The Closer (18+) ✓

| 6.4 | ex-ventures

❝though all the world is broken
i need a place where i can make my bed
a lover's lap where i can lay my head
cause now the room is spinning
the day's beginning.❞

Chapter Six:
Ex-Ventures
(cont'd)

"Remember, I do the talking, alright?"

"I get it already," Hans groaned, exasperated and as fussy as a baby as he kicked back in the chair with his arms folded behind his head. I shot him a dirty look, warily glancing over to the door. We had arrived at S'ConVenturas fifteen minutes ago and were led to a conference room on the ground floor. Something told me that this wasn't the one they reserved for important guests but for the ones they wanted to drive away; a sign that perhaps news of our arrival visit wasn't well received in the first place. That added with the fishy look the the dull blonde receptionist had given me had me slightly worried. It didn't help that I had a giant man-child to babysit either.

I started tapping my feet on the ground, counting the seconds that ticked by. Why were they taking so long? We were the ones to have flown in for this meeting and yet, left hanging.

"I really hope this doesn't come down to a hostile negotiation." I generally avoided those. I was better at smooth-talking my way into deals than having to stuff them down people's throats.

"Well, you're the best closer. The whole company wouldn't have tasked you with this unless they thought otherwise. Show them what you've got," Hans' voice was dull as ever. Gentle encouragement wasn't his forte so him going out of his way to reassure me was...sweet. I stopped frowning and turned to meet his gaze, a small smile on my lips.

"Thanks."

He was right. I had done everything needed to be prepared for this negotiation. It was going to be a simple procedure; provide the benefits of being taken over by Innovus, lay the terms of our purchase consideration on them, and seal the deal. It was funny to think that things might have been different if my 'espionage' had actually been pulled off; with Innovus being the one taken over... No, I wasn't going to think about that. This was how things had turned out and I was happy.

When the door clicked open, I shot to my feet with a ready smile spreading on my face. I might have even taken the time to throw a side-ways death glare to Hans for not budging out of his chair, if not for the person that walked through the door.

Those electric blue eyes were instantly recognizable, chilling me into freezing in the spot as they settled on my face. They stared down at me, not at all visibly shocked to see that I was before him. My heart tightened in my chest. His formerly long curly hair was cut short and trimmed; he'd grown a slight beard adding to the sculpted handsomeness of his Italian descent. He seemed taller too...stronger...happier.

I heard the chair scrape back loudly against the ground as Hans finally stood up, but instead of addressing the man we'd been waiting for, he gave his attention to me. I felt his hand wrap around my upper arm, shaking me lightly to snap me out of it but I couldn't focus on Hans, my blood coming to a slow stop inside my veins.

"Tris? You okay?"

My mouth felt dry as I nodded, gaze still trained on him, on the eyes that had had me transfixed from the moment we'd met eight years ago.

"Tris." He spat my name in my direction with a palpable hatred that had me cringing back, knocking against Hans whose arms wrapped around my waist protectively. "Well well, never thought you'd be one to dig your way into Innovus."