Chapter 41

Nathaniel watched as the only woman that he had ever loved walked out of the door to his room. He looked at the counter next to him and saw that she left the pill and her rose. He went to his closet and got dressed in his business attire. He was wearing a crisp dark blue suit with a light blue dress shirt underneath. His tie was a dark blue with black specks on it. He put on his shoes and belt, grabbed his phone and wallet and put them in his pocket. He grabbed the bag with the pill in it and the rose and then noticed Paige's dress on his floor. He stared at it for a moment and decided that didn't want the maids to give it back. It might be the only thing that he'll have left of Paige if she decided to leave him. He put the bag and rose down and grabbed the dress. He placed it in a safe in the back of his closet. He grabbed the bag again and walked out of his room, tucking it in the door knob of Paige's room. Nathaniel sent her one last text and then walked down to his dining area. Arthur was there, as usual.

"Master Donovan, I will have breakfast served immediately and alert your driver that you are ready to leave," he said with a slight bow.

"Arthur, please move my personal effects to the north wing master suite. Also, please alert me to Paige's whereabouts in the manor when I'm home. She asked for space and I need to avoid her until she's ready to see me again," Nathaniel said apathetically.

"Of course, sir. I will have the staff work on this right away. Shall we move your home office as well?" he asked.

"No, I will be working from headquarters until this is resolved. Also, alert mother that Paige may not join us for Sunday dinner and not to make a fuss about it," Nathaniel added. He didn't want everyone to be disappointed when Paige didn't show up, as she did say she could need a week to figure things out.

Nathaniel quickly ate his breakfast and left for work. He answered emails as he drove to work and looking into having his company acquire a parcel of land for development when Marshall called him.

"Yes, Marshall?" Nathaniel answered emotionlessly.

"Mr. Donovan, I just wanted to ensure that the conference call with Mr. Allen was still occurring today. I am in your office awaiting your arrival," he replied.

"I will be there shortly and we'll get this over with. I doubt anything useful will come of it," Nathaniel stated icily.

"Have you met Mr. Allen?" Marshall asked.

"My mother said we met when we were young, but I don't remember. I only recall his father," Nathaniel stated plainly. "I'm here. I'll see you shortly."

Nathaniel hung up as his car stopped in front of his office. He walked in and took an elevator up to his office. Jamal and Rhonda were typing away and greeted him as he entered. Nathaniel said nothing. He was in a foul mood. He walked straight into his office and saw Marshall standing by his desk. The call was going to occur in 15 minutes, but Nathaniel wanted to be early.

"Sir, if I may, I'd like to open the background application that Mr. Jordan developed to discreetly record the call," Marshall stated. Nathaniel silently logged into his computer and stepped aside so that Marshall could open the application. He watched as it opened up and Marshall hit record.

"We'll start now and edit out any proprietary information that is seen on the video for the company afterwards. I'll step aside if you'd like to initiate the video meeting," Marshall stated.

Nathaniel sat down. He went to his calendar in his email and opened the meeting. He hovered his mouse over the link for a moment and clicked it. He turned his video and audio off and waited until his business rival joined. Nathaniel didn't know if he was scared, angry or anxious. Ideally, he would get a confession to the crime of attempting to kidnap Paige and a motive. He doubted that this would happen.

Nathaniel watched as James Allen III logged into the meeting. Nathaniel turned on his audio and video. A man in his early twenties appeared. He had rich, dark brown hair, a beard and jade green eyes. His lower face was obscured by a black mask. For some reason, Nathaniel thought he seemed familiar. He was wearing a black suit jacket, black dress shirt and black tie. There was a striking pin with a stone that matched his eyes on his lapel. Nathaniel couldn't see it very well to make out what it was.

"Donovan," a cold voice greeted.

"Allen," Nathaniel responded with equal tone.

"You requested this meeting. How may I be of service?" James stated.

"I called you today to speak to you about an incident that occurred with a charity that I had acquired and the donated to the state. The director of the shelter was almost kidnapped. The perpetrator was an ex-employee of yours," Nathaniel stated icily.

"Donovan, do you normally take such an interest in your subsidiaries that you've disposed of? I'm just curious about how you operate," James said with a smirk.

