CHAPTER 4

**

SEBASTIAN

I don't like him.

Everything about this fucking guy—the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he looks at you when you speak. I don't like it.

Alejandro Quintanilla. He's Salvador Quintanilla's nephew, so I'd be an idiot to try and fuck up this early in the game by giving him a rude welcome.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on behalf of the Quintanilla family," Alejandro says to me. "We're looking forward to a prosperous future ahead for us and the Harrisons."

Bullshit. His stare is full of malicious intent. His grip on my hand tightens, and I let go without giving him a sour look.

"Well let's hope so," I reply. My eyes shift to Leslie briefly; Leslie just watches our encounter without a definitive expression.

Alejandro laughs at my reply; his mouth barely forms a smile. "Don't be so unsure of yourself. You'll soon realize the empire than two men of power can create together, Sebastian."

It's clear that I'm only a puppet to this man and his family. Whatever my father told him before we met has clearly given him the impression that I would be an easy tool as a CEO. My gut also tells me that my spot in Harrison Inc. was already predetermined; who is the Board to defy my father?

Who is anyone to defy my father?

I glance at Leslie again, and my mind tells me that I should have expected this—her gawking at Alejandro like he's some Colombian god. But one thing I didn't expect was for him to cheer her on with his eyes—narrowing in on her and smirking as if he likes her attention. Like her normal self, she scurries away when she can't handle it anymore. Alejandro continues to stare at her distancing figure.

Keep your cool, Sebastian. Don't do anything stupid.

"One thing I love about your country is your women," he tells me, eyes still in her direction.

I nod, clenching my jaw as tightly as I can. "I agree."

"You've had your escapades, I'm certain. Quite a lot of them."

"I have. Though I'm not accustomed to that lifestyle anymore."

This prick is testing me now, waiting for me to break. My father told Alejandro too much; he knows Leslie is a weak point in all of this. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

"Don't be so modest," he says, amused. "If I had women like that around every corner I don't think I'd be able to control myself. You two have known each other for short while, yes?"

"About a month."

"And you two haven't—"

"No," I say before his sentence even finishes. He knows he's hit a nerve and smiles the widest smile I've seen since we first shook hands, and it isn't much of a smile at that.

"I'm surprised," His voice turns into a mumble, though I'm sure he intended on me hearing him. "She's beautiful—"

"Yes, I know that. Is there a point to this?" I ask him, my tone more aggressive than I had initially wished.

Alejandro raises a brow at me; he's got me, and I let it happen. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to start conversation; our first introduction didn't go well, after all."

"What are you talking about?"

And that's when I realize that I've seen this man before—the Hillcrest country club where I confronted my father about blackmailing Leslie. He was sitting at the table with Salvador when I walked up to them. Shit, how could I have forgotten?

Alejandro takes my silence as fact that I know what he's talking about. "I knew something was up with you when you didn't even look our way when my uncle and I tried to be civil. And then disrespecting your father in front of an entire room? I won't lie, it made me think of you in a...how do you say...'bad light?'"

"That was a personal issue between my father and I," I respond, failing at hiding my growing animosity towards this asshole.

"Oh, I know. But your company and my family's company are going to be close, I predict." He inches closer to me—close enough for me to see the scar on his eyebrow and the evil in his eyes. "And there's nothing I hate more than arrogance and pride, Sebastian."

It's been a while since someone has made me angry enough to lose words. Even Leslie hasn't pushed me to that point. Knowing the importance of not severing ties with this man's family, I suppress my newfound hatred and accept his testament with nothing in reply. Fuck, my hands tremble just wanting to wring around his neck.

"Congratulations," he says one last time before stepping away to join his posse or whatever the hell that group he's with is. The amount of anger I feel is indescribable. Who the fuck does he think he is, threatening me like that?

Once he leaves, my father approaches me. As if I couldn't become angrier.

"You're the last person I want to talk to right now," I tell him, trying to walk away before he grabs my arm and pulls me back. His smile is forced, like he doesn't want the press to see the tension between us.

"I see you've met Alejandro," he says quietly.

"Yes, I have."

"It didn't look like it went well."

"It didn't. And I don't understand why you're here talking to me about this when you should be conducting some other way to ruin more people's lives."

My father laughs. Genuinely, at that.

"You're funny, Sebastian. But all jokes aside, I advise you to keep relations with the Quintanilla family strong and prosperous—"

"It shouldn't matter what my relations with them are. You aren't CEO anymore, dad."

"True, but Salvador and I are still friends, and his family is a huge benefactor for Harrison Incorporated. If our partnership doesn't go well, I'm not confident in the outcome."

I see Board members watching my dad and I converse. But the plastic smile on my father's face makes me believe that he knows that already.

"How I handle the Quintanilla family shouldn't be your concern."

"But it is my concern." That plastic smile I talked about? Gone. "See, there's a balance to everything, Sebastian."

He asks his assistant, the petite blonde whose name I think is Lucinda, to come and give him a pen. Once she does, one look is all my father gives her; she quickly walks the other way.

"Let's say this pen is 'balance'," he begins, holding the mahogany-polished pen horizontally between us. "This represents everything that happens to this corporation and how we stand. Now, think of this ring as you, and the other ring as a partner with Harrison Inc."

He pulls off one diamond encrusted ring and another abyss-black ring off his fingers and places each one through either end. They dangle slightly towards the middle before coming to a halt.

"Equilibrium," he explains, holding both ends of the pen steady. "Both forces are at equilibrium because they understand each other. They cooperate with each other and make sure that both of their needs are met. They are at one with balance. But imagine if this ring wanted to force another direction against balance."

He tilts the pen, the diamond encrusted ring sliding away while the black ring moving unwillingly towards it.

"Everything would start to crumble. Relationships, partnerships, financial stability. All of it would succumb to the dying need to move against balance. And eventually—"

He tilts the pen so both rings fall off into his pale palm.

"They both fall. Do you understand why it is important to obey balance and order?"

"Alejandro and his family have nothing to do with how I run Harrison Inc.—"

"I would hate to see ones you care about suffer for any careless actions you wish to ensue against balance," my father suddenly says coldly. "If you were smart, you would nod and agree, right?"

"After all the shit you've done to me, you expect me to bow down and become Alejandro's bitch?"

"Don't be so crass!"

"Why shouldn't I? After everything you've done I should have the right."

"What right?" he laughs. "You have more rights than most people and yet you're so unappreciative of everything I have done for you. If anything, I'm trying to protect you."

"From what!?" I hiss at him. "What could you possibly be protecting me from that you let hurt me before?"

"There's much you don't understand. I'm trying to make it easier for you: respect equilibrium, and you should be fine."

"And if I don't?"

"I already told you." He smiles for a moment, looks at Leslie talking to a reporter, then looks back at me. "I see relations between you two are still rough? It's for the best, I'm sure. Her intentions were clouded and ingenuine, I told you that."

"Stop trying to change the subject," I reply, though it's really me who's trying to change the subject of her; he isn't done with Leslie, I'm sure.

"But it's obvious you still care for her."

"And I can say the same for you."

I've hit a nerve with him. He's still in denial about how I exposed him for being obsessed with Leslie.

His response isn't instant, but it's what I expected. "Like I said, it's for the best."

When his hand grips mine, I feel his rings land into my palm before he lets go. I look down at them, seeing my reflection against the stones and jewels, but quickly look away.

Frankly, I don't know where to look anymore.

**