by Alexia Praks
When morning came, and New York City was buzzing with life again, Jayden woke to find Jeff and David all neatly dressed in their brand new suits, both sitting behind their prospective laptops, furiously typing away.
“Sorry, boss,” Jeff said. “Couldn’t wake you because you looked so tired. Thought you needed it. You know you could have slept in your bed next door.”
“Yeah,” Jay muttered as he stretched his body. “Forgot about that.”
Just then a middle-aged PA by the name of Mrs. Smith bustled in with a cup of strong coffee in her hand. “Morning, Mr. McCartney. How was your sleep last night?”
“Good, thanks,” Jayden replied, taking the cup she handed him and ignoring her smirk. He sipped the coffee gratefully as he headed next door to his private bedroom. He opened the wardrobe, took out a new suit, and laid it on the bed. Then he hit the shower. Once he was dressed and looking fresh and alert as the young and handsome, powerful Jayden McCartney, he headed back to the office.
“How’s the contract coming?”
“Good. Nearly done,” Jeff responded, still typing away furiously.
“Why don’t you have some breakfast, Mr. McCartney?” Mrs. Smith suggested, laying a silver tray of cereal and another cup of coffee in front of him on the table.
“Thanks, Mrs. Smith,” Jayden said, picking up the spoon.
Fifteen minutes later, Jeff printed out the contract and Jayden finished his breakfast, just in time to go to the Marcelo Hotel for the meeting.
On their way, Jayden kept ringing home to speak to Alex, but no one picked up the phone. He became frustrated after three tries and cursed fluently.
“Calm down, boss,” Jeff said as they came to a red light. “You know it’s not like you’re not going to see her again. You both have your whole life together.”
“Agree on that one,” David confirmed from behind.
Jayden just shook his head. All he knew was he wanted to see Alex. He needed to speak to her. Only he couldn’t. Not yet. Not until he was finished with this first.
“I can’t believe you let me drive your car, boss. Never have driven a BMW before,” Jeff said. “Well, not like this one.”
“Then after this, you deserve one, both of you, and a hefty pay raise and a good vacation,” Jayden commented.
Jeff widened his eyes. “Really, boss?”
“Yeah.”
Jeff and David looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.
At ten sharp, Jayden found himself sitting in front of Mr. Marcelo and his attorney in an immaculate office overlooking Central Park. David and Jeff stood on either side of him, acting as his left- and right-hand man.
“You’ve done the right thing, Jayden,” Mr. Marcelo said, handing over the contract in a neat folder.
“I know I have,” Jayden replied softly, his eyes sharp. “Five million dollars,” he murmured as he scanned through the clauses. Once he was done, he passed it over for Jeff to look over. Jeff took it as David handed their contract to Mr. Marcelo.
“Yes. Five million dollars,” Mr. Marcelo said, grinning, not bothering to look at the contract handed to him and, instead, passing it to his attorney.
Once the contracts had been thoroughly read and checked by both sides, they put their signatures on the dotted line. Jayden now owned a barren island with oil that was worth billions of dollars, and Mr. Marcelo has just lost billions of dollars he didn’t know he had.
“Nice doing business with you, Jayden,” Mr. Marcelo said, shaking the young man’s hand.
“Same to you, Mr. Marcelo.” Jayden smiled coldly. Suddenly, he couldn’t stand the man’s presence any longer, and with the deal done and everything settled, he and his men headed to the door.
“What a stupid boy,” Mr. Marcelo said under his breath.
“A very stupid boy indeed,” the attorney agreed, nodding his head. They both started laughing.
Jayden felt as though a mountain had just lifted off his shoulders. Now, it was time to go and see Alex.
They were near the door when his BlackBerry started ringing. Jay looked on the screen and saw it was from his mother. “Hello?”
“Jayden, Alex is leaving.” There was a hint of panic in his mother’s soft voice.
“Wait! What?”
“Alex is leaving. We’re at the airport now. She’s going home. What’s going on, Jayden? She’s terribly upset. She changed the plane tickets this morning.”
“Shit!” Jay swore under his breath.
“Jayden. Hurry.”
“I’m coming,” he shouted into the phone as he started running to the door.
“Boss, what’s going on?” Jeff shouted.
“I have to go. Alex is leaving!”
“What?” David yelled, confused.
Jayden yanked the door open and raced to his car. He jumped in, started the engine, and then sped out into traffic.
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CHAPTER 27