I didn't think the day would come when a celebrity would rob me. I was thinking it would be the other way around. Lo and behold, Lexi Thompson was sneaking her way through my facility, taking what was mine. Beating and killing my men. They were huge, but were nothing compared to her. She looked straight into the camera as she was leaving the building. As if she knew what trouble she had caused and wanted me to know it was her.
"You're doing it again," Kathryn, my fiancée, scolded. I shook my head. "Are you thinking about what you saw Saturday?"
"...Yeah." I turned to look into the bathroom mirror. "I feel guilty that I'm going to confront her. She seems like the type of woman to do certain things for a reason, but...not something like this."
You know...it kind of reminds me of when you met my parents and they were against us being together. You asked for my hand in marriage, knowing they both would say no. Yeah, I'm Black and you're...white--"
"Are you assuming I'm white?" I bit back a smirk.
"Yes. You haven't said otherwise, so yeah I'm assuming you're White. Anyway, did that stop you from asking them, knowing they hated people from America and thought--"
"Did you also assume I'm from America?"
I really wanted to laugh. I wasn't your normal guy. The crazy rich, White man who's from the United States and happens to have connections around the world for no apparent reason. No. I am not that normal guy, nor will I tell what guy I am.
"Shut up." She laughed. "I was just saying that this small case is like you asking to marry me. It's something you have to take slow. Lexi isn't your average woman, so you need to be careful about how you approach her about the situation."
"Either way you put it...I'm still a coward, KitKat." I shrugged.
"I am not engaged to no coward," She said. "I don't see how you're scared about approaching Lexi when you were less scared and more excited about Sean's birth."
"Sean is my son. Of course I'll be excited. Lexi is like Satan and Satan's spawn at the same time. It's weird and scary."
I walked out the bathroom, not expecting an answer from her. I plopped down on the bed. For some reason, I've never felt guilty about anything. Not even when Kat did some stupid things and I yelled at her about it. Now...I feel bad for even trying to confront her about this. Like she's going to shove all her lawyers in my face and put me in jail for harassment.
"Why do I feel like this?" I wondered aloud.
"Like what?" Kathryn exited the bathroom with a brush in her hand.
"Weird. I don't even know anymore," I muttered. "Is that even possible for me? I've never felt like this before. I mean, I literally just killed some guy a couple of nights ago for looking at me."
"...Insensitive brat."
"What?"
"Nothing."
She came over to me and sat on the bed. I only stared at her and wondered what was going on inside her head.
"As long as you can tell me what today is, I'll pretend I never said anything," She suggested. "It should be easy. A little birdie told me you had a surprise for me."
"Of course...I know what today is." I smiled and scratched the back of my head.
"What is it?"
"...Um...Your...Haha. That's a tricky question, babe."
"Cameron!"
"Kidding, kidding. I know what today is. I'll never forget."
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I decided to take Kat out to my hideout. We hadn't been there together in ages, so I didn't really expect her to know where we were right off the bat. It was far away from the city to not get caught by the police and close enough to travel and get supplies within three hours. I'd just check up on a few things and hope nothing was too bad.
As soon as we entered, four guards surrounded us. My secretary fell in step beside me. She proceeded to tell me about what had happened Saturday night and how the whole ordeal was being handled.
"There are only a few of us who know Mrs. Thompson well enough to approach her," She said. "I'd do it, but I'm sure she'd immediately be suspicious of me asking."
"Why? I thought you knew everything about her," I said.
"No...She doesn't really spread her personal life around like that."
"Surely there's someone working here she trusts enough not to question her about what she has done."
"Cameron, why didn't you just tell me it was her?!"
Right on time. I thought.
Twenty minutes and six death threats later, we found out way to the control room. I was not in the least sorry towards Lexi. Once she figured out what had been going on for days, she was going to be furious and I was just going to sit back and watch everyone else suffer from her anger. Was I mean? No. Should I care about my company's wellbeing and how Lexi's anger will affect it? Yes. Am I caring about my company's wellbeing and how Lexi's anger will affect it? No. That's just how I am.
