Christopher

I spent the past five days in absolute bliss. And I am damn sure you would know what I exactly meant. Yes, you guessed fucking right, it's all because of my beautiful Nicole. It would probably be the most modest statement if I'd say Nicole and I had a fantastic time being together because it was totally beyond that. I can't have words to express how amazing it was to be with Nicole. The day when we went out on a date was possibly the best day for me, and I am still trying to assimilate the fact that Nicole agreed to give me a chance even after knowing who I am and what I really do. I mean, I am more than overwhelmed.

The time that I had spent with Nicole in the last few days has strengthened my feelings for her more, and I don't know if it's a good thing or bad. Because I feel like I am being addicted to having her near me. I think about the few women that I have been with and I am being honest when I say that they are nothing compared to what Nicole is. I feel like I could never get her out of my mind. Fuck! That's surely a fucking problem for me because I can't keep her with me all the time.

The conversation that we had at the beach is something which I keep recollecting. Nicole was throwing questions at me one after another continuously, and I was just sitting there staring at her gorgeous face. Okay, maybe that was the reason why I didn't realize what I was saying.

At that moment I was rejoiced to discover that Nicole was willing to know about me, but at the same time, I was scared that I might mess up things by unveiling everything. But whatever happened makes me feel relieved now. That night Nicole truly unrevealed my past, she got to know about the most horrible corner of my history and I am happy that I opened to her. She deserved to know this if I wanted her to trust me.

But the thing that shook me the most was her last question. I have kept thinking about it again and again. Could that be possible? Could Richard have possibly lied to me? Was my life different before the accident? An intolerable knot forms in my chest when I think about it. Is Richard keeping me in the dark? Fuck! But I don't know why I am not able to question it because Richard has always been a fatherly figure to me and I never thought of him deceiving me like that. I still remember the time when I woke up from the coma and found Richard standing beside me. I remember the way he kept his hand over my head and said everything would be fine. I just can't forget it. He was the one who helped me to survive through my terrible depression. Even though our relationship soured after what Sophia did but I still hold respect for him in my heart irrespective of his daughter's deeds. How am I supposed to question him when I have been all grateful to him for saving my life and putting me back on track? How am I supposed to question him when he was the one who taught me to fight back and establish my position back in the business that I rule now? How am I supposed to do that to him? These questions are fucking killing me!

I close my eyes, brushing the memory away, and try to gather my thoughts back on Nicole. Thinking about her just refreshes my mind, filling me with new energy and removing all the awful thoughts from my head. It is such a great achievement for me that I was able to gain her trust, and I have sworn to myself that I would try my best to not break it. Because I would never want to see tears in her eyes ever. I guess I like her so fucking much.

We completely enjoyed the time together this week, and it was mainly because we spent most of it staying in the bed. And the keyword here is the bed. I hope you guys know what I mean? Fuck! Whenever I think about Nicole, a crazy sprint of electricity runs through my body, making every cell in my body going wild. What the fuck? Get a grip, Christopher! I know it would sound stupid if I'd say I want to keep Nicole in the bed with me all the time. Why the heck is this happening to me? I feel like I could never get enough of her. But it wouldn't be possible for me to keep her with me all day because she has to go to her clinic too and I would never want to keep her away from her work. I know how much she loves her profession, and I adore her devotion to it. So we resumed our works soon after, yet when we got home we manage to have time for ourselves.

I pull my tie up, buttoning my sleeves. I am at Max's place right now, getting ready for our appointment. Today we are going to have the final meeting with the Browns to get our deal done. The deal that all of us have been working so long to get done. Today we are going to talk about the funding and finalize them to get their investment done in our company. We had a couple of meetings before with Joseph Brown, the CEO of the company, and from that; we are pretty much sure that this contract is going to be in our favor. Max got all the contractual formalities done and had also arranged all the necessary documents required for the meeting.

As it's Friday, Nicole left for her clinic in the morning, and soon after that, I arrived here. We have been discussing all the things to be carried out since I got here at Max's house. I and Max have rehearsed everything thoroughly and we are pretty much confident that it's going to end well for us and of course for Peter. An ugly scowl instantly appears on my face just by thinking about Peter. I have now accepted the fact that I don't like Peter anymore and you guys know the reason behind it well. I haven't seen him since the last time when I met him at his party and I am absolutely fine with it. I fucking don't care about him. I just want his work to be done as soon as possible so that I can get rid of him.

