Hey blossoms! It's been a long ass time, I hope all of you are safe and in the best health. Thank you so much for 500K reads, I screamed when I saw we'd reached such a huge milestone. No words can ever express how grateful I am for such an amazing group of readers, you're amazing and I love you!

Nora

I pushed the files towards the person sitting in front of me, biting back a smirk, watching his eyes roam over the contract, his face losing colour. The bastard thought he'd outsmart me. Pity he overestimated himself too much. One thing I'd learnt all through my business life was to always consider your opponent much, much stronger than you, and prepare according to that. Pride was the biggest enemy in my field.

"You- you cheater!"

"Cheater?" I chuckled. "Turn to page five, Mr Lanch. You'll find your signature there. It isn't my fault you didn't read the whole document."

"You're a liar. All of you." He spat out, getting up. "This is outrageous!" He gripped the contract in his hand, tearing it apart. "I don't accept this."

I raised an eyebrow, looking beside me. Kyle nodded, pushing another file in front of him. "We have exactly seventy three copies of those. How many do you want to tear off?"

"This was not written in the original contract-"

"You have the original contract." I said in a cold voice. "Call up your lawyer and ask him to check."

"You bitch-"

"Enough." There was a booming voice by the door to the conference room. Loud enough to mute us all. Powerful enough to make me shiver. "You will not talk to any of my employee that way."

I couldn't help but smile as Nicolas walked into the room, buttoning up his blazer. His suit consisted of black slacks and a black dress shirt, the tie matching his eyes. He held enough power to shake the entire room as he walked in front of the man, eyeing him with enough distaste to make Kyle chuckle beside me.

His eyes were seething as he leaned down. "Call my fiancée a bitch again, and you'll be on the streets by the time the sun goes down. I can be very cruel, Jackson, especially when it comes to her."

"I didn't ask your fiancée to negotiate. It isn't my fault!" He shouted. "You all are a bunch of-"

"You will hold a press conference today." Nicolas said, ignoring his accusation. "You will inform the press that you lost the agreement, and that you're handing over your company to me." He raised an eyebrow as if daring him to challenge.

"I will do no such thing. You-"

"Kyle," He said, still looking at Jackson. "Call Greyson. Tell him we're moving to court."

"You can't do that-"

"Watch me." Nicolas looked so intimidating even I wanted to shrink away. His eyes were storming, yet beautiful like always. My chair made a sound as I shifted in my seat, clenching my thighs together, because the way he was turning me on was painful. His gaze snapped to me, and I froze like a deer caught in headlights. They lowered to my legs, and a small smirk adorned his lips.

"We will wait." He broke the silence, looking away. "We'll move to court if you don't hold the conference today. So that's all the time you have."

"This is not fair!" Jackson cried out. "Please-"

"Fair?" Kyle stood up. "You wanna talk fair? Where was your fairness when you stood in court against me knowing I did nothing wrong?"

Jackson stopped short, furrowing his eyebrows. Realisation dawned in his eyes when he observed him closely, "You- Charlie's brother."

"That's right. You're going down. Each one of you will go down." Kyle seethed out. "Mark my fucking words." Then he stormed out of the room.

I cleared my throat, getting up as well. "Peter will show you out, Mr Lanch. I sincerely hope you cooperate, otherwise things will turn messier than they need to be."

I felt a shadow over me, protective and dominating. We left him in the conference room, he needed time to comprehend the fact that he'd just lost his company. I was delighted internally. He was one of those people who'd supported Charlie in accusing Kyle, and Nicolas had just decided we were taking all of them down one by one. I think he's doing it for me, but they've grown closer in these days, so maybe not.

My wrist was pulled back and I felt a hard chest press against my back. Nicolas bent down, I shivered when his lips brushed the shell of my ear. "You are in huge trouble, Mrs Reid." He murmured.

That was another thing he'd started. We weren't married yet, but he liked to think we were. I found it cute.

"Why? What did I do?"

"I told you to wait. You started the meeting without me. I walked in on him calling you a bitch. You cannot imagine my anger."

"Well, it was you who wanted me to work for you. And with my amazing talents comes the need to do things on my own. Plus you can't really fire me, so you'll have to deal with it." I said, winking at him when we reached my office.

"What makes you think I can't fire you?" He followed me into my office.

"Given the fact that you almost begged me to work for you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you were going to be a brat at that time." He chuckled, not saying anything else, just observing as I checked off on my board the things I'd done. "I don't get how you work on that desk."

I looked down at my desk, taking in the files strewn on one side, my laptop in the middle, another bunch of files on the other side. I frowned, it was much better than back at Dixon's. "It's lively."

"It's messy."

"I can't work on a bare table. I need something to give me hope that I'm not alone." I said.

"You want me to shift your office to mine? I could shift mine to yours." He walked until he was standing in front of me. "Say the word. Anything you want."

I smiled, lifting up on my toes, coiling my hand around his tie and pulling him down for a kiss. His arms automatically wrapped around my waist tightly, one trailing up to cup my face and stroke my cheek.

"I love you." I murmured.

"You better do."

"What kind of response is that? Say it back." I demanded.

"Marry me and I'll say it with every breath I take." He grasped my chin, his palms cupped my hips through my skirt and squeezed. "I mean it, Nora. I can't wait anymore. It's taking too long."

"Call my mother and say this to her. She doesn't listen to me."

"It is our wedding. You and I. Shouldn't we be the ones who decide how we wanna do it?"

I sighed, cupping his face. "I know, baby. I'm sorry. She's just too excited because she had planned this perfect wedding for me in her head and now she's finally getting the chance to-"

He kissed me again. Pulling me tighter against him, I know we would have taken it further if not for the knock on my door. I pushed him away slightly, running a hand through my hair, clearing my throat. "Come in."