Asher had been sitting at the computer for over ten minutes now and I was getting impatient. It had been a while since we used his hacking skills, so I wasn't that surprised it was taking him so long. I was just anxious. He was using a different computer and we didn't have any of our best technicians working here. What if something went wrong and they starting tracking us? Wait...I do believe some of my technicians are working under Lexi. This shouldn't be a problem.
"I'm in."
"He's in."
"You're in?" I breathed a sign of relief and turn on leader mode. "Alright, I want you to pull up all the cameras on the main screen. Find out what Lexi is up to right now."
It took a couple of minutes, but once we got what we needed, I was ecstatic. I studied the cameras carefully, wondering what everyone was up to. I spotted at least four of the cameras out. If we were to go there, we could use those as means to sneak around. That wouldn't be necessary with my teams working there.
"Where's Lexi today?" I asked.
"She's booked today. I can send you her schedule when I go in," Dawn said. "Mr. Thompson did say something a couple of days ago about having a meeting on why the money was disappearing from the account."
I looked at Asher and raised an eyebrow.
"...What?" Asher asked when he noticed us staring at him.
"Were you really that mad?" I asked.
"...Well...Yeah. She kind of lied to me about something and hasn't it up in recent conversations. I had to get her attention somehow."
"Understandable." I turned to another agent. "Do you think you could pull up the recording from Saturday night? Put it up on the other big screen, please."
"You got it, Mr. Nguyen."
I studied the cameras until they had the recording up. How come Lexi hadn't come in yet? I knew she usually did on Sundays. Once they brought up the recording, I watched it from when they broke in to when Lexi made the mistake of looking at the camera.
"Pause it here," I ordered. This was gold! I can't believe someone like her trained in movies for this and still looked at the camera. I love it! but, what did I do to deserve this? I don't think me and her have met officially. Not unless someone ordered her to do something this stupid. Adrien wouldn't dare. I still don't think he would use someone with a high profile.
We haven't spoken in so long, so what could he possibly want with me? Or from me? I have nothing of importance. Not that I know of. Things that I do have, it's hidden so good that sometimes I can't even find it when I need it.
"Does anyone know what went missing?" I asked.
"No. Not that I can remember," Asher muttered.
"You sure?"
"...Yeah. No, someone did say something about a drive, then he died."
"WHAT?!"
"That's what I heard. He told me she took the drive, then died."
I had to keep calm. If anyone knew what was on that drive...I couldn't let anyone find it. Not even my own employee. No telling who was loyal or not.
"We need to get that back," I said. "Is there any way someone could go and get it? See where she went after she left?"
"There's always a way," Kathryn spoke up. I almost forgot she was here. "Asher, Lexi loves the heck out of you. If you can't see that, then you're blind. Why don't you go there with Dawn and crash the meeting, yes?"
"Good idea, Kat," I muttered sarcastically.
"They'll know something is up," Asher argued. "I never show up without an appointment. Plus, I was supposed to be to work in an hour."
"It'll be quick," Kat said. "and if you're even one second late, I'll make sure Davenport knows it was all my fault."
"Really?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
"...Alright, I'll go. Dawn, let's get going."
"I was going to leave before you, so that she wouldn't suspect a thing," Dawn said. "Do you really want to go in with me?"
"Yeah. Lexi's not that smart of a person. Just because she manages a multimillion company, doesn't mean that she's super attentive. Like Kathryn said, she might still be in love with me. I could easily say I was just stopping by."
"...I guess that won't be a problem then. I'll be waiting."
Dawn got up from her seat and gave me her ID. I took it and silently watched her leave the room. Asher stayed behind to help someone else do what he had been secretly doing with the company money. I knew I was a good teacher. Too good.
Kathryn put a hand on my shoulder. I faced the screen again and took a long look at Lexi. How could one be a spy, but still maintain a good public image? I wouldn't be able to do that. Never could.
She was a part-time model with little experience in my perspective. She hasn't been out and about whenever she's on camera. She has two kids to take care of. I once heard she worked as a police officer. I didn't believe that. Not only was Lexi a model, but a CEO and an actress who has appeared in more than ten number one hits.