We are done with our preparation and everything by the evening. The time finally ticks indicating us to get going that's when we are halted as Max gets a call. He excuses himself before moving to his room, leaving me here in his living room. I sigh and check the briefcase one more time, which I am going to carry to the meeting. As I put my coat on, the front door bursts open, startling me as my vision settles on an enraged Peter making his way in. What the fuck? Why is he here? From his face, I can make out that he is fucking pissed.

He straight heads towards me from the entrance with his nose flaring like an angry bull. "You fucking bastard!!!" He launches himself on me, crossing the sofa as he grabs my collar before I can even think what's going on.

"What The fuck?" I snap at him, jerking his hand off of me. Why the fuck he would dare to ruin my suit?

"I am gonna fucking kill you!?" He growls aiming for a punch this time at my face but I catch his fist midway in the air. Everything happens in a swift motion that I don't even get a chance to process the situation. What the actual fuck? What is going on and why the heck he is so angry?

"What the fuck is wrong, Peter? Are you fucking insane?" I shove his fist back and ask him. I guess he really fucking lost his mind.

"Oh, so now you're going to act all innocent." His face covers with a condescending sneer as he accuses me. "Like you have no idea about the shit you pulled up?"

"Get straight to the fucking point, Peter. I seriously don't know what you are talking about?"

"So you are not aware of what you did at my dad's party?" He seethes and I raise an eyebrow at him skeptically. What the fuck happened at his dad's party? Wait! I hope he isn't talking about Nicole or else I am going to break his fucking nose right here.

"What did I do?" I straighten my suit jacket and dust it, not paying attention to him.

He shakes his head with a petulant expression on his face and says. "Don't fucking joke with me, Christopher. Tell me where the fuck is Nicole?" Fucking great! I guess he really wants his face to get deformed today.

"Why the fuck you dragged her out of the party like that?" He commands before I can speak anything. What the fuck is his problem? Why is he not letting me speak?

"I didn't fucking drag her anywhere. She came with me on her own will." I reason to him trying to keep myself calm. Can I just grab his head and bang it on the center table? No...that would probably piss Max. I can't damage his property. I have to come up with some other way.

"Fucking bull crap. I saw it on her face. She was not in a mood to leave with you. I was getting to you but before that your fucking men blocked me..." He spats on my face. "Answer me, Christopher. Why the fuck you did that?"

"You saw me dragging her out, but you didn't see her kissing me before that?" I mock him, looking casual as I cross my arms over my chest, taking a defensive stance. Take it on your face, you fucking son of a bitch! I know it hit him on the right nerve because he looks all riled up now.

"You fucker!!??" His face grows red with anger erupting on his face. What the fuck is his problem?

"Mind your language, Peter..." I bark at him, still attempting to stay in my most mannered behavior.

"What did you do to her? Why isn't she picking up my calls?" He asks me next and I frown. Why the fuck he still is calling Nicole. Can't he fucking understand the point that she kissed me because she likes me?

"I didn't do anything to her. She probably won't be picking up your calls because she fucking doesn't want to talk to your stupid ass..." I tell him, raising my tone to make it clear to him.

"I can't believe you....Why are you doing this Christopher? Why are messing with me?" He questions me, eyeing me up and down with a malicious look on his face. That's enough! I am not going to take his shit anymore.

"Listen, Peter. I am not trying to mess with you...And if you want to talk about Nicole, then let me tell you one thing...She is my girlfriend and you have no right to take her name with your fucking mouth..." I move forward standing in front of him and say looking straight into his eyes. "I have known her way more before than you got to know her, so you are the one who is trying to mess with me here..."

"I fucking don't believe you...I know Nicole...She would never be with a guy like you.." He narrows his eyes at me and says giving me a wicked smirk.

I tighten my jaw, trying to suppress my anger. "Sorry buddy, but she is...." I inform him, patting his shoulder which he smacks away. Bastard! Either he can accept it or he can just go fuck himself.

"I know you, Christopher... I know your ways. What are you doing with her? Huh? Blackmailing her? Or did you fucking kidnap her? Just fucking tell me..."

I know that he is trying to provoke me and get from me what he wants, but I am not going to do it. I am not going to lose my temper with his taunting questions. "I am so fucking done with this conversation, Peter..." I tell him and begin to walk away.

"Where the fuck are you going?" he grips my hand, and that's the moment when I lose my patience and throw a fucking punch on his face. He fucking himself asked for it.

Before I can aim another punch at him, Max interrupts. He grabs my arm and pulls me away from him. I stumble back with still shooting daggers at Peter.

"What the fuck, guys? What are you both doing?" Max asks, looking bewildered by my action.

