Brings me back to earth.
“I can arrange a swift end to all this, and as I mentioned, there’s just the matter of some papers that need signing and witnessing that I can arrange,” he concludes, looking almost bored again as he eyes the door and then his pocket watch. Something that makes him really look like he’s from another time.
Another planet even.
“Uhhh, Stanford?” Sebastian chimes in cockily, both brows raised almost to the same height as his hands.
“There was the other delicate matter to discuss?” he says, telling us all more than asking Stanford.
“You can explain your own proposals, Sebastian,” Stanford sniffs and moves towards the door, making me choose whether to move out of his way or try and get some more information out of him.
But something tells me Sebastian’s about to fill me in on the real reason we got hauled down here.
There’s nothing to sign at the moment, and the ink isn't even dry on any court orders that I can make out.
I tell myself to believe. But I’m through with just taking what people say for granted as the truth.
The only truth I can get behind is Penelope and me.
Everything else seems nuts right now. Like we’re the only two sane people left on the planet.
“I want you to think something over,” Sebastian drawls, grinning a grin that almost looks sinister in a longing for something.
“The scratch on your back,” I offer, knowing that no one like him helps people for free.
“Exactly,” he says in a low tone, almost stifling a laugh.
“Well, what do you want then? A medal? The rest of what’s left of my shitty company.”
A guy like Sebastian Hawke really is a hawk.
Watching for someone to fail or a company to almost fold.
Then he can step in and snap up everything for a pittance.
“Not all of it,” Sebastian says soberly, lowering his voice and replacing his smile with a face of granite. “Just a share… And I don’t want it for free either. You’d be a richer man if a man like me was say… forty percent owner. Buying in at double what it’s worth now.”
It’s a deal too good to be true, and I look to Stanford again. Not for advice, but because I’m heading for the door myself.
“And the catch?” Hawke continues, reeling me back in if only with his voice as I feel Penelope hesitate before coming with me.
The whole room wants to know what he’s offering, but I think we’re done here.
“A show,” Hawke announces, standing up and clapping his hands.
My expression shifts as I turn my head. I had thought about quitting the live stuff.
Since meeting Penelope that’s what I’ve decided. I want her, our family.
Not risking my life twice a day for money.
“A final show… Jett Masters farewell show,” Sebastian says, dramatically moving his hands as he speaks once he reads my mood.
“What time at your office, Stanford?” I ask, ignoring Sebastian.
“I’d prefer to get all this behind me as quickly as possible,” I tell him, gripping Penelope a little tighter as we all leave the office.
Leaving behind Sebastian and his offer, Penelope’s old boss, and hopefully, her old life.
It’s shameful what these people have done, exploited her for zero pay, and worked her to the bone because she’s good at what she does.
But not anymore. She’s mine now. And yeah, I think it’s time for Jett Masters to retire from public life.
Focus on the real magic that I’ve found with Penelope.
“Any time tomorrow after three o’clock is fine, you know where to find me.” Stanford booms impatiently after he frowns at our offer to share the elevator.
“See you then,” I half-smile, not even bothering to offer him a handshake I know he’d refuse as well.
I’m more than eager now to get out of this building, get today over with so Penelope and I can get on with our new lives.
But can it really be that simple? Can I really just expose the bad guys and walk away with all the cash and prizes, my girl on my arm?
Yep.
Jett Masters is capable of anything. Real or otherwise.
Our elevator stops at the next floor down and a young, heavy-set man steps in, sneering once he spies Penelope.
He’s big by regular standards, but next to me in an enclosed space, he looks more like a child.
Ignoring me, he calls Penelope a name I don’t care for, and then something mysterious happens.
The security camera in the elevator is blocked by what could be a very tall man’s head, or it could just be a technical malfunction.
The elevator stops too, but only for a few moments. When it reaches the basement level Penelope and I step out.
There will be a paragraph article tomorrow, Chad Beckett, up and coming sports intern is found unconscious in an elevator at work.
A mysteriously broken nose from his fall and the paper wishes him a speedy recovery.