11

•••

[Cassian]

The last thing he needed was two overly concerned bastards eating at his ears. But Cassian supposed there was no stopping them this time.

"What the hell was that about, Cass? You had us all worried, you know," Chase told him while they stood by the seamless railings in the main deck, drinking brandy customarily.

Useless questions. That's what he's been getting ever since he got back that evening.

"Like I said, it's nothing. I just had to get out that's all," he said tersely, staring wearily into the clear liquid he was swirling in the glass.

"I could have sent one of our men to look for you, but then they told us you were with the architect."

"So, what's with all the fuss?" he asked, taking note of their obvious agitation with his latest stunt, "it was just a small trip to the beach."

"Right," Chase retorted, his demeanor on the other hand wasn't satisfied. "Why the architect again, if I may ask?"

"What about her?"

"I think she's a little uptight for your taste, Cass," Cain, who was sprawled on one of the lounge chairs interjected.

"Shut up, Cain," Chase warned him.

"Yes, shut up, Cain."

It was an absurd notion, his friend was implying. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to humor them.

It still pains him to this time just thinking about the incident when he first met Miss Sage.

Absentmindedly, he loosened the constricting collar of his shirt.

"You didn't have to drag her into this, Cass. What about the job I gave her?"

"Relax, Chase. I'm very positive she can manage it."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cain get up from his seat as if he was trying to figure out what he meant by that.

"I'm a little confused here, where exactly are you two going on with this?"

Maybe Lyari could manage the tasks, but it wasn't what Chase was worried about. He was worried about her safety.

Glancing at Cain in the process, he uttered in explanation.

"I believe Cass just found himself a driver."

"Huh, so you hired that woman? Off the bat?"

With a curt nod of confirmation, Cassian polished off the remainder of his drink.

"I thought it will be good for anonymity when I get out, and she drives fast."

Chase sighed. His suit looked evidently rumpled this late in the hour, and he straightened it.

"Well, I'm not gonna stop you from anything, Cass. But you need to be careful when you get out there, you have to keep in mind I can't afford to lose that girl anytime soon."

A cynical snort came out of his lips. If he didn't know any better, he would think Chase had a soft spot for that woman.

"Sure," he simply agreed, to be fair he hadn't expected his dear friend to agree with him so easily.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Cain edged in, "it's too early for this. For all we know, Nico might have already set his men out there. It's not yet safe."

For a moment, his jaw clenched at the mention of the name. Deep inside he was still seething. Somehow, the thought of letting his own nemesis know of his presence in town had played out in his mind for sometime.

"Now you've said it, Cain. Why don't we move on to the matter of transactions?" He asked, changing the subject. "How's my money?"

"Mr Lim is overseas at the moment, I'll let you know once he comes back so we could arrange for a meeting."

"Hm, fair enough. When this is done with, I'm hoping I could count on you two to start the overture on buying parts of this island."

Chase and Cain exchanged uncertain glances.

"You have our word," Chase responded, before a frown appeared on his brow. "We may have to think hard about it. We all know my brother owns a large part of this island. Avoiding his jurisdiction at all costs has to be our priority."

"I'm with Chase," Cain agreed.

He turned around from the railing and gave his friends a level look.

"All right, you two. Strategize when the time comes, it is. Do whatever's right. Let the sharks think we don't want anything to do with them."

Cain chuckled freely.

"What's so funny?"

"Don't mind me, Cass." With a shake of his head, Cain discreetly returned the phone to his pocket.

"Is he high?" He asked Chase, who in turn, only managed a shrug.

Cain was the most notorious spy among them, a computer genius who graduated from one of the best schools. But his sense of humor and addiction to recreational drugs was a constant issue for them.

The night was drawing to a close.

It was quiet in the big house, and they were the only ones awake at this hour.

None of them ever took notice of it, being used to staying up late. They'd have a drink and talk until their bodies refused to cooperate.

"By the way, Cass," Cain reminded him in the halls, "Marissa called me, I think she's back in town."

That was enough to make him falter in his steps.

•••

It was the official start of renovations, the gray trailer truck bearing the supplies had already arrived besides the cleaning crews. It was to be a busy morning.

Lyari rubbed the residue of sleep from her eyes as she watched Mr Gomez haggling with the driver at the front, she'd been meaning to speak with the contractor but he was taking too long making small talk with the man in blue overalls.

The area around them was bustling with activity while the men of the villa merely watched the scene in contemplation.

Just then Mr Gomez broke into a laugh, the sound grating, irritating her ears. With a sigh, she looked around her, hoping to distract herself while waiting for him.

Since the mansion was spread out on the slope with parts of it's facade jutting within the extremities, the driveway had a fair view of the balcony wrapped around the structure. Right now, someone was leaning at the railing, watching them as she looked up.

She squinted her eyes against the sun, then gradually made out Cassian's  forbidding figure, conspicuously having his morning coffee with a rather big mug in his hand.

He's looking very exquisite- she noted grudgingly- the long grey robe barely even covered his muscled and lean upper body.