I turned around to look at the cameras from her company. She still hadn't appeared. What could she possibly be doing? Luca was already in his office, typing away. I wonder what he was doing? Did he possibly know about what Lexi had done? If so, was he going to forever keep it a secret?
"Asher, you've been here long enough," I snapped. "Stop procrastinating and go already. You'll make Dawn late for work."
"I'm going, I'm going," He muttered.
I gave him an earpiece and sent him on his way. Kathryn sighed and dragged me from the room after him. She had something to say and I had no choice, but to listen.
"I'm going to kill Dawn," She snapped.
"...Dawn? Why?" I asked.
"The way she just stares at you annoys me to no end. I've had it up to here with her disgusting googly eyes and lip biting when she thinks no one is looking."
"What? Why would she waste her time staring at me? She knows I'm not interested in anyone, but you, KitKat."
"Of course you haven't noticed! She looks at Asher the same way. Like she's never seen a guy do something that could ruin his whole life and career."
"I really haven't noticed and I'm sure if Asher was bothered by it, he'd say something to her."
Kathryn groaned.
"You had better hope I'm only going crazy," She growled. "If I see her looking at you and Asher in any way other than utter respect, I'll beat her into an oblivion and hide her body where no one will find it until after I die and I plan on living for a very long time."
"Es-tu sérieux?!" I exclaimed.
"Aussi sérieux que je ne le serai jamais."
I believe her. There is no way she'd threaten someone and not be true to her word. Once, she tried to kill my old secretary. Who, in return, tried to expose us to the authorities. She died of course. No one knew her. No one wanted to know her The police were onto me, until she sent a letter to her parents claiming she was resting in another country and would never come back.
"I get it."
"No, you don't."
"KitKat, I'm not going to argue with you about this."
"I'm not arguing. Just stating facts."
I gave her the look. That shut her up really quick.
"Can't we just hurry up and go out before Asher and Dawn give us any news?" She asked.
"So, you'd rather be interrupted at lunch, than go to a great dinner?" I retorted.
"...I'll give you an hour."
"Thanks, honey."
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"How are your parents, Kathryn?" I asked, pouring her champagne. "Better yet, how is your maman holding up?"
"Heh...They're fine. Maman still doesn't know. I want to tell her, but I know she's not going to believe me. Not after so many years and she's seen my hate for Lexi first hand."
"Of course she'll believe you. Whoever thinks you're doing this for revenge would have to be really stupid. You don't do revenge."
"...Like you?" She asked.
I sighed in guilt. "Especially me. Now let's eat."
We dove into our seafood dishes. Occasionally looking up at each other. I could tell that Kat was thinking. She wasn't enjoying the date. She wasn't enjoying her food. Personally I thought it was amazing. I'd gladly ask the chef for the recipes.
"Is there anything on your mind?" I asked.
"...Nah," She answered.
I looked up and sighed. She was definitely trying to forget something. I just hope she wasn't thinking about the past again.
"I can tell you're thinking hard about something," I poked.
"I'm not..."
"Kathryn Thibault, don't--Cut the bull. If it's really not a problem, why are you not enjoying our date?"
"I am," She said.
"But..."
"But what?"
"There's more. Spill it, mon amour."
Kathryn sighed and put her fork down. Her face flashed with at least five different emotions. Before she could explain her problem, we were interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir," A waiter apologized. "Our head chef likes for us to recommend better dishes for our diners celebrating an anniversary."
"How did you know we're celebrating an anniversary?" I asked.
Instead of answering, the waiter pulled a menu out and gave it to me. I looked at it cautiously.
"It was customized by him. It includes two of his most successful recipes and the meal you are eating right now. Enjoy the rest of your dinner. Happy anniversary."
Before I could ask about anything else, he sauntered off to another table. I looked at the menu and frowned.
"Babe, what does it say?" Kathryn asked.
It wasn't just a menu. It was a word puzzle that someone had solved already. My eyes wandered the menu frantically. A lot of letters were circled and crossed out. By the time I had read through the whole thing, Kathryn had gotten up and was leaning over my shoulder. She pointed to the bottom of the menu and sighed. Written below was three simple words:
Get the drive
"Let's go."