Inevitable Crash (17)

That night, Lucy demanded to sleep on the bed. He meowed with annoyance until they put him at the foot of the bed. Then, he fell asleep the next second.

Iris was a little worried that they might accidentally kick him at night, but Lucy accepted no words of comfort. In the end, she was simply forced to accept his choice and hope for the best.

The next morning, there was no alarm clock to wake them up, and all of them slept till late in the day. When they were eating breakfast, she asked Kyro about it, and he said it was fine. There was nothing to do but wait at the moment.

He didn't seem too downcast about it, so Iris decided that something must have gone well yesterday. For lunch, she decided to cook herself, and Kyro sat nearby, watching.

"Stop staring!" she ordered him, waving a spatula at him.

He smiled and made a show of glancing over at Lucy who was resting on his knees, then returned his gaze to her. It was clearly him saying that he couldn't move, but Iris didn't feel any better about it.

With him around, she couldn't throw everything away if it failed and pretend that she never tried anything…

But as distracting as being watched was, Iris managed an approximation of what she'd learned from Caron. It wasn't as extravagant as hers, but it did look good. Much better than anything Iris had ever cooked for herself.

There was no reason for that, in truth. There was no one to impress, and it was too much work just to fill her own stomach. It could be achieved through much simpler means, without requiring an hour and a half to be finished.

When they sat down to eat, Kyro didn't forget to thank her for the meal, saying that it was quite a nostalgic experience for him. Only mom had ever cooked for him, and that had last happened in middle school, besides the day or two he'd spend at his parents when vising them.

"I actually never had home cooked food," Iris admitted. "My aunt was too busy with her various jobs to waste time on such things, so I almost always had some noodles or something to warm up."

Upon finishing, Kyro helped her clean the dishes and they returned to the living room to find Lucy watching them with his one good eye. He looked to be frowning, and the moment Kyro came close, he demanded to be picked up.

"Didn't the vet say he would become grumpy and bad-mannered?" Iris asked.

From the moment he felt better, the black monster didn't want to leave Kyro's side no matter what. If the man stepped a way for even a little bit, Lucy would start sulking. And Iris' presence helped little.

She knew that she was a new addition to his friend circle, but it still hurt to see him not paying her any attention. After all their adventures and life-threatening situations, he treated her no better than a stranger.

"He said that," Kyro said, rubbing the cat's chin. Lucy purred in satisfaction.

As Iris stared at them with dark eyes, Kyro lifted his head to look at her. "Are you jealous?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"Ha! Of course not," Iris answered instantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who would care what a flaky and frivolous cat thinks?"

"Flaky?" Kyro turned back to Lucy and patted his head. "Old friend, do you hear? You've just been called flaky."

Lucy purred in answer, totally not caring.

On the side, Iris could only laugh at his straightforward nature. She then came closer and brushed the cat's back, which made Lucy open his eye and look at her. It was hard to say what he was feeling, but she could swear it was pride. He acted as he wished, and she still came over to massage his back.

"Silly cat," she murmured and petted his head.

The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion, with no one doing anything significant. They played with Lucy, talked about nothing, and discussed Gale's situation.

The next morning, Kyro left for work, but he didn't go to his office. Instead, he went to the marketing department where he called an emergency meeting. Everyone gathered swiftly, like lambs to slaughter.

"I won't waste time," Kyro said as an introduction, and many graying heads nodded. Their owners seemed to be happy to get straight to the point. "Well, then, you're all fired. Besides Frank, you can stay. As for the rest, you have an hour to vacate the building. With this, the meeting is over."

When Kyro stood up to leave, a commotion broke out among the old hands. They were stunned for a moment, then began raising their objections. They acted as if it wasn't exactly what they deserved.

Kyro found their futile struggles amusing. Had they thought he'd never find out? Sure, they had hidden their betrayal well, but that last move had given them away. If Kyro didn't lose his mind over trying to see fault in Frank, there was only one other choice for the perpetrator.

"You can't do this to us!" someone shouted, and Kyro raised his head to see a man in his late fifties standing before him. "We helped you take over this company, we were your backbone! You can't just throw us out!"

"Yes," another man added, glaring at Kyro over the rims of his glasses. He didn't even bother hiding his hatred. "Without us, you would be nothing. Or without Gale. You're just a little upstart that thinks he's the hotshot."

"That's how you plan to make me change my mind? I can't say it's working," Kyro said, a mocking smile on his lips.

He should have known better than to believe in these old farts. They went with him as long as it looked profitable and he had Gale, whose family was a legend, by his side. The moment they had a fall out, these old bones went to their old masters to beg to be taken back.

"In an hour, anyone who's still around will be taken out by the security," Kyro said again, ignoring the numerous death glares aimed his way. It felt almost nostalgic. This was how it was when he had just started out to conquer Mosley empire with Gale. "Frank, come with me. I've got some tasks for you."

When they were out of the room, Frank couldn't resist asking, "You trust me?"

Kyro turned to him to see that the man looked genuinely shocked. He was looking at Kyro like he was seeing an impersonator or a ghost.

"You're all I got. For the next couple weeks, you'll be acting as the head of the marketing department. And the only person in charge, since everyone else took a sudden leave. Don't talk much, just let everyone know you'll be giving orders for the time being."

Frank froze, his steps faltering, and he almost went down to kiss the floor. Kyro took a few steps more, then turned to look at him. "Anything the matter?"

"I-I..." The man tried to utter something, but no words came out. His face was a mask of disbelief mixed with elation and horror. He didn't seem to be able to decide whether this was a good or a bad thing for him.

"Go now, make sure no one panics. And if you manage to take care of the mess those old farts made, I may consider allowing you to stay in your new position. Don't disappoint me."

At his words, a fire lit up in Frank's eyes. He straightened and raised his head. "You sure?"

"Sure. And if you meet Sheila, let her know to fire all those bastards for sharing private company matters outside and in general working against Dioscuri."

Frank gave Kyro a strange look, probably for acting so forceful when he hadn't even officially removed them from the books, but didn't say anything regarding it and just nodded. They separated then, and Kyro finally went to his office.

There, he was met with Lara holding a missive in her hand. "I think you might want to read this, Mr. Hemming."

Not liking her tone, Kyro picked the slip of paper. As he began to clean up inside, sharks came at the smell of blood. And they even thought to use a honeyed trap.

The missive itself wasn't something he hadn't expected. Horten Family Group was looking to discuss a cooperation with him, which would certainly be them suggesting he joins them and becomes a subsidiary, loosing most of his autonomy. But what surprised him was the name by whom the missive was sent - Jane F. Norwood.