Lily (18)

A few hours after the call, Jimmy entered Kyro's office. There were shadows under his eyes, and he dropped into the chair as if there was no energy left in his body anymore.

"That bad?" Kyro asked, putting down his pen and leaning back in his chair.

"You've no idea." Jimmy grimaced and looked at Kyro with a helpless expression. "We can't win a legal case against them. I checked all angles, but it's not going to work. There's no evidence, absolutely zero that they've done anything. Courts are usually reluctant to take a child away from their parents, and you know Gale's reputation.

"Even if there was a case about abuse, the court wouldn't be eager to give the girl to him. Yet there is not even that. There's simply no case. I've been searching for anything, but there just isn't. We'll become a laughing stock if we go to the court now."

"And you came to me since you don't dare to face Gale?"

This was less of a question and more a statement. Kyro knew that others were wary of Gale's temperament. They liked him when he was his playful self, but his intense side made them uneasy.

And Jimmy proved this point by inclining his head, then lowering it. "I don't know how to say it to him without setting him off. He's a walking time bomb."

'You think I do?' "Right, I'll talk to him. You can go back and… do things."

Jimmy took the dismissal as well as could be expected. He grimaced again and stood up. "Tell him I'm sorry, okay? There's just nothing I can do, it's not like their lawyers are any worse than me, so no bullshit case is just going to go through."

"I know, I'll tell him."

The door closed, and Kyro looked down at his hands. How was he supposed to deliver these news without setting off a chain reaction that would end up hurting everyone? Gale was in no frame of mind to react in a calm manner, no matter what words he chose.

"Mr. Hemming," Lara said, pushing her head in. "Fred Garrison is asking to have a meeting. He said that if you come personally, he'll reconsider partnering up with us for the annual fund raising for literacy among foreigners."

'Now of all times? When Gale's reputation took a huge dump? What game are you playing?'

"He's waiting for a reply on the line. What should I tell him?"

"Ask him when he wants to meet me. I'll spare him some time." It wasn't much trouble to see what he was planning. If Garrison thought to make use of the muddy waters, he would be better off just running away. Kyro wasn't in the mood to play today.

They agreed to meet in an hour's time, and Kyro chose to leave right away. He would deal with the thorny problem of Gale later, once he thought of possible counter measures. There had to be something they could do even if it wasn't through the legal system.

Once Kyro typed in the coordinates of the unfamiliar hotel into the gps, he saw a place he wasn't keen on visiting. It was a restaurant named Crimson Mask. The building was of red bricks, and with enough decorations to drown someone. Th flowers and hanging strips with masks on them there made it almost impossible for people to enter.

'Does he want me to leave based on the meeting place? I should have checked it before agreeing. But there's little he'd gain if I turned around and didn't go there. The rumor he'd spread wouldn't gain any traction.'

Still, Kyro wanted to know what the man was planning. If a person was pulling the lion by its whiskers, they had to have a plan. Garrison wasn't a total fool. Greedy for sure, but not prone to risks.

When the restaurant came into sight, it looked even worse up close. Kyro could swear that only unsavory characters would come into such a place.

Yet he still went in. A waiter came to him right away and brought him to the stairs to the second floor upon hearing who he was here to meet. He was then led to the third room on the right where Garrison sat with two women hanging on his arms.

"So you came!" he exclaimed, with more than a little surprise in his voice.

"A mistake, I see. You seem quite busy." Kyro motioned with his head at the women who were looking at him curiously without even moving into the room.

Garrison quickly stood up and grabbed him by the hand. "Hey, hey, don't leave. I was just having some fun. You do that sometimes, don't you?" Without waiting for an answer, he tried to pull him in. "It's fine, fine. I ordered some for you, too, so don't think bad of me. They're also the most beautiful ones I hear. It's better to talk business with some company, right?"

At that moment, the door opened and two women walked in, forcing Kyro to enter the small room. There was nothing in it besides two couches on the left and right side of the table in the middle.

One of the newcomer women placed a bottle of wine while the other set down two glasses. They were clearly expecting Kyro to join their orgy.

"Have you lost a few screws?" Kyro pushed away the woman that tried to wrap herself around his arm. "Leave me. I didn't ask for you."

"Don't be like that," the woman purred with a pout on her face. "Or I'll want you more, handsome." She was dressed in scanty clothes, leaving little for imagination, and moved closer again to tempt him with her ample endowments.

As the smell of sickly sweet perfume assailed Kyro's nostrils, the other woman took the opportunity to get onto the couch and circle him, appearing at his other side. "We're here to keep you company, no need to be shy."

"Shy, huh?" Kyro asked through gritted teeth, finding with his eyes the one who had planned all of this. "Did you really expect me to sit here and play pretend with you?"

"What do you mean?" Garrison asked while leaning over to the woman on his right and planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. "They're great ladies. I thought we could talk like men while drinking and enjoying ourselves. What's wrong with a little fun while doing business?"

'This was a waste.' Kyro cursed in his mind and pushed the two clingy women away from him. He slapped the hands off the one that was reaching too far and opened the door.

Throwing a one liner was tempting, but he held back. This couldn't have been done just for fun. He had never heard that Garrison frequented such places. It wasn't his usual style, and so it was a problem.

'Was this a distraction so I would leave the company? But then a normal meeting would have worked better to waste my time. A photo of me entering such a place? But it's not a crime. It could damage my reputation some due to being magnified by Gale being in the news, but it wouldn't be too bad

'Still bad, though.' He sat down in his car and slammed his fist against the wheel. 'I was baited, led by the nose like a fool. Careless, so damn careless.'

He cursed and called himself idiot of the century, but it wasn't going to help. The perfume of the women still clung to his clothes, a distinct reminder of how out of sorts he was.

'Everyone was so worried about Gale doing something stupid that they forgot I'm also here. Not immune to all that's happening. Shit. Enough of this nonsense.'

With a deep breath, he calmed himself and took out his phone. [Give me a day. I'll speak to Gale tomorrow. Need to prepare something.] He sent this message to Jimmy and left the parking lot. Although he had no plan , he was going to come up with something. He had to. Every damn person was looking at him for that.