Chapter 637: Featured

Ian noticed that Mina was no longer working out behind him around the same time he noticed one of his guards pull the woman away from Dom and a few men who he had heard chuckling just moments before. Ignoring his own workout, Ian approached the men, asking them what had caused the women to flee. In his mind, he would end up having to give a hard warning to the men, save for Dom, who knew his limit, but when the men told him what Mina had described, he found himself feeling giddy.

Of course, Ian knew there was no guarantee that he would be the man Mina chose to release her frustrations with, but he believed that Brayden was out of the running, Dom was sneaking around with Rebecca Witt, Connor Boyd gave up his chance, and the Lamar family was preparing to announce their son's engagement to Willow West. He felt that as long as they continued to bond at the same pace and he continued to make himself available as a choice, Mina would eventually agree to him.

----

Mina was embarrassed, she had never really experienced arousal, and having described what she was feeling to a group of men, she was mortified. She could not understand why in her twenty-three years of living she would have started to feel what she was feeling in the middle of a gym of all places. However, one part of her was relieved; she was not becoming more attracted to President Lee, her adult body was just rebelling against her.

The feelings Mina was having were made even worse by President Lee's insistence that she travel back to his home with him. He had sent Dom to log more hours with several other men, who he had said had become distracted by her presence and did not properly work their muscles. It was not a complete untruth, the men had been distracted by her, especially since many of them had noticed her wandering eyes and took it as a sign that she was open to a casual relationship.

Back in her room, Mina immediately sank herself into something she thought would take her mind off the man who was starting to consume her thoughts, but every time she closed her eyes, she kept picturing the man without a shirt. Disturbed by her own daydreams, Mina dressed and prepared to leave the Lee mansion, wanting to walk herself into exhaustion. Her belief was that she would be too tired to think, but her plans were thwarted by President Lee, who had come into her room wearing an expression she could not read.

"Do you have a minute?" the man asked, and Mina felt as though she needed to defend herself.

"Whatever it is; I didn't do it," Mina said without waiting to be accused.

"I'm not here to accuse you."

"Then why do you look like you have unwelcome news to tell me?"

"Because I noticed that you were not yourself in the car. I don't want to push you too hard, but I am here to tell you to get dressed; we are going out."

"I don't want to go out," Mina replied, but the man told her that the plans were nonnegotiable and had to be kept. "President Lee, as you pointed out, I am not feeling like myself. If it's not work related-"

"It is work related," Ian interjected. "Your jewelry line is going to be featured in an international magazine. They know the Lee group own's twenty percent, but this is a female forward group, and they want to meet with you and Mills.

Mina's entire perspective changed, and she quickly rushed into her closet, pulling out one of the suits she now knew President Lee had picked out and bought for her. She then called Mills who complained that Drax's mother turned her into a pencil pusher. Mina laughed because she knew that Mills did not mean it in a bad way. The woman was just unused to formality, and she complained anytime she had to dress in something other than combat boots and leather pants, but she loved Drax's mother enough to never let the woman hear her whining about it.

Ready to go, Mina jumped into President Lee's car and urged him to drive fast. She knew from her conversation with Mills that the woman was already nearing the meeting point, and she did not want to be late. The man did not complain and did as he was told, but midway through the trip, he dropped a bombshell that she wished he would have mentioned to her before they left. Sadness engulfed Mina as she realized that it was not her and Mills who had been tapped for a feature, but Miss Luna, who she had not known was the face of her company.

"President Lee, Ubi was my brainchild. You should have told me that you were involving someone hostile toward me."

"I know, but it was not in my original plan. She just fell in love with the concept and took over without really saying anything about it."

"I find it hard to believe that a person who has to be in control let someone take over his position without consent." Ian made a face. It was true that he knew what his sister was doing, but he did not stop her because he was truly uninterested in running a jewelry line with Cylus Rue. He could deal with Milo, who was no longer a rival, but Cylus' relationship with Mina was unclear, and he did not want to collaborate with the man.

"If she does something you don't agree with or like, I will pull her from the project at once."

"Then I suggest you do that now because the minute she looks at me…" Mina allowed her sentence to drop, and President Lee laughed more loudly than she expected him to.