She must have been staring at him for quite sometime, because his shadowed eyes had reduced to slits in obvious annoyance when they landed on hers.

He's back to being himself again.

A frown made its way between her eyebrows.

If she'd ever let Casssian get under her skin, it would be too soon.

"Lyari."

She turned to the voice and found Mr Gomez waving her over. The driver was still there.

"Oh-yes, Mr Gomez?"

"Come over here, I've got something I need you to consult with."

"Finally," she muttered, itching to dive into some work for that morning.

She needed to do something which will remind her of why she was there in the first place.

From under the trellis of a blooming bougainvillea, Lyari emerged hours later after a long, demanding management with the crew disseminating which was this or that and what wall to take down.

To say she was winded was an understatement, she had done as much talking in the last couple of hours than all her meetings at the firm combined. You'd think she's used to this by now, but  her current harried state said otherwise.

She didn't feel like eating with her group at the back on break, and so had found a quiet place to eat her sandwich in peace.

The patio seemed a perfect place to think and get her bearings before they go through the process all over again.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice asked her from the other side of the bench.

"Oh, it's you." She cleared her throat.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Chase insisted, clearly amused about something. He came to sit with her, keeping a respectable distance on the bench.

"I just like to be alone," she shrugged with a wry smile. The sandwich wrapper bunched in her hand made a crinkling sound. "It's too crowded in there for me."

"I see," he pretended to be thoughtful for a second, "first day of construction, huh. I'm about excited to see your plans come to life, you know. Pretty sure it's going to be bomb." His choice of compliment was a little bit off, for a no-nonsense guy.

"Yeah, I'm glad you liked it. My clients would have been hesitant to admit they're impressed, mainly because they're too worried about what my compensation might be."

"That's kinda sad."

"It's how it is."

"That guy, Mr Gomez, is he giving you a hard time?"

Surprised by the question, she looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Uh, no? What makes you think that?"

"Well, I may have noticed he's always not on the same boat with you every time you make decisions."

Right then she knew he'd been watching her, and he must have followed her out here in concern.

"Oh that one, well, it's perfectly normal. It's practically part of their job to argue with us whenever they can, maybe it's how he gets things done."

He nodded understandingly, albeit his frown was still there.

"Look, it may not be a business of mine, but anytime something like that happens again, you can always come and talk to me, okay?"

It was her turn to get amused by his implication.

"Okay, I guess..."

"I'm serious, I don't want any friend of mine being stepped on while they're under my roof."

His statement almost immediately made her smile, mainly because he called her a friend.

"Right... Friends." That could work.

With a smirk, he brought out a flask of liquor from his pocket and drank from it. Drinking in the middle of the day must be a ritual for these men.

"Can I ask you something? If it's alright with you."

He peered at her sidelong, almost warily. "Sure, what is it?"

"What kind of business do you deal with?" It was something she'd been wondering about for quite a while now.

"Hm, I knew you'd come to that. Let's see. Hotel chains, clubs..."

She tried to look unimpressed as he explained one of his business ventures abroad, and the turf they were planning to buy in the future on this island. It was all about having connections with wealthy groups from all around the country as well as outside.

"...but what we've been dabbling on traditionally, is specialized weapons."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was gauging her reaction again, just like when they met. Only this time he didn't hold back on the informations. He was merely stating what was under her nose all along.

"So you deal with weapons," she said slowly, absorbing the vital piece of information, "is it legal?"

From her knowledge, the weapons business always came alongside with drugs. And drug syndicates were prevalent around here.

He thought for a moment. "That depends... Our branch is mainly privatized, but sometimes we come with a few brush-offs with illegal ones, it's part of the business. We've always been making continuous progress for decades with our foreign suppliers, and now we're one of the top producers in this country. The shipments go straight through us, after the customs are dealt with, and then we impart the stuff to the military."

"Wow..." was all she could say.

She couldn't even begin to imagine just how far these men had come.

"I don't think it's something you should find fascinating," he said wryly, "for one, it's all just subsidies and lobbies for me, all these problems with the government we have to deal with on a regular basis just so they don't turn on us. It's a scary business, Lyari."

"Yes, you're right. I don't even understand why you'd go into that area. Weapons aren't really this country's strongest asset."

It was her objective view. Normally, in her opinion, guns and all kinds of weapons always leads to violence.

Belatedly, Lyari wondered why she was even having this conversation with the client.

"I know, but you'd be surprised if I tell you how we make profits on mere distribution only, even the illegal ones. In the end, the government protects us because they need our money to finance these things, otherwise they won't have anyone to do their 'dirty works' in the first place."

He was basically telling her he went into that business just because he can, and has the money to do so.

"Well, I just hope you're not selling any to terrorists," she retorted, remembering the horrors of civil wars all the way south.

In turn, Chase gave her a mock look of horror. "Even the reach of my influence has its limits, I'd rather sell my soul than deal with those lowlifes."

When he continued, his voice was somber.

"My friend, Cassian has always been wanting to get into the business. Unfortunately, it's one thing that led to another. But... I'm not going to get into all that. It's a personal matter."

He smiled regretfully.