"Why don't you ask your friend what he is doing?" Peter moves back and says, firing a dirty glare at me, which I return to him immediately.

Max looks at me in confusion, and I sigh, looking annoyed. "It's about Nicole..." I state and he gives me a pissed off look as if he is saying I knew this was going to happen.

"Peter...today is our final deal with the Browns." He takes a deep breath and looks in the direction of Peter standing beside me. "You are aware of it, right?" Max asks appearing relaxed and Peter nods.

"Then why the fuck you are doing this??" Max's unexpected high pitched tone actually stuns us as Peter and I both look at him in astonishment. None of us expected this sudden outburst from him, considering how calm he seemed a few seconds ago.

His violent vision darts between both of us as he says. "What are you guys doing? Fighting over a girl while we have a fucking important business deal to carry out." Realizing what Max said, we lower our gaze. Right now Max looks exactly like a fuming father who might be scolding his children for their extremely outrageous behavior. He then shifts his gaze towards Peter and says. "Isn't your company important to you than any other thing?"

Peter doesn't answer, and Max pinches the bridge of his nose in an attempt to regain his patience. "I know the shit going between you two but listen...let's keep the personal life away from professional. Peter, If you want your work to be done then please..." Before he can finish Peter cuts him off.

"You are trying to convince me when it's all his fault..." He scoffs, his face almost resembling a five-year-old complaining about his toy being stolen by his friend.

"Fuck off, Peter. I don't give a fuck about you..." I retort at his accusation.

"See his fucking behavior right now..." Peter tells Max pointing towards me and I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Are you serious, Peter? Why the fuck are you doing this? For god's sake, you guys are grown-ass men. Fucking show some maturity." Max says looking at us, almost appearing on the verge of pulling his hair off his head.

"Ask him what the fuck he did with Nicole?"

"Peter, please..." Max sighs and continues. "If it's about Nicole, then trust me, she is safe. I assure that to you. She is staying with Christopher on her own choice."

"I wouldn't believe it until I hear it from her..." Peter responds, tapping his foot agitatedly.

"Okay, stop it!" Max clenches his jaw and looks at his wristwatch. "Let's try to be professional here...we are getting fucking late, Peter. Can we fucking fight over you guys' girl problems later?" He directs glaring at me and I raise an eyebrow at him asking why the fuck is he looking at me?

"That's of no use now because I know we fucked up everything." Peter intervenes. "I am sure this fucking bastard is going to take it out on our deal.." He denotes and I roll my eyes at him.

"Calm down, Peter. Nothing is gonna be like that. Please try to cooperate with us till we get this done. We know that it's important for both of us, so we wouldn't try to mess it up. I promise Christopher wouldn't reflect any of this in it...so please..." He looks again at his watch, trying to signal to Peter that we are getting late. As if taking the indication correctly, he looks at me and scoffs. What the fuck is his problem?

"Whatever the fuck you say. Fine... I am going. I will ask Nicole about it." He huffs and walks away.

"Don't you fucking dare!!??" I scream behind his back as he marches out, slamming the door in our face. I am so gonna kill that fucker!

                                                                          ----------------------

After the whole fucking drama with Peter, we head to the restaurant where our meeting has been scheduled. Max doesn't talk to me, he only keeps throwing a threatening look at me once in a while as if I was the one to be blamed for all that happened back at his place. I mean, what the fuck? I did nothing...It was Peter who started it. I try to keep myself sane, not trying to think about what Peter must be doing right now considering what his last statement was. We get out of our car and make our way in. The restaurant appears to be extremely quiet and engaged, being located in one of the posh areas of the city. The manager welcomes us as we enter and leads us towards the private chamber which is meant usually for business meetings. The reservation has been made by Mr. Brown, so we assume that he would be present there before our arrival.

As soon as we enter the room, I spot Joseph Brown being sat at a table in the corner next to the full-length window giving a magnificent night view of the busy city. I see that he is accompanied by another man with whom he is talking right now. Joseph is a confident, rich entrepreneur appearing to be in his fifties. He carries a warm and kind demeanor unlike most of the other people who might grow arrogant on securing such a higher position in their business. I have noticed it in the first meeting itself, and I really appreciate that about him.

As we reach the table, Joseph stands and greets me, extending his hand towards me. "Welcome, Mr. Harris."

I smile and nod, shaking his hand. "Nice meeting you, Mr. Brown," I say and begin to pull my hand back, but I frown when he doesn't let it go. When I look at his face back, I see him smirking with an evident wickedness on his face. What the fuck? Why is he looking at me like that? Then I realize what the fucking hell I just did. Holy shit! I fucking responded to him when he called my real surname, whereas all those times before I have met him, it has been always under the fake identity called John Williams.