"The authorities are looking into a large payment that the perpetrator received from a shell company. I believe it will be linked to you or your company," Nathaniel said apathetically.

"So, you're interested in this particular case because you have an unsubstantiated belief that I am somehow related to it? Interesting. I had no idea how much I occupied your thoughts. Are you gay?" James asked, still smirking.

"Allen, I am not attracted to you. Someone that I had a business dealing with almost died. I find that gravely serious," Nathaniel interjected. He noticed that a vein in James' forehead started throbbing and watched as he blinked rapidly.

"I apologize. That is extremely serious. I hope that she's doing better now," James replied apathetically, leaning closer to the camera. He watched Nathaniel intently.

"Is that out of guilt? I also never mentioned that the director was female," Nathaniel asked. He watched as James reached for something. James held a newspaper with a photograph of him shaking hands with Paige in front of the check he donated.

"Donovan, I always have eyes on what you do. You are my business rival. I'm sure you have eyes on my dealings as well. She's quite pretty," James taunted as he casually admired the photograph.

"There was a prior case where your father hired someone to poison a woman he thought was romantically linked to my father. The perpetrator gave her 5 black dahlias. The perpetrator in this case gave the woman 7 black dahlias," Nathaniel said, taking extra care to ensure his tone was even and there was no hint of emotion on his face. James was watching him with even greater interest.

"I did not know that, Donovan. Are you dating this 'Paige Everett'?" James asked.

"I don't have any romantic interests, currently. Just temporary pursuits," Nathaniel replied casually.

"You have no objections to my pursuing her, then?" James asked.

"Moral and ethical ones, as you are my business rival and she's linked to my company. It would be preferable if you'd stay away from anyone linked to my company and I'll return that professional courtesy to you," Nathaniel stated.

"Objectively speaking, not because I'm involved but because I'm curious now that you've involved me, does Miss Everett like black dahlias? Did she like the flowers she received or say anything about them?" James asked casually.

"The only one who would be aware of that is the perpetrator," Nathaniel said evenly.

"I'm now invested in this, Donovan. I'll devote some of my resources to finding out who's behind this as well. I don't know why my ex employee decided to do this, but I'm grateful that he's no longer with my company. I will send his personnel file to the authorities," James stated.

"Allen, stay out of this. I'm sorry I involved you and wasted both of our time today," Nathaniel commanded.

"Donovan, she's just too pretty for me to stay away. She looks like she could be the perfect specimen of a woman. You may be into casual encounters but I am interested in finding my other half," James said coyly, taunting Nathaniel.

Nathaniel felt like not only was this a waste of time, he now had to worry about James Allen III being his rival in love as well as business. He was exasperated at this point and eager to end the call.

"Allen, stay away. I have another meeting to attend. I appreciate your time, but let's be professionals and not youngsters. We're CEOs, not in finishing school," Nathaniel said coolly.

"Noted, Donovan. Enjoy your meeting. This was rather informative," James said as he signed off.

Nathaniel leaned back and looked at Marshall. "What do you think?" he asked.

"There's some things that we learned today that were interesting. Like, his father attempted to poison your mother, but he attempted to kidnap Miss Everett. Either he and his father have different ways of dealing with the same situation or his motive is different," Marshall stated carefully.

"Explain," Nathaniel commanded.

"Sir, I believe that he was unhappy that Miss Everett was harmed. He also attempted to get you to talk about her condition twice. He made reference to her being pretty, a perfect specimen and potentially his other half," Marshall elaborated.

"Was he her lover before?" Nathaniel asked.

"Unsure. But he wants to obtain her. I don't know for what purpose. Unfortunately, the Allen family is notorious for secrecy and they never allow photographs unless it's for a specific purpose. All information regarding the family is extremely well protected. Even Mr. Jordan will have difficulty finding things out about them," Marshall said.

"Find out what you can without attracting attention. Ask mother. Report back as soon as you find anything," Nathaniel said. Marshall left and Nathaniel sighed deeply. He had a lot to think about. He didn't know why Paige was being sought out, but he knew it wasn't good.