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Four faces looked at him as he pushed the door open. Isla smiled nervously and looked at them, then turned her head up at Kade for direction.
Kade didn’t look at her; instead, he put his hand on the small of her back and led the way into the office. He walked slowly and carefully to the head of the table.
He pulled out a chair at the corner of the table and whispered in her ear, “Sit here, pretty girl.”
Isla smiled and thanked the man who looked about Kade’s age. He had a buzz cut and a long beard, and he waved a little when Isla sat down.
A few minutes later, Micah walked into the room and nodded at Kade before sitting down at the table to his right.
Adriano got there shortly after, but when he saw a little girl sitting in his usual chair, he stopped. He’s supposed to sit on Kade’s left, so why would Kade let one of his whores come to the meeting?
Adriano said angrily, “That’s my seat.”
Isla’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the voice and looked up at the stranger.
“Oh, I’m sorry. “Here—” she stammered, nervous and almost ready to give up her seat for the big, strong man. But Kade put his hand over hers to stop her from moving and looked Adriano straight in the eye.
“You can sit somewhere else today. Adriano, can’t you?”
The man with blond hair in a loose bun looked annoyed at Kade’s teasing question.
He knew better than to argue with him, especially since there were so many people in the room. Kade won’t put up with being disrespected.
“Of course.” Adriano agreed, but not very enthusiastically.
He kept looking Kade in the eye as he walked to the end of the table and sat down in an empty chair.
All six men were now looking at Isla, very interested in who she was. Kade had never brought a girl to work before, but it was even more surprising that he let her sit in one of the most important chairs.
Isla smiled shyly but leaned back in her chair because she was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Their looks were very scary.
Kade frowned at how uncomfortable she looked and clenched his jaw when he saw that his best men couldn’t act professionally around a beautiful woman.
He hit the table with his hand, making Isla jump and everyone else look up at Kade’s cold eyes.
“Let’s get started,” he said with a smile that made him look evil.
Kade leaned back in his chair and moved one of the silver rings on his forefinger.
“Now,” he said with a sigh, “Lorenzo should be here any minute, and I expect all of you to behave well.” If we could get him as a client, it would open up a lot of doors for us in terms of where we can go. He owns a lot of land near busy business areas, and as his suppliers, we get to choose from those areas first.
He looked down at Isla and said, “I’m just going to get it out of the way and say it because I’m sure your balls are just twisting in anticipation.” Isla is mine, and this is her. I wanted to show her around my workplace, so she’s at the meeting today. “Otherwise, treat her like you would me,” he said slowly. “Otherwise, treat her like you would me.” Kade patted his thigh, where his matte black pistol was, and said, “You get the idea, don’t you?”
“Yes, boss,” they all said.
Isla was confused by what he did, but he just winked at her, which made her smile and blush.
Lorenzo came in not long after his speech. He was short and wore black aviators, a maroon dress shirt, and black slacks. His curly chest hair was sticking out of the top of his shirt, which matched the black hair on his head.
“Kade.” He nodded and walked to the end of the table.
Three other men followed him, and they were all taller and stronger than their boss.
“Nico Lorenzo, it’s good to see you again.”
“Yes, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He grunted as he sat down in the chair.
He looked around the room, and when he saw a pair of blue, doe-like eyes looking back at him, he did a double take.
“And who is this?””He talked in a strange way.
“I’m Isla,” she said softly, keeping an eye on him.
He leaned his elbows on the table and said, “You have a beautiful girl on your hands, Kade.”
Kade nodded, but he looked at him hard.
“I know,” he said.
Isla’s face turned red from the compliment, and she looked down at her fingers, which she started to wring nervously. But when she saw that Kade had given her an iPod, she felt something being pushed into her hands and her stomach filled with butterflies.
She smiled at him and thanked him, then quickly put in the earbuds to get away from the noise around her. Kade had been right when he said that she would have more time to listen to music when she was with him. She listened to so much that she even had a favourite artist now: Lana Del Ray.
She let out a small sigh and closed her eyes as she listened to the calm music of the artist’s voice.
“So, let’s get to work,” Lorenzo said.
Kade looked at Isla and was happy to see that she couldn’t hear the man.
Lorenzo went on, “I called you here today because I’ve decided to take you up on your offer.” Yes, I would give you the building in Tampa in exchange for free monthly orders, right?”
“And any other properties we may ask for in the future, of course for expansion.” Kade tapped his thigh while he waited for Lorenzo to respond.
“Yes… Lorenzo said slowly, “That’s only fair.”
Kade tilted his head and pressed his lips together. “I have to ask, why the sudden change of heart?”
Lorenzo shrugged and sat back in the chair. “I’m in the mood to do business.”
Kade squinted his eyes and hummed when he heard Lorenzo’s answer. He had been suspicious of Lorenzo ever since he called and set up the meeting as if he were in charge, which he wasn’t.
“So, here’s the thing,” Kade said as he played with his tongue ring. “I don’t buy it.” He bounced his knee as he looked at the man across from him. “I don’t buy the friend act or the sudden change of heart act, and I sure as hell don’t like you coming here and acting like you own the place.”
“Stop lying, Nico. Rhodes sent you, didn’t he? To what? To try to ruin my empire by doing business with you? Were you going to blow up my sites? Steal my drugs? Please tell me what the f**k you thought you were going to do.”
Kade was so angry that his eyes turned dark.
Lorenzo’s face scrunched up in confusion, and he spoke down to the person.
“I don’t know what kind of shit you’re on or where you get your information from, but just know that we’re done and you’ll never get another chance like this one.”
He got up from the desk and walked to the door before continuing. “And when you’re done with this little thing, let me know so I can f**k her like she should be-“