8

•••

Cassian Sandejas

They stood in front of a building, a structure almost built like a skyscraper with it's blinding glass panels. It looked out of place in the landscape where vacation houses prevailed, besides the fact that this part of the valley is still sparsely populated.

"This is the club," Cassian said, gesturing towards the double door entrance.

They went inside. After two flights of stairs downwards and a long corridor, they finally arrived at the glass doors that was promptly opened by security.

Cassian glanced at the woman beside him, trying to figure her out.

She looked serious and intelligent and almost forbidding.

A prude, most definitely.

She didn't belong anywhere near a club.

Maybe Chase saw that too, the reason he'd hired her in the first place.

Somehow, he found that thought oddly comforting when he should've been annoyed.

It was too bad that he'd stumbled upon her when he was just horny and looking for an easy lay.

Soon the darkness along with a loud electronic music was all that enveloped them, until their eyes adjusted and they could see about forty men and women partying in the premises.

•••

A passing waiter offered Lyari one glass of cocktail which she took, and almost immediately contemplated the feasibility of getting drunk while running on only two hours of sleep.

The image that popped up in her head was an unpleasant one. Alcohol and her isn't a very good combination at the moment, although she'd managed to convince herself that one drink wouldn't hurt.

At the same time, she looked around, wondering where Cassian had gone to. It's been fifteen minutes since he left with an excuse to get himself a drink.

Alone, she'd had the opportunity to observe her surrounding, until one of the beautiful women at the club happened to pass by her table. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the woman's non-existent dress, basically flashing her exposed undies in her front and behind.

It must be the dress code, considering majority of the girls in there were wearing bikinis. As much as she felt out of place in her signature business attire, she hadn't cared until then.

Upon noticing her stare, the attractive woman's red lips turned up at the corners, smiling at her knowingly. Lyari's cheeks heated in response and she watched her disappear to the dance floor.

She finished her drink in one gulp, using it as a distraction.

Why she's even there in the first place was a conundrum. This wasn't what Lyari Sage had in mind when she came over to work.

Instinctively, her hand searched for her phone in her pockets but it came up empty.

"What are you doing here?" A voice inquired, and when she looked up, Chase's familiar face appeared in her line of sight.

"Chase, what are you doing here?" she answered, standing up, glad for once for his presence.

"Dealing with business as usual, a good friend of mine owns this place."

Realization alighted on her features.

"Oh, I can see why Mr Sandejas would bring me here."

Chase nodded with a patronizing smile. "It's good that you've finally met the boss."

"He's... something else," she admitted carefully.

She didn't mention anything about the car incident to Chase, doing so would be against her own conduct. She was there to work, not cause any trouble, she kept reminding herself.

Nevertheless, she had yet to recover from what that guy just did.

"You didn't answer my call, though. That's why I thought you were still on your way," he explained as they took their seats.

"I know, it's my fault. I forgot my phone in my bag."

Chase offered to get her a drink but she quickly declined, saying things about not being in a good shape to get drunk when her body is still recovering from multiple all-nighters she's pulled.

"So, tell me about the contractors. You said they'll be arriving here by tomorrow, right?"

With a nod, she stated, "Mr Gomez and Mr Madrigal are especially recommended by my boss, if you've read the memo from the last time."

"Yes, I did, and I'm guessing they're under the same firm?"

"Well, they work under us, basically..."

She was back to her usual composed self in minutes as she started reiterating to him the procedures that must be done on the following days and weeks of the construction.

"We should probably take this outside," he said in concern after sometime, gazing around at the noisy premises.

She wanted that.

"This place is amazing," Lyari stated, meaning her words. Out in the balconies of the building, they secured a table which has a breathtaking view of the ocean in the distance. The sun was on it's slow descent into the horizon. "I can see why you'd choose to stay here rather than the city."

Chase snorted, hands on his pockets. "When you grow up in the city like I do, you tend to move around until you find a place you could call home. My friends love it here too."

She smiled, lost in the view as well as her own ruminations.

The pollution festering in the Metro was a far cry at the moment, this was the only time she was savoring the reprieve from the city and the hustle of meeting a deadline.

She was there at the site, because after staying awake for the maximum of 35 hours she was finally done finalizing the blueprints.

"Guess the grass truly is greener on this side."

"Hm, Cassian's exact words. That is actually the reason why he chose to recuperate here instead of Brazil," Chase mused offhandedly.

His words caught her attention.

"Your, friend is um, recuperating from what?"

Surprised by her question, Chase cast her a quizzical look. He didn't answer right away, seeming to weigh something in his own mind, making her regret even asking the question. Obviously, it was a sensitive subject.

"There you are. Chase, my boy," came another voice from the glass doors, cutting whatever reply Chase was about to say.

Something about the sight of Cassian made her suddenly feel nervous, his presence clearly spoke of an unpredictable energy which immediately set her on edge.

"Cass," Chase acknowledged him with a brotherly smile and a nod, "come join us."

Now that the two were in the same area, she couldn't help but compare them in the physical regards. They were about the same age. While Chase was every bit the Asian bachelor with his breeding and the way he always looks good in suits, Cassian on the other hand was like this devil-may-care lankier version.

