Theodore At Your Service

For some reason, My heart thumped an unwelcome rhythm against my ribs as I approached her. This wasn't the cool, collected Sebastian Steele most saw. This was Enzo Russo whenever he saw his father in sight.

I paused for a while and watched her from where I stood, looking at it. It was scary putting my life and potential ruins in a stranger's hand, it was worth being anxious for, all my life's worth and dreams could go down the drain if anything went wrong with her.

I sucked in a breath. The acrid scent of disinfectant mingled with the sweet perfume of the other women, made my nose

I moved on like the Sebastian Steele everyone sees on the outside, I stopped right in front of her across the counter, Shadows of fatigue lingered under her eyes, as she looked at me clueless, beads of sweat gathered on her forehead and her exhausted smile stared at me while the other two ladies giggled irritatingly as they gaped.

" You close by 6 pm right," I asked to reconfirm, my voice a touch too formal.

She blinked in confusion, " Ye, Yea, hmm, why?" She stuttered

I took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "I will be waiting for you outside," I said with a low and firm voice. "I would like to talk to you privately for a while."

Her eyes widened, surprise battling suspicion. "What, hmm, I don't think..."

"It's fine, Alexa," I interrupted, a hint of impatience creeping into my tone. "I will be waiting."

I turned and left, leaving her blinking in confusion.

As I settled into my car, the air suddenly felt suffocating, an unnecessary anxiety was catching up on me. To distract myself I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, counting down the minutes until 6 pm, convincing myself it wasn't a billion dollar project.

It was past six and she finally appeared scanning the street, she looked fragile, tense and ready to bolt at the slightest sign of danger.

I Partially wish Lucas was here to handle this for me, one of my most hated interactions was with women and stupidly I chose to deal with this one by myself, with nobody to keep me in check, how dumb.

I waited until she was within a comfortable distance before opening my car door.

She froze, startled, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard, her grip tightening on her worn-out purse. Glancing down at her faded jeans, I realized my approach might have seemed intimidating.

"I apologize," I started, projecting my voice softer this time. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just..."

Before I could finish, she moved back,

"Alexa, " I said, holding out my hands in a gesture of appeasement. "I promise I am not here to harm you. I just have an idea that would be best for us?"

But she wasn't listening. She bolted in the opposite direction as I was not ready to play cat and mouse so I instinctively reached out, grabbing her wrist rather aggressively than I thought.

"Get your hands off me!" she shouted. "I swear, if you don't, I will scream!"

With a short sigh, I let my business mind take over

"I know about your father, Liam Carter,"

The effect was immediate. Her struggle ceased, replaced by a stunned silence.

Her eyes locked onto mine, searching for answers.