The CEOs Possession

Veil needed the meeting to end as soon as possible, but Anders made sure of the opposite. Pulling up insane propositions to rattle JK Corporations, Anders ensured that Orleans was shown the ropes of the business through him. Veil understood that Orleans had only just returned to Mexico to take over the Corporation as President, and Anders was letting him know who his boss was.

“I think I need another meal,” Anders yawned as he set aside the papers. “What do you all think? We’ve been here for hours already, and it is already time for lunch.”

Anders was being a douchebag right now, and even though Veil had no clue why, Orleans was fully versed in his intentions.

“I’m going to suggest we adjourn this meeting to another date. My secretary will be confirming your availability for the day we choose since you did that the last time.”

“That works for me, too,” Anders replied, getting on his feet to give Orleans a handshake. Something seemed to pass between them as they stayed that way longer than was necessary, staring at each other in the eyes.

“I’ll check up on you later,” Orleans whispered to Veil on his way out. But she wasn’t interested in anything he had to say. How could he address her that way just because Anders threw a bait at him? She thought he was different.

Anders waited for everyone to file out before angling his head in Veil’s direction. “It’s time for lunch. Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything?”

Veil shook her head, for once meaning it. She felt this sour taste in her mouth, and nothing would have been appealing to her.

“Okay.” Anders got up, and Veil did the same, clearing the table of the papers Orleans had come with. In Kingston Groups, papers were barely used as everything was computerized. Apparently, it wasn’t the same with JK Corporations, and Veil was even more pissed that they had left her with the annoying task of converting the information on the paper to a digital format so it could be properly kept.

Veil walked to the front of the restaurant behind Anders, but he did something surprising as they approached the car. Rather than allow his man to open up the doors for him, he held out a hand to stop him and, instead, opened the door for Veil.

She halted in her steps and stared up at her boss, stark surprise written all over her features. Veil knew Anders did all sorts of surprising things, but this was in front of everyone.

“Mr. Roderiguez…”

“Get in, Ms. Hart. You’ve had quite a bit of shock today.”

Veil, feeling the weight of the day’s events, climbed into the car. She watched as Anders closed the door behind her, his movements precise and controlled. The car’s interior was luxurious, a stark contrast to the tense atmosphere that had filled the meeting room.

“What was the about?” Veil whispered the moment he was in. “Your men were looking.”

“They know how to mind their business,” he retorted, retrieving his phone from the pocket of his jacket.

“You knew Orleans and I were friends,” Veil muttered, trying to get Anders’ attention. “Was that why you didn’t allow me to go with you the last time? You didn’t want me to find out that way.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Anders just shrugged and returned to his phone, but Veil was in no way done.

“So, why then am I here today? Why didn’t you warn me about him before I witnessed that display?”

“You sure have a lot of questions today, Veil,” Anders replied, his tone laced with annoyance. “You want answers, yet you have your hair up and wouldn’t listen to me.” Veil felt a surge of anger at his dismissive tone, but she knew it was not the time to argue.

“How is any of this about my hair?” Veil asked exasperatedly, raising her hands in the air.

“It is about you. Everything about you.” Anders’ gaze was intense, making Veil feel exposed. She shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting to the windows, desperate to avoid his penetrating stare.

“You should have told me Orleans was the President of JK Corporations,'” Veil muttered, wanting to have the last say, like always.

“And you should have told me that he was freely paying you visits on your porch, and you willingly opened your door to him to walk through. I don’t even want to imagine what you both do indoors.”

Veil whipped her head back to face Anders so fast that she felt it in her neck. “How…Why…Are you…”

“I only recently found out about Orleans and wanted him to talk to you about it since he knows you work for me. It’s not my fault he didn’t say anything.”

“Have you ever thought that his reason for keeping it away from me was because he didn’t want me to see him as all high and mighty? Perhaps he needs me to just talk to him as a regular human being after being referred to as Master and President all day long.”

“Shut up, Veil,” Anders said suddenly, looking away from her. “Just stop talking.”

She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, her defiance shining through. “Mr. Rodriguez, I’m just saying that the way I was accosted today was in no way nice.”

“Blame your little boyfriend.”

“Orleans is not my boyfriend!”

“He sure has that intention,” Anders shot back, glaring at Veil. “Can’t you tell? He stares at you like he would do to his favorite bottle of brandy.”

“I’m sure it isn’t what you think. He has his reasons.”

“Veil…”

“That didn’t give him the right to talk to me that way, though. But I’m certain it isn’t exactly the way I…”

“The more you defend him, the more you make me want to pin you against the leather of my car and continue what I started yesterday. So, unless you want to give my men a show, why don’t you quit talking about Orleans?” Anders’ voice was low and threatening, his words dripping with anger.