"Fine," the man said. He started to press buttons on his front console, but Mina grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Don't listen to me. Your sister is good at what she does, and it would be silly not to work with her. I just hope that you will tell me things like this in the future. Unlike you, I have people I have to take care of. If this business fails, I will lose a lot of money I could have used toward buying my family home. I don't want that." Ian nodded at Mina. He too was concerned that his sister would try to hurt Mina's success, but she had not known of the woman's involvement until after it was brought up by Zane.

"Mina trust me; Luna has no ill will toward this line. She even loves the fact that a third of the proceeds will go toward early childhood education. Like you, she believes that children with higher levels of stimulation tend to become more successful adults, and she wants to make that a possibility for every member of society, not just the rich."

"Take me back," Mina replied, shocking Ian, who pulled over to check if the woman was okay. "I am fine, but I feel uncomfortable. I don't remember telling you about my belief on early education." Ian realized his mistake and decided it was best to own up to it.

"You did not. I listened in on a conversation between you and Cylus Rue… but that was before. I haven't violated your privacy much since then."

"Much?" She questioned.

"Mina, there are still things that don't add up. I no longer believe that you are involved, but either someone targeted you or you are the unluckiest woman in the world." Mina snorted, not at President Lee, but because the truth was that it could have been a mixture of both.

"Just don't lock me behind the bookshelf without talking to me first. I have nothing to hide," Mina lied. It was true that she was innocent of the original charges against her, but since then, she had been doing things that President Lee was unaware of; things that would help her start her life over in comfort.

"I will never do that to you again," Ian replied, making sure that his tone was serious and devoid of any inflection that Mina could misunderstand. "I should not have done that to you in the first place," he continued.

----

As Mina had expected, she and Miss Luna bumped heads the entire interview. The only thing they agreed on was the practicality of the jewelry line, which undoubtedly had major security concerns. The interviewer wanted to know if women could potentially be tracked and monitored without their consent, which was a possibility. While all the jewelry had to be registered and activated under the wearer's name, it did not stop the person from handing it to another individual to wear, but Mills was prepared for that.

Not only did Mina make regular reregistration a part of purchasing the jewelry, but Mills had suggested adding a small trigger into all the wares. If exposed to air, or if the temperature reached a certain degree, a small amount of acid pre-built into the accessory would burst and destroy the tracker. A notification would then be sent to both the purchaser and the company, who would investigate the situation. If accidental, the item would be repaired or replaced, but if tampered with, criminal charges could be brought upon the offending individual. In Pan, the intent to surveil or track without permission is a criminal offense meant to deter paparazzi. Unfortunately, the law had not been enforced, something Mina foresaw changing soon.

After Mills' part of the interview, the women left without saying much to Miss Luna, who had come with Miss Lisa. They made their way to a café where they intended to eat in peace, but Brayden showed up, telling both women that he had been following them. Mina was put off, but the man's reasoning was sound enough not to become instantly alarmed.

"You haven't been answering my calls. I felt like this was the only way to get you to talk to me."

"I still have your number blocked. You can email me if it's an emergency." Brayden's face grew red and while he wanted to lash out at Mina, he could not. He needed her to please his father and get his life back.

"It is an emergency. I overheard President Rue threatening your parents." Mina's face grew serious, and she stood up abruptly while Mills studied Brayden, who she believed was lying.

"Mina, he is not being truthful," the woman said in the Sani language. "Cylus would have said something, and President Lee would already know."

"What exactly did he say?" Mina asked, sensing that Mills was right.

"He said he was going to buy the factory that employs your father and fire him." Mina shrugged and sat back down.

"He would be doing me a favor if he did that," she replied, and Mills pointed to her while making a face of agreement.

"You want your father to lose his job?" Brayden was genuinely shocked. He knew that Mina took care of her family financially, but he had assumed she would find the information stressful. If her father were no longer employed, she would have to send more money.

"My father needs rest. He won't quit and if he gets fired, that would be my chance to keep him unemployed."

"But then you would have to take care of him." Mina looked at Brayden in pity. She had assumed he was like her, he wanted to care for his mother, but it was becoming clear that he did not see things the way she did.

"You take care of your mother," she replied.

"My mother suffered because she kept me. I owe her."

"Likewise," Mina said as she thought about how much easier her parent's life could have been without her.