Chapter 7: The devil in my office
"Charles and I love each other. Our marriage has nothing to do with his family money, Asher. And it wouldn't cost you a thing to be nice to people" Lean advised him.
"I wasn't the one that spat coffee on an innocent naive girl, Lean. And I should tell you not to do that again but you know better. she's Eden Powell, right?" Asher's curiosity peaked.
"Yes… She is the only child to the late business moguls Adrian and Savannah Powell, now dead. I think she doesn't know who you are" Lean shrugged "even if she did, she wouldn't do anything about it. She is kind of a doormat"
Asher stood up from the chair he sat and yawned like he was bored. Lean was boring.
"How long do you think it will take Charles to figure out that you've slept with half of the men in town including myself, Lean? So how about you take care of your flaws before pointing fingers on another person. Stay away from her or I will make you disappear. Am i being clear enough?"
Lean blinked. She was very quiet. Her lips found comfort in each other as it became tightly pressed together. Without meaning to, she shrunk herself and fought the urge to wrap her hand around herself.
In this town, no one wants Asher freaking Angelwings threatening them. He was a playboy but he was a dangerous playboy and if Asher says he would make someone disappear, his victim could bet their lives that he could.
Asher wasn't the type of person Lean Jackson wanted to cross; she wanted him to be a friend. It was why she seduced him a month ago in his office just to get a little bit of his attention.
Forget the Teutonic-gold hair and the perfect green eyes that made him look like a male model; Asher Angelwings was as deadly as they come.
Everyone knew his story but no one told it to his face. He was the bastard son of Jim Barrington, one of the most powerful CEOs in the country and a former house maid. Story had it that as soon as Jim Barrington found out that Lupita, Asher's mother was carrying his child that he kicked her to the curb and threatened to have her shot if she didn't abort the bastard.
Lupita fled to another country and had a son. When he was old enough, Asher came looking for his father but old Jim Barrington made the worst mistake of his life by turning his back once again on his illegitimate son.
Asher vowed to get revenge and he started by working as a low level thug for a Mafia boss named Ares Ballamino at age of fifteen. Over the years, he worked his way up the rank until it became apparent that he was going to either kill the old mob boss and take up leadership or break out on his own.
Asher went with the latter. Rumors had it that he gave the old man a choice and he was all too happy to let him go. Asher went into business and built an empire for himself and even though he denies it, he still had underworld dealings. Every time the authority came close to making a case against him, the case falls apart. Recently, they stopped trying.
Lean Jackson knew all too well that Asher wasn't a person she wanted to mess with.
"Do you understand me, Ms Jackson? Eden Powells is off limits"
"Y-yes, I understand. I apologize" Lean was able to get out without choking.
"Good. You are trembling. Do I make you nervous?" Asher said with a mischievous smile.
"No" Lean lied through her teeth.
"Good. Relax, Lean...we are all friends here. To show that there are no hard feelings between us, I will buy your company twice the amount you want to sell it. Just do me a tiny favor, go ahead and put it in Eden's name" Asher told her.
"What?" Lean yelled. "You can't possibly do that to me!"
"Buy your company like you've been begging me too" Asher asked her, feigning innocence.
"Give it to Eden like it's nothing. I labored my whole life for this place. People would laugh at me, Asher. I changed my mind, I don't want to sell my company to you" Lean said as she tried to sound brave.
"Alright! It's your decision, after all" Asher's mouth might have said one thing but his angular cheekbones and nose said otherwise. He had suppressed anger written all over him.
He was Asher Angelwings, nobody said no to him.
Lean Jackson knew that saying no to him meant she should get ready for things to horrible start to go wrong for her.
She might just wake up one morning and her identity would be stolen just like Michael Sharps, the last man to say no to Asher or Andrea Weatherly who suddenly became a shadow of his past self. Belle's boutique was now a parking space because of a stupid drunken tweet and Jonah Jane, all but vanished from the face of the earth.
Asher was destructive and not even his perfect green eyes can convince Lean of otherwise.
Asher stood up and stretched like he was just waking up in the morning. Lean wondered how some who looked like an angel and even went by a heavenly name could be worse than Lucifer.
His basalt jaw and Spartan shoulders spoke of strength. The way he talked gives off a false reality, like he was comfortable with taking orders and obeying them without questions. But who in their right mind wants to order Asher Angelwings about?
Eden had just come out of the bathroom when she heard her name yelled by Lean Jackson. She hurriedly adjusted her glasses and walked towards her boss, almost bumping into Asher as he exited Lean's office.
"Later, Coffee girl" Asher spared her a smile as he walked away.
Eden entered the office to meet Lean with an angry face and a hostile glare.
"You called Ms. Jackson" Eden asked her timidly.
"Yes, I did...you mosquito! I don't know what you did to Asher that would make him behave in such an unusual way but-"
"I am sorry, Ms Jackson...if I made a bad impression on Asher..."
Lean was even more irritated by her innocent face.
"Oh shut up! Congratulations, you are now the owner of Sparkles publishing company"
"Wait what?!"