In a private, VIP room of a high-key restaurant sat Bryce Cameron as he patiently waited for his guest. He slowly sipped the whiskey in the glass he held as thoughts ravaged his mind. He had been trying to brainstorm ideas on how to keep Amanda Saw at bay while in his city. As he was lost in his thoughts a door opened to reveal a man as handsome as Bryce with a cold face. He strolled in and took a seat without bothering to greet Bryce.
"No 'hello' kiss, Devon?" Bryce's baritone voice teased with a smirk.
"I'm afraid our romantic preferences differ," Devon emotionlessly replied with a voice just as deep.
No one would think it, but those two had a very civil relationship since Devon basically called Bryce gay. The two young business giants were everything every woman in the city dreamt of. Handsome, rich, intelligent, charming in their own ways. With Bryce's warm 'brunette and purple-eyed' aura, and Devon's elegant 'blonde and icy blue orbs' demeanour, those two could make any woman fall at their feet with just a simple look. But they had a purpose for meeting, and they had to get down to the serious stuff.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Bryce asked, not needing to go any further.
Devon knew what Bryce was asking about, he knew the moment his assistant told him that Bryce had invited him to lunch. Devon's hand clenched slightly as he thought of the situation at hand, because he truly had no solutions or plans to deal with it either. Devon gave Bryce a silent look that he hoped conveyed his answer. He was too proud to admit he had no plan to go up against a woman in his area of expertise. Bryce understood the helpless gaze Devon gave him and sighed deeply. The whole thing of Amanda Saw's arrival had been plaguing him the whole afternoon. He was getting more grey hairs in a few hours than he had gotten in years. And he was only 26.
"I always hoped she wouldn't come here, but her trajectory only showed that Star City would inescapably have its time," Bryce muttered, feeling displeased.
Devon replied with a short hum to signal his agreement. He had hoped for the same truthfully, that Amanda Saw wouldn't have her eye out for Star City at all, and if she did, that she would still keep her distance. The men remained silent as each pondered the issue thoroughly, digging their intellectual brains for any source of a solution.
"Maybe we shouldn't go against her," Bryce began as he an idea gradually crept into his mind.
Perhaps they were looking at it all wrong. Devon slightly perched a perfect, blonde brow in silent question, waiting for his companion to continue.
"We know that reason she brought down big companies in the past was because they all either attacked her first or tried to stop her from expanding. She was provoked," Bryce continued as he leaned forward with a steady gaze on the man opposite him, hoping he'd catch the drift.
Devon's eyes lit up slightly as he immediately caught onto Bryce's idea.
"As long as we leave her alone, she won't interfere," Devon finished off.
Bryce nodded with a ghost smile grazing his full lips. However, in order to ensure the peace for the duration of Amanda Saw's stay in Star City, they had to please her so that even if she wasn't provoked, she still wouldn't attack for whatever reason. They had to give her a peace treaty.
"But, leaving her alone may not be enough. We have to ensure she keeps her sights off our companies. We have to give her a gift," Bryce said before he asked his assistant to give him a paper of a business proposal completely unrelated to their talk.
Devon was put on edge by Bryce's words with a light frown on his chiselled face. Bryce handed him the paper and watched Devon's eyes scan its contents and ending with a deepened frown. It was a proposal made to him by a smaller company, but he knew Devon would understand his proposition.
"You want us to give her some shares of our companies?" Devon asked unhappily.
Oh, the greedy man was definitely not happy.
"Think about it, if we fall into minor partnership with her, she'll lay off since she already has a bit of the kingpin companies of Star City," Bryce coaxed.
"If we give her shares, no matter how small, she may use that tiny window to usurp our businesses," Devon irritably replied.
He could not even believe Bryce was actually suggesting that. Stone Inc was his and his alone. He had built it from the ground with his own hands and selfishly didn't want to share it with anyone, and especially not with a woman who could rip all his hard work out his hands with one chess move.
"Which is why we got to persuade her to sign a treaty with us that represses her off our seats. And if she is within breach of the treaty, she must pay a hefty price," Bryce countered.
Devon quietly considered the proposed idea. It didn't sound completely bad, not that they had any other options. They couldn't afford to piss Amanda Saw off at all, or they would be the ones to pay a price. Devon clenched his jaw before releasing it.
"Alright. Let's try it," Devon relented.