How would she explain the situation to Xander? He was going to be so angry, for sure. And what if Lillian found out that she and Xander were together? Then Lillian would be mad at her too, and the last thing she needed were these two rich, powerful people on her bad side. And she still had to break up with Jayden… Just thinking about all of it was enough to give her a headache.
As she was walking to her desk, she passed a glass walled conference room. Xander was standing at the head of a table, giving a presentation of some sort to a group of men in black suits. This was when Mia found Xander the most appealing, when he was really in his element, charming his way into a deal with a group of soulless, power hungry Wall Streeters. She caught his eye as she was moving past the window, and he gave her an irresistibly sexy smirk. Mia instantly started to feel calmer. Things would work themselves out. She just had to give it some time.
When she reached Jayden’s office, she was surprised to find a man sitting in the chair across from the desk. He was tall and dark haired, with an intense, almost cold face. He was wearing a gray suit that had to have cost him upwards of five thousand dollars.
“Hello,” he said, standing up to shake Mia’s hand. “My name is Robert Jackson. I am a Business Executive Developer for Greene Valley Holdings.”
Mia didn’t know much about the business side of Will Golden Corporation yet, but she recognized Greene Valley Holdings as the name of Xander’s biggest business rival.
“What is this guy up to?” she thought. “I can’t imagine he’s here for anything good.”
“If you’re here to see my boss, Jayden Steele, he’s out of town on business for the rest of the week, unfortunately,” said Mia. “He’s actually not even in the country right now, so it’s going to be difficult to get a hold of him until he gets back.”
“Actually,” Robert said, coldly, “I’m here to talk to you, Mia.”
Mia’s blood ran cold, and her heart starting beating at triple its normal rate. How did this man know her real name?
“Oh, I know everything,” Xander said with an evil grin. “I know you’re Jayden Steele’s girlfriend, not his secretary. And I also know that you’re cheating on him with Alexander Will. Which is wonderfully convenient for me, because I need you to get both of them to do something. You see, there’s this document, an agreement that Greene Valley Holdings has been trying to get Will Golden to sign for years. They never do, because it would result in significantly decreased profit margins, and probably the eventual downfall of the entire company. You’re going to get both Alexander and Jayden to sign it.”
“I… I can’t do that,” Mia stammered. “Why would I get them to sign a document that would bring down this entire company? I just can’t.”
“You can, and you will, because if you don’t, I’ll expose your whole scandalous life publicly. I don’t think either Jayden or Xander would be particularly happy, if they learned that their precious Sarah Shaw was actually a detective named Mia Madison, would they? And on top of it, just in case you develop a conscience about the whole thing, I will pay you two hundred fifty thousand dollars to stay quiet.”
Two hundred fifty thousand dollars!? That was triple what Lillian was paying her for this silly revenge plot. Mia had no idea what she would even do with that amount of money.
Just then, Xander walked into the office, a confused look on his face. Why was Robert here? He was always up to something conniving. Mia looked absolutely terrified.
“Robert,” he said. “It’s nice to see you again. What brings you in today?”
“Oh, I was looking for Jayden, but apparently he’s abroad. So I was just having a little chat with… Sarah here. I’ll be on my way out soon. It’s nice to see you, Alexander.”
Robert stood up to leave, and Mia exhaled deeply. He might have been the most terrifying man she had ever met, and she was extremely relieved to see him go, even though she had a sneaky feeling that he would be back, and he would continue to make her life a living hell until he got what he wanted.
Xander could see that whatever Robert had been saying had traumatized her, but he didn’t want to stress her out more by talking about it right now. He decided that he would ask her later, when they were out of the office and in a more private situation.
“So, Sarah, uhhh, Jayden’s clients are having an emergency meeting at that new five-star restaurant on the Upper East Side. I’m going to need you to come with me, since Jayden isn’t here,” he said with a wink. However, there were several people directly outside the office who could hear him. Mia had no choice but to go.