His Amber

SIMOUN'S POV

"Your private jet is fueled up and ready to go by five in the morning. The pilot will be expecting you, and the second we land in Japan. There's a car I'll have waiting for us. We'll check in at our hotel, catch a bit of sleep, then prepare for our meeting with Onel Satoh that evening," Kai said.

"You have a penthouse suite booked, correct?" I asked. 

"I do."

"And the car has tinted windows?"

"It does."

"And you'll be driving. Not someone else?"

"I'd never stick you with someone you haven't vetted yourself. Not since the incident."

"Good. You're the only person I remotely trust at the moment. And until we get through this stuff with Mr. Satoh, you're the only one I trust. We're there for the week, correct?"

"Yes, sir. One week in Japan, wining and dining Mr. Satoh until he can't do anything but say yes. However, there's one last preparation we need to discuss."

I shook my head as I swiveled my chair and gazed out the window of my office.

"We've been over this," I said. "I don't need a fake fiancée hanging off my arm during this trip."

"You told me to set this up so that you were in a position to win, no matter what. Onel Satoh comes from royalty. That's how old his money is. And since we'll be in his territory, we have to abide by his rules and traditions."

"And tradition states I need a fiancée?"

"Tradition states a man of your wealth and age should already be married with a child, but I'm settling for a fiancée."

"No."

"Sion, Onel's perspective concerning stability and security is paramount. He doesn't trust a man who doesn't have a woman at his side."

"Explain to me again why that is? Without throwing the word 'tradition' around."

"Where Onel comes from, if a woman approves of a man, then anyone else can. In his world, women are the strongest vetters of men there are. Onel won't trust or do business with a man without at least a fiancée because, in his eyes, if a man cannot get a woman to trust him, a man isn't capable of doing anything else. Plus, I've done some research into his other partners."

"Let me guess. They're family men," I said.

"All of them. Each with their own wife, children, and sometimes mistress on the side." 

"Nice to know they have a moral code," I said flatly.

"You have to play the part if you're going to secure this for our company," Kai said. "At least until the deal is signed. The fake fiancée will give the perspective that you are stable enough to take this on, and then we can arrange some sort of argument. A dissolution of the engagement. You'll stand on your own, Onel will get a taste of how you stand on your own without a family, and all will be settled."

    I shook my head as I ran my finger across my upper lip. I didn't like this. I didn't enjoy playing pretend. Fake wasn't something I did. Smoke and mirrors were something I avoided wholly. This was the part of my business I detested the most. Schmoozing future clients and partners and having to make all sorts of small talk. I wanted to get down to business. I wanted to strip away all the niceties and lay out the pros and cons of every move we were to make as partners from here until the end. That was how I operated.

But apparently, Onel Satoh worked under pomp and circumstance.

"I'm there to make a deal. Not play house," I said.

"And playing house is one of the ways to seal this deal. If you want to succeed, then we'll discuss what kind of woman you want hanging off your arm," Kai said.

    I sighed and closed my eyes. I wanted this deal. More than anything. I'd lived it and breathed it for months, and the time had come to meet face-to-face and sign the paperwork. I knew there was a catch the second Onel didn't want to fly to us. He'd been flying into the Philippines from Japan every chance he got. The tables were turned, and I was being asked to step up to the plate, and I had to admit that Kai had never steered me wrong before. Even if his plans seemed a little off the rails.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay?" Kai asked.

"Yes. Okay. But I have no idea where you're going to find a woman that will impress the likes of old royalty like Satoh and hold herself with a poise expected of a woman at my side." 

"A professional, of course," he said.

"A professional that won't want to sink her claws into Manila's most eligible and richest bachelor?" 

"Nice to know you don't have an ego."

I turned my chair back around as a grin slid across my face.

"The magazine called me that. Not myself. And if we're going to do this, we're going to do it perfectly. I'll have picky standards, from how she looks to how she speaks." 

"Hence a professional," he said again.

"I'm curious as to what you mean by that."

    Kai began typing on his laptop as I drew in a deep breath. He'd been my right-hand man at G.P.S software ever since its inception. What began as a company developing GPS software with military uses grew into technology I spun off into a dozen different subsidiaries over the years. After the military made my technology standard in all their drones and newly developed ships, the money I raked in went to other projects I founded in different countries for different reasons. And Kai had been there to oversee every single one. A friend since college, an equal partner in my businesses, and the only person I trusted after my childhood best friend stole my technology right from underneath me and attempted to sell it as his own.

Good thing it was only the first beta and was riddled with bugs that needed patching.

   I spent all my time working. It was the only thing I knew. I had an ensuite bathroom and small bedroom attached to my penthouse office suite on the top floor of my headquarters in Manila City. Besides the view from my penthouse apartment, it was my favorite place to sit and overlook the city. The press constantly hounded me about who I was dating, if I was married, if the woman that had come forward and professed her child to be mine was, in fact, mine.

But I didn't date. I had no time. No patience. No trust when it came to people.