Chapter Three

"I've never been this up close", Bels gasped

"Me too. You think they will let us in?'

"You didn't know if they would let us in when you dashed off like superwoman?"

Crystal glared at her. "Sorry sorry. I know now is not the time for jokes".

Turns out getting in was not much of a hassle. The security guards just let them in after they stated their names.

"It's even bigger inside".

"Why are you acting like this is the first time you've been to a billion dollar company".

"Logan's company might be big yes, but girl this just hits differently".

Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Do we even know where we are going?"

"If his ego is as big as they say it is, then we are heading to the top floor".

Immediately they stepped out of the elevator, someone called her name.

"Crystal Steele?".

The woman in front of her was beautiful. She looked like she was in her late twenties with dark blonde hair pinned upwards, no piece falling out of place. Olive green eyes that were smiling kindly at her.

"Owww. What was that for?", she asked Bels.

Bels gestured towards the lady. She had zoned out and the lady that called her name was still standing with that same smile.

Now that she looked more closely, it wasn't a kind but sad smile.

"Uhmm that's me".

She nodded, "Follow me. Mr Sterling has been expecting you", Her gaze went to Bels, "Just you".

Without missing a beat, Isabella said, "It's fine. I will just wait out here and enjoy the view", pulling Crystal closer, "This is your backup plan". She shoved a tiny knife into her palm.

Unbelievable.

Crystal would have laughed if she wasn't so worried.

The beautiful lady led her away.

"Remember", Bels yelled after her.

The smell of dark chocolate hit her nose when she entered. There he was sitting behind his desk posed like the arrogant asshole that he was.

He ignored her for a few minutes, finally he raised his head. His ice blue eyes sent a chill down her spine.

There was no way to deny it. Ryke Sterling has to be one of the most beautiful men on the planet.

An article she read once said, "If gods decided to visit the earth in human form, it would be Ryke Sterling".

His beautiful mouth curved downwards disapprovingly.

He was waiting for a greeting. He could kiss her ass. They continued to stare at each other , one waiting for the other to break the silence.

She could go on for days.

"Miss Steele"

Ha, looks like I won.

"Mr Sterling"

"What brings you by?", his lips curved slightly. He wanted to play dumb. She was in no mood.

"I'm not in the mood to play games. You are going to tear up the contract you have on my brother and then you are going to leave us the hell alone".

"What's your favorite color Miss Steele"

What?. Didn't he just hear her?

"You look confused and unsure of your answer so I will just go ahead and tell you mine. You see, Miss Steele, I don't have a favorite color. I don't do favorites. Why should I have to pick one when I can have it all?"

"Steele Co-operations is in no way related to you. And there are a million women out there for you to do with as you please. I'm not a property to be bought and owned". He just kept looking at her like he expected her to back down. "You are not going to say anything?"

He sighed while scrolling through his phone looking bored of the whole situation, "I already have the workers ready. Two days left Miss Steele. Make sure your brother knows this too. You can go now".

"You are a sad man. You think you are so high and mighty and you can do whatever you want but you are not above the law. This isn't right and we are going to fight it".

"If you had a fighting chance you wouldn't be here. I know it. You know it. Logan knows it. I bet even that Latina girl you brought with you knows it too and you got it wrong. I'm not striving to be above anything because the law doesn't apply to me. If you don't have any other valuable thing to say then the door is that way".

Crystal stared at him. How can someone so beautiful be so cruel?.

She stood up shakily. There was only one other option and no it did not involve a knife.

"Steele Co-operations has been in our family for generations. Please don't take it away from us".

"Your brother should have thought about that before he signed off the entirety of the organization to me"

"You played him and you know it".

Ryke shrugged, "I have a meeting to attend in five minutes. I've given you all the time I have but I must commend you Miss Steele. This is the longest conversation I have had in a really long time. Everyone and everything else bore me".

It was resolved. She hated him.

"You are going to end up lonely".

His lips curved upwards fully, " I wouldn't have to worry about that. I will have you help with the loneliness very soon".

He walked towards the door, "Don't start a protest. It won't work this time" and with that he shot the door leaving with the gnawing realization she didn't have a choice.

Something else clicked, then it suddenly hit her.

~~Two years ago~~

"Bels I need you to calm down and tell me what's going on. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong".

"Some billionaire bought the land my mum's restaurant is on. He is making plans to demolish it".

"There are lots of billionaires in the city. I'm going to need you to be more specific. Maybe Lo knows him and can talk to him".

"I don't know. He has a S in his name".

Crystal gave her best friend a look. 

"I will call my mum and ask". Isabella spoke on the phone for a few minutes, "It's Ryke Sterling".

Well she could count Logan out. There were rumors that Ryke was a grade one asshole. She heard he had fired the people in the entire department just because one of them made a mistake. Another time, he had a whole restaurant shut down because the staff mixed up his order.

 Logan didn't know him personally or like him. It also helped that they were in different lines of business.

"He isn't one of Lo's friends but I'll still see if he can talk to him".

"There's no point. I'm doing some research on him. He always gets what he wants".

"Okay if he wants to take Camillas away, he is not going to get it without a fight. Here is what we are going to do".

~~Now~~

Everything had been set in place. Crystal managed to get most of the people in school to join. It didn't take much persuasion.

Camillas was like a home away from home.

They had started the song by the time she got there. Blame Logan for deciding that morning was when he felt like they needed some brother and sisterly bonding.

She had planned a whole Choreography around Jenifer Lopez Let's get loud.

He needed to hear them, maybe the man would grow a heart.

She joined in late but hopefully they had done enough to drive their point home.

It ended with a finesse, fireworks spelling out STERLINGS SORRY STEALINGS. That was all Isabella.

In a single moment she had felt a pull, like something calling out to her. Her gaze shifted and their eyes crashed.

 God, he was beautiful.

She could write a thousand stories on his eyes alone. Guess he was a beautiful bastard. She had given him a dirty look once she was out of the spell his eyes out her under before walking away.

That night, Bels had called her saying Ryke decided to stop the whole project. 

Maybe she had been wrong, maybe he did have a heart all along.

If only she had known.