Chapter 19 – Blast from the Past

Charlotte walked onto her floor. "Mr. Belloff is waiting in your office," her receptionist said.

With Eric and Timo right behind her, she strutted into her office. "I'm sorry for the wait, Mr. Belloff," she said.

He turned around, and she froze. "Please, Mr. Belloff is my dad, and it'd way too formal for us. Call me Dean like you used to."

"What... Why are you here?" She held her hands together in front of her, hoping no one would notice them shaking.

"A little of both business and pleasure. And hopefully a date tonight where we can go over things a little more... intimately," he took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Um... I thought it was your dad here..." she yanked her hand back.

"I came in his place. Now, if we can get the business out of the way, we can quickly move onto our personal business," he winked at her.

Charlotte swallowed hard, her hands shaking until Eric took it, gripping tightly. "We can talk about business, but there is no longer anything between us personally. You know that quite well."

"Ah, come on, Charlotte, don't talk like that. We were engaged once, and had a lot of fun; don't act like there's nothing between us."

"T-here is nothing between us anymore, and I'd rather not have any... one-on-one time with you."

His expression darkened. "Come on, Charlotte; you know deep down that I'm the only one for you. I'll help your company, and I'm a catch. The perfect man with money, a good body, and knows how to take control. There's a reason you still haven't married, Charlotte, and it's because you were waiting for me to come back around to you."

Charlotte's stomach churned. How could he act like this? Like he did nothing wrong?

"You're definitely missing a good personality," Eric said, his eye twitching as he clenched his fist.

Dean finally looked at him, and their clasped hands. "So, he's the assistant my father was talking about?"

"Yes, that would be me," Eric pushed his shoulders back, puffing his chest out a bit as he stood tall.

"Maybe you should wait outside while the important people talk. It's not like you'd understand, anyway."

Charlotte's grip tightened. "Excuse me?" she snapped at him. "How dare you talk to him like that?"

"Oh, did I upset you? Sorry, babe, but he doesn't belong here. We know it, and so does he."

"He does belong here, right beside me."

"Ha, right; you keep thinking that. He won't last long before feeling out of place, and he'll end up running away with his tail between his legs."

"I'm not going anywhere," Eric said.

"Yes, you are, because we're going to be talking business, and she's the only one allowed to hear it."

"He's my personal assistant; he stays with me," Charlotte said.

"I guess I'll have to tell my father that you no longer wish to do business with him," Dean turned to walk away. "He'll probably spread the word to his associates as well."

"Your father isn't that big of a gossip. He's not like you."

"Well, if he doesn't, then I'll spread it myself."

Charlotte's grip tightened again on Eric, nearly crushing his hand. Even with all her hard work to build her company, against the wrong people, she could be shut out and her company ruined.

"Wait..." Charlotte called out to Dean before he could reach the door. "Fine, we'll talk alone."

"Tonight at nine. I'll pick you up."

"Wait! I meant right now, here."

Dean left without another word.

Charlotte wobbled, her grip and knees going weak. Eric quickly wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. "Are you okay?" Eric asked.

"Yeah..."

"Tch, you're obviously not," Timo complained as they helped her over to her desk seat. "You're not really going to meet up with him, are you?"

"What choice do I have?"

"Just refuse. Simple."

"And who knows what they'll do to my company? I have a lot of people who rely on me, and that I employ. If I can't find a way to deal with him civilly, then their livelihoods might be put at risk."

"Aren't you like... the biggest women in the tech world? And I thought you even expanded into different industries... real estate or something. How can they ruin that?" Eric asked. "Aren't you too big to fall now?"

"How do I put this...?"

"Those tech and real estate kings like to stick together. If she messes with Mr. Belloff, all of them will come after her," Timo explained.

"Oh... What a bunch of pricks. I don't want you to be alone with Dean, though."

"I'll manage somehow," Charlotte said, her hands shaking under the desk.

Timo and Eric exchanged a look.

"I'm going to get you a cup of tea to calm your nerves. Eric, time to learn a thing or two," Temo headed out.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Eric squeezed her shoulder and left.

"I'll... focus on work," Charlotte opened up the file on her desk.

We're not actually leaving them along together, right?" Eric asked as Timo lead him to the kitchen in the break room on her floor.

"We're not allowed to intervene, but we will be close by. We can't trust him around her. He's obsessed, and despite how strong Charlotte normally is, she's still terrified of him."

"I noticed," Eric clenched his fists. I have to protect her somehow.

"I'll make sure we're nearby at the restaurant, but we'll need disguises."

"Do you even know where they're going?"

"I know Dean, and I know where he likes to go, so I'll figure it out which place they're going to beforehand. If not, I can always track her phone."

"You can track her phone?"

"I can do a lot of things. For now, I think I need to teach you some self-defence techniques that don't require throwing a punch, so you can't get into trouble."

"So... reversals of sorts?"

"Basically. Now, let's go to the gym in the underground of this building."

"I don't like the sound of that."