The clients were very attractive, too attractive that she wondered how she even came to this point.

Cassian gave his friend a look, before letting his eyes rest on her. "Everything good, Sage?" He asked, smirking as he sank languidly into the seat across from her. The now empty bottle of vodka was laid down on the table.

She was mildly miffed by his expression, but she reigned herself in. "Yes, everything's fine."

"I trust that you are, because I'd hate for you to get bored here while you're doing your job."

"Well, I think that's a very unnecessary notion," warily, she said.

The two men looked at each other.

"Even so, we'd like to liven up your experience somehow," he stated, his dark eyes mocking her, "take this establishment for example, this is like an extension to the Villa. You can always come here anytime you want."

"I really appreciate it, Mr Sandejas. But you don't need to worry about me, I'll certainly have my hands full in the field by the next few days."

The corner of his eyes tightened and it was his turn to get annoyed.

"This is quite a gem you have chosen here, Chase. But I swear she gets a kick out of saying my family name everytime," he told Chase.

She glanced at Chase apologetically.

"Oh, I'm sorry, that was a slip," she amended, deadpan.

She could swear his name was meant for a female.

He glowered at her.

"What did I say?"

In a rare spur of emotion, caused by her annoyance, Lyari found herself reciprocating Cassian's glare with her own. It didn't matter if he was her client at the moment.

"We were just talking about the meeting with the contractors tomorrow, I think you might want to see it through with us," Chase, who had grown uncharacteristically quiet prompted him, barely able to hide his amusement.

"Alright, count me in, my friend," Cassian replied, keeping his gaze on her, "I certainly hope that your plans are as impeccable as you are, Sage."

Impeccable?

That was some sudden binary compliment.

"Guess I'll have to make sure I won't disappoint then."

Cassian merely nodded in acknowledgement, his interest and gaze finally falling listlessly to the horizon.

"How many drinks have you had, Cass?"

"I'm not drunk, Chase," he denied, "although, I must say that was a strong stuff they're serving today."

Chase straightened from where he was leaning at the railing.

"You don't look too good to me, maybe we should get out of here. I'll go get the car."

"You do that, brother," Cassian said, rubbing his eyes with his long fingers. His knuckles were wrapped with bandages this time, covering the blood from earlier. "The men should be finished cleaning up their mess by now."

"Did something happen at your house?"

"No, why'd you say that?"

"Thought that was one of the reasons we came here," she pointed out.

Cassian sighed.

"You have an ear for information, but I don't think it's any of your business, Sage."

She folded her arms in front of her, resisting the urge to follow where Chase had left. She looked anywhere but the guy in front of her who at this point was turning out to be that sort of person who has some personality complex or something.

He became introspective until his phone rang and he removed it from his pocket, holding it up to his ears without seeing the caller ID.

"Cain?... Yes, is he awake now?... Okay, I'm on my way, don't you do anything stupid now while I'm not there," he warned on the phone, almost threateningly.

Lyari found her eyes drawing back to him again in curiosity, but she played it cool and hid her growing suspicion from her face.

"The car's outside," Cassian informed her with an austere expression, "better stand up, Sage."

Just like the way they came in, they walked out side by side but this time, Cassian had his hand resting on her shoulder. She tried to shrug it off, but he held her in place, using her as an anchor as his steps weren't quite steady.

"You're clearly drunk."

He looked down the length of his nose at her. She could barely reach his shoulder, even if she was above average in height.

"I haven't had a strong drink in a while, Sage. So yes, you could say that."

She bit the inside of her lips, not trusting herself to give a reply.

Cassian's Bentley was parked out front, as promised, and Chase was there waiting for them at the side of the car.

He waved them over.

•••

"How's it going, Miss Sage?"

Slow breathes issued from her lungs as she fought for patience upon hearing the voice of her boss. He was just calling to know how things were going. She still couldn't forget the way Sue tried to get back at her in person the last time. The jealousy she couldn't quite repress, and Vladimir's skeptical attitude. Well, Lyari was starting to regret taking on this project.

"The meeting's set tomorrow, and after that it's the official start of construction."

"And the clients?"

She looked around, but no one was there at the balcony except for her. Chase had made her stay again at the room which he'd assigned to her the first time she was there, and she'd agreed, deciding it was the sensible thing to do.

"They're okay... if a little bit eccentric."

She wanted to say that the people she's dealing with were especially shady with their business, and they're armed to the hilt. Plus, the fact that the crazier one of them was onto her.

But she found she couldn't say anything out loud anymore, especially not here.

"Expect the unexpected, that's our motto. The owner of that villa is a billionaire, Sage," he said in a condescending tone, as if she should've been aware of that fact.

"I hadn't expect that," she snorted incredulously. The information was news after all.

"Yes, billionaire in the peso sense. Okay, enough chatter. If any complications should come up, you can always reach me here." With that, Vladimir ended the call.

Lyari was suddenly tired. She was sleeping on top of the covers as soon as her body touched them.

•••