she smiled at the person.
Cassian zoomed in.
His jaw went tight, and his grip on the tablet almost broke the device.
It wasn’t just any other customer.
It was Asher Calloway, his ex-friend and now arch business rival, and he was leaning towards Aurora like he was enjoying whatever conversation they were having.
“What the hell is he doing there?” Cassian’s voice came out hoarse.
Jaxson sighed.
“He’s probably just browsing, Cassian. I heard he’s been expanding his car collection recently.” He reasoned, raising a brow at his friend.
“Why do you care?”
Cassian ignored his question completely before he dropped the tablet on the table harder than necessary and turned back to the window, telling himself that he didn’t care.
He didn’t care who Aurora Bennett smiled at or spent her time with.
She was just a saleswoman who used her beauty to trap customers.
But yet, the image of her and Asher made something hot shoot through his chest.
“Let’s go,” Cassian ordered, walking away from the window towards the door.
“My father is waiting.”
Silas Black sat at the head of the chair of the conference room as Cassian and Jaxson made their way in.
“Is everything all right?” Silas asked his son, noticing that his frown was deeper than usual.
“I’m fine,” Cassian answered without looking at his father.
Silas and Jaxson exchanged a knowing look before Silas leant back in his chair, getting down to business.
“The projections are solid. We have acquired the deal, which should push us ahead of the Calloway Company by at least 10%.” He paused for a second.
“Speaking of Calloway, is he the reason why you are distracted?”
Cassian didn’t answer, while Jaxson hesitated for a second before saying, “Partly, sir.”
“Explain further, Jax,” Silas prompted, a bit amused.
“It was the showroom associate who sold him the car yesterday. She was spotted with Asher Calloway,” Jaxson said, ignoring Cassian’s pointed glare.
“It was just a business transaction. She has nothing to do with it,” Cassian blurted out, his hand swiping through the folder in front of him, though he wasn’t reading anything.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d agree with you. But it seems she had managed to crack through that hard exterior of yours.”
“Father.”
“I’m just teasing, son.” Silas held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Though I must admit, a woman who can manage to get on your nerves must be extraordinary.”
“She was definitely memorable,” Jaxson stated.
Cassian slammed the folder shut.
“She’s nothing,” he said harshly, his voice cutting through the playful energy in the room.
“She’s just like all the other women, using her looks to target wealthy men.”
Silas seemed taken aback by Cassian’s words.
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Hardly, father,” Cassian said.
“I’ve seen hundreds of women like her before. They’re all over Los Angeles. The second they see a wealthy man, their brain starts calculating how much he’s worth and how fast they can get their hands on it. She’s not different from them; she just knows how to hide it better.”
“She seems professional enough to me.” Jaxson disagreed with his friend.
“Professional, my foot,” Cassian snorted a humourless laugh.
“She’s just a pathetic woman who has dozens of wealthy men on her roster, Asher Calloway being one of them, apparently.”
Silas’s expression changed from amusement to seriousness.
“Cassian, that’s enough.”
“It’s just the truth, Father,” Cassian gritted out, leaning back in his chair with a smug smirk.
“She’s just a gold digger, that’s what she is. And women like her will never—”
The words died in his mouth at the sound of the conference door being pushed open.
Aurora Bennett stood in the doorway holding the knob of the door, a brown folder clutched in her other hand, while her face was flushed with anger, and her eyes were directly staring at Cassian.
She had heard everything.
Cassian felt an uncomfortable feeling settle in his chest.
Everyone was frozen for what felt like forever.
A tense silence covered the room.
Then Aurora took a shaky step into the room.
The sound of her heels echoed through the empty space.
She gritted her teeth, her knuckles turning white from how hard she was clenching her fingers.
Her legs made a bee-line for the conference table, her fiery gaze still locked on Cassian.
She sucked a deep breath before she slapped the documents down on the table with a harsh impact, making Jaxson and Silas flinch, while Cassian just looked at her with an unreadable expression.
“These are the completed purchase forms,” she said, forcing her voice to be steady.
“I was told to deliver them personally.”
“Thank you for your trouble,” Jaxson said barely.
“I’m sure—”
Aurora completely ignored him, her eyes still pointed on Cassian.
“Gold digger,” she said the word slowly.
“That’s what you called me, isn’t it?”
Cassian pushed back his chair before standing up to his full height, towering over Aurora’s petite figure.
He opened his mouth to speak when she quickly cut him off.
“Let me tell you something, Mr Black,” her voice commanded the entire room sharply.
“You don’t know anything about me, how I’ve been working, and who I am supporting. You have no idea what I’ve sacrificed while you sat on your pretty throne looking down at me. All you did was meet me for a handful of minutes and already pass a judgement on who I am.”
Cassian scoffed.
“So what? You want an apology?”
Aurora shook her head.
“Not really.”
Her hand went to the glass of water on the table, and Cassian watched as she slowly grabbed the glass.
The next few seconds went by in slow motion as Aurora pulled her hand back before she splashed the water at his face.
Cassian flinched as the cold liquid hit his face, a small gasp escaping his lips, his eyes going wide, never expecting her to do what she just did.
The clear liquid slowly dripped down his cheeks onto the floor while he just stood in front of her frozen.
But Aurora wasn’t done.
Before any of them could react, her hand swung back and connected with his right cheek.
The sharp slap echoed through the entire conference room.
Cassian’s head whipped in the other direction from the impact.
A sharp sting of pain burned the place where her palm had hit.
Silas was immediately on his feet, eyes wide as he watched the exchange, while Jaxson was just standing completely still and shocked to his core.