Gracie stuck her head in. "Teleconference with Hastings in ten minutes. I just wanted to let you know so that you plan your...activities according to that."

I bit back a smile, but Nicolas chuckled. "Thank you, Gracie."

"And-"

"Nora-" Kyle appeared in my doorway. He paused, looking to his side at Gracie who had shifted to give him space to enter, looking down. I saw him blink, open his mouth, then close it again. Gracie snapped her head up as if I'd called her name, and even though I knew she knew Kyle was looking at her, she avoided eye contact completely. I smiled in amusement.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, nothing."

I raised an eyebrow as he turned around and left in a hurry, Gracie following shortly after. "What the heck was that?"

"Sexual tension." Nicolas said. "They have either slept together and are being awkward, or they want to sleep together and are trying to avoid it."

I snorted, unwrapping his arms from my waist and walking behind my desk. "Get out now. I have work."

He placed his palms on the table in front of me, leaning down until I saw a glimmer of wickedness in his eyes. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, straightened his back and adjusted his suit. "We leave in two hours. Don't miss me too much."

"I won't. But you better do."

He turned around when he was at the door, smiling slyly. "I'll try."

I shook my head in amusement as he closed the door behind him, leaving me in solitude. Gracie called me exactly ten minutes later, and transferred my line for the teleconference. I wasn't a fan of our client, but Nicolas had told me he'd been dealing with us for many years, so I knew he was important. I tried being on my best behaviour. When the meeting ended, I took a deep breath and leaned back against my chair.

"I came to drop these off." Kyle entered my office again, placing some files on my desk. "I forgot earlier."

"You seemed too dazed." I snickered. "All okay?"

"No, actually. I had a question. How long has she been working for you?" He asked in a low voice, looking back towards my door.

"Five years now. She was with me at Dixon. Nicolas offered her a deal when I joined him because I liked her. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering why I hadn't ever seen her at Dixon, but it makes sense now. We went over for drinks yesterday night with a couple of other colleagues, and...I don't know. I think she's attracted to me because, why wouldn't she be. And I think I'm attracted to her too and we're making it too obvious and it's becoming awkward and I don't know."

I tried keeping a straight face. I did. But I'd never seen Kyle so confused over a girl and I burst out laughing the next second. He blinked and glared at me, turning around and proceeding to leave. He closed the door a little too harshly to express his displeasure at my amusement, and that just managed to make me laugh more.

When I was done for the day, earlier than what I'd agreed upon, I had a sudden urge to irritate Nicolas. So I very proudly made my way over to his office. Imagine my shock when I saw my ex boss sitting in front of him.

"Nora!" Nicolas appeared surprised, and for a second I wondered if that was because he didn't want me to find him. But he killed my suspicion with his next sentence. "We were just talking about you."

"Why?"

"Charlie came to know we're taking over Lanch's company. He doesn't like it." I saw a look of sheer possessiveness in his eyes, and a wicked smugness. Nicolas wanted to play him. And he wanted me to join.

"He doesn't have to like it." I replied, closing the door behind me. "It doesn't concern him."

"That's what I said." He leaned back against his chair, folding one of his legs on the other. "I thought you'd be able to convince him better."

I smiled inwardly. I'd never said it out loud, but I found his confidence in me extremely attractive. He let me handle my own problems, even encouraged me to take up more challenges. He believed in me more than anybody ever had, he wasn't afraid to let me take control, and I loved him for that.

"Hello, Charlie." I didn't smile at him. Nor did I acknowledge him when he stood up to greet me. I sat down opposite to him, and he followed with a sigh. "I'd say it's nice to see you again, but I'd be lying."

"You can't do this-"

"Oh come on, I'd thought we'd exchange pleasantries for a while, no?" I gave him an innocent raise of my brow. "Straight to business?"

"Nora, I'm serious. You can't go after my partners-"

"I can. I can do whatever the hell I want because last time I checked, I don't answer to you. But it isn't me who's going after them, fortunately or unfortunately. It's Kyle."

"You're supporting him."

"Of course I am. I should have supported him that day, but I didn't. I won't make that mistake again."

"Kyle is not a child." Charlie seethed. "He doesn't need you to look after him-"

"No one's looking after anybody. This is teamwork. Not that you'll understand because the only thing you're concerned about is money. Pity you're gonna lose it all in sometime. A tip here, make as much money you can from Nathan, because he's gonna be the last one standing, and we're taking every single dime from him."

"You can't do that!" He got up, pushing his chair behind. "Nora, please, I'm sorry for everything."

"The fact that you're saying that to me and not to your brother is proof that you don't mean it." I said. "Do you feel nothing? Nothing at all?"

"I regret it, okay? But it's not like I can change anything. It's not like-"

"You'll be surprised what an apology can do if it comes from the heart." Nicolas broke him off. "Anyway, please see yourself out. I wish to take my fiancée out to dinner, and you will not ruin my plans."

He lingered for a few seconds, then turned around. I had a feeling he wanted to say something, but he decided against it. I waited till he was out before I leaned on the desk, a satisfied smile on my face when Nicolas looked at my chest, then back in my eyes. "So, dinner huh?"

"Chinese or Italian?" He smiled back.

"You're not on the menu?" I asked, my smile widening.

"Mhm, I'm chef's special." He murmured, getting up and rounding the table to reach me. Holding my wrists and making me stand up, he coiled his arms around my waist. "I love you."

He didn't say it often. So I cherished every time he said it. I looked up at him, smiling when he brushed his lips against mine. "Me and you, Reid. Always."

*

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