Damien was dumbfounded by Rachael’s entrance and even more speechless by her reaction to his actions with Gina. The glitter in her eyes that was always shining whenever she looked at him had ceased to exist, now replaced by darkness itself. A sense of foreboding lingered in his heart as he imagined her creating a distance between them, a distance that he couldn’t afford to let happen.
“Thank you, Rachael” he muttered with uneasiness in his voice. While Gina eyed her with a scornful gaze, causing a throaty chuckle to escape Rachael’s lips.
“It’s fine” Rachael dismissed with an air of confidence that made the room uncomfortable. She was delighted to see the troubled expression on their faces. “I do have a lot of information to catch up on”Her smile was mysterious. “I believe Mr. Russo should be able to brief me on the things I’ve missed out on”
Gina felt a little anger in her heart, being fed with confidence
“Huh… He’s not your…”
“It’s alright, Gina”Damien interrupted her. “It’s the right thing to do since it’s stated in the company’s policy to indulge oneself in knowing the occurrence at your time of absence”
He paused for a bit and hesitated a little before adding. “It’s working hours now, you should leave. You’re free to come back during the lunch hour”
His words left Gina flabbergasted as her gaze darted between the two people seated in the room with her. Then, her anger was tipped off as she glared sharply at Damien. “Are you sending me away?”
“Of course, Gina. We just need space to work and you can come back later” Damien’s words were to pacify her but she angrily stumped out of the office leaving Damien baffled.
“So, what are the recent updates?” Rachael questioned, jolting Damien, who averted his gaze to her, from his thoughts. Damien instantly felt uncomfortable and couldn’t find the right words to say. Talking about work would make him feel less guilty.
“Well, a lot of decisions have been made against our biggest competitor, Liam Callahan” Damien explained with looking at her. “It’s been effective but not to the core”
Rachael arched an eyebrow at his words. A cold smirk curved on her lips. “Decisions, you say?” Her tone carried a bit of mockery. “Are you talking about the scandal you orchestrated?”
“How do you it was me behind that scandal?” Damien feigned ignorance, frowning his face like a child who has been accused of stealing. “You can’t accuse me without proof”
Rachael was speechless by his words, trying to hold the laughter that was threatening to be released. “Mr. Russo, I’ve worked with you for many years to be able to detect your style of actions” Her gaze turned serious.”we’ve committed grave sins together, so I see no reason for you to hide any secrets from me”
Damien was shocked but was made to realize the untwisted truth in her words. “You’re right, Rachael”. An evil smirk took form on his lips as he reminisced on his victory”I was behind the scandal and it turned out very well for me. You sure missed a lot”
“Oh! Really. That sounds good” Rachael’s smile felt sincere but the anger in her hurt was burning hot.” so what other things did you do?”
The praise he got for her made him speak with great relaxation, he couldn’t sense any bit of probing. “Can you remember the maid we planted as a spy in Liam Callahan’s penthouse, well Gina tried to get rid of her and I took that as an advantage to cause a distraction”
Rachael’s fury was fighting to be set free. She vividly remembered the young, chatterbox of a woman. She had been against the decision to send a mother to the Lion’s den. But funny enough, she wasn’t endangered by the Lion himself but by the cunning snake that employed her. She was going to avenge that woman but first, she needed to know what the distraction he mentioned was all about”
Her expression was like a lad with piqued interest to hear the end of a folktale story,” did you say a distraction?…. From what?”
“From the new project the Liam cooperation is working on” Damien revealed, his expression turned sour. “I wouldn’t let them”
“So, you believe they can build another project within a short period?” Rachael asked with an inquisitive gaze.”The project Phoenix took Liam almost a lifetime to construct”
Damien felt attacked by her words. Was she doubting his judgment? “You shouldn’t underestimate Liam Callahan’s ability” his tone was curt. “Prevention is better than cure. We have to destroy the seedlings before they sprout to become something that would spell trouble”
Rachael wasn’t surprised by his words but by the glaring fact that he had choreographed every plan with Gina. She searched her heart for any tinge of anger or pain but it was numb, her feelings were gone. “I can see you had a very reliable aid by your side then”
“Yes, Rachael. Very reliable” Damien muttered with a smirk of satisfaction and pride. “She filled in well during your absence”
“Oh!… Then I must commend her for her hard work”Rachael’s tone was exhibiting a high level of sincerity yet was gloating. She wanted more information. “So, what other plans have you made?”
“Nothing yet” Damien was honest with himself as he got distracted by his thoughts. “We haven’t made any move yet. We are still waiting for Liam’s cousin and ex-lover’s move to open a path for us”
Rachael was bewildered by his statement. “So, you mean those two now work together?”
“Yes,” Damien nodded in affirmation as he tightened his eyelids lost in thoughts. “It hasn’t been long, but they are working together against Liam”. Damien felt he needed to end the conversation and added. ” You should get to work, Rachael. There’s is a lot of documents piled up on your table. I just couldn’t find someone who was as efficient as you are”
If he had said those words in the past, Rachael would have jumped for joy and screamed in excitement but it was the present. She bowed slightly and walked out of the office, oblivious to the dark gaze behind her. She and Isabelle had agreed to meet that night so, she needed to be well prepared with a lot of useful information, just like the ones she had gotten from Damien.