Thick beads of perspiration form over my forehead as I gape at him in horror. I force the saliva down my throat, which has been clogged there in fright, and shift my head to look at Max. He looks just as shocked as I am, giving me a hint of how big a blunder have I committed. But the question is, how the hell does he know my name?

"What? Isn't that your name, Mr. Harris? Christopher Harris, if I say. A leading member of a Mafia gang called Cobra." He announces smugly and I blink a few times in astonishment, trying to register what he is saying.

"Please have a seat, gentlemen. I wouldn't want my guests to be standing all night."

Max and I look at each other and sit down with a completely bewildered expression on our faces. "How the hell you know all that?" I swallow harshly, asking him as I sit in front of him.

He laughs and leans back in his seat. "I know everything. I know about you, Christopher. I know about Peter. And I know about the plan you guys were pulling to trick me. The plan that you thought you could execute here."

The words that were intending to leave my mouth instantly die in my throat as I hear him say that. I loosen up my tie, suddenly feeling suffocated in a room packed with full AC. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

I shift my gaze back to him and see his striking brown eyes looking at me. "Don't freak out...You don't need to." He suggests calmly looking at my perplexed face.

"Christopher, I don't have anything against you...Peter is my only target." He shrugs as he proceeds. I know I am hearing him, but my mind keeps on repeating one fucking thing: that how could I make such a silly mistake?

"See, I am not into these things. I've never been a fan of deceiving people to gain power. In fact, I find it very low. It's something that people do when they are weak and incompetent." He sighs and focuses his intense gaze on me. "I am neither of them, but Peter is. Sadly, he is trying to force me to get in this shit because of his cheap tactics.."

"I am just fed up with his stunts...I don't know why he is fucking doing this.." He says shaking his head as his eyebrows knit together drawing an irritated look on his face.

"He is the most arrogant and condescending man I've ever met. His father was not like this. He was a wise man, always ready for healthy competition but his son...." He sighs letting it trail off. I can totally agree with him on that. I didn't pick a great liking for Peter from the start, and with the whole Nicole thing and whatever happened before coming here has just compelled me to hate him more.

"I know he hadn't been behaving well with you... Isn't it?" He asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I divert my gaze back at Max and don't say anything, being unsure if it would be good to admit it before him. Joseph studies my face for a minute, not trying to press on the matter. "Christopher, I need your help." His face turns serious as he says.

"What do you want from me?" I question him. My voice becomes hoarse, it's probably because of staying quiet for a long time.

He turns his gaze towards the man seated beside him as he signals him to speak. "You don't have to do anything. You simply have to pretend that we successfully had the deal today, and that we agreed to invest in your company. Just as your plan was." I look at the guy and from the expression on his face I can make out that there is more to come.

"And?" I press asking him.

"You need to give us timely updates about Peter's activities whenever you get to his office. You have to just act as if you are still working for him whereas, in reality, the case would be different." He shrugs as he continues. "In simple words, you would be working for us without Peter getting even the slightest hint about it." He looks back at Joseph and turns towards me. "It wouldn't be a huge bother for you, Christopher. You would be given instructions accordingly."

"So you want me to betray him and work for you?" I question them, gaining my composure back. "And why do you think I'll do that?"

"I don't find a reason why you wouldn't? See, Christopher, you don't really have an option here." Joseph states and I look back to him. "If you go back to Peter telling him that you have been exposed...I am not sure if he'd really welcome you with a shower of flowers." His tone comes out laced with sarcasm as he smirks, looking at me. I take a deep breath and process his words again. He is right, I don't really have an option here. I have already committed a mistake, and I can't afford to make another one by choosing the wrong path. I know Peter would kill me if he got to know that I messed up things and he would try to blame it on me purposefully when he finds out, even though my intentions were never meant to turning my back on him. But I guess destiny itself doesn't want us to work together, then who am I to go against its will?

"What would we get in return?" I clear my throat and ask him after a minute.

"Surely more than what Peter was offering you..." He says with a confident gleam in his eyes as if he had been knowing it from the start that he would succeed in his plan.

"So can we call it a deal?" He then directs the question at me.

I look at Max who is sitting next to me with his eyes reflecting exactly the same impression that's running in my mind. I sigh and then turn my head towards Joseph.

"It's a deal."

A/N:

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Thank you for reading!

Janny❤