Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“Please,” he says again. “Sit down. They’re not going to hurt us or keep us captive forever. Just a few hours at most.”
“Then what? Then we can go home?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I suspect they’ll confiscate our passports for a few days and force us to stay in the city. Maxime will apologize profusely through his little lackey and say it’s all some kind of misunderstanding, he’ll have it cleared up. Then after a few days, we’ll get the passports back, compliments of Maxime and Cerise, of course, and then we’re on our way home. But at that point, they got what they wanted.”
“What could they possibly get out of this?” I ask him, exasperated.
“They’ll have gotten under our skin.” He arches an eyebrow and smirks a little. “At least, under your skin.”
I glare at him. “That’s not funny, asshole.”
“I know, but this is what they want. They want us to fight and get upset with each other. We have to keep it under control until we’re really back home.”
“You can’t know they’re going to let us leave. What if we just disappear here?”
“Paige, please. I’m way too rich for them to just make me disappear.”
I glare at him but he’s grinning right back.
“I’m not rich.”
“You’re with me.”
“Makes me feel so special.”
“Sit down,” he says again, and finally I listen. I sit across from him, seething and frustrated.
Another hour slowly ticks past. Leon takes off his jacket and tie and leans against the wall, eyes shut. He looks like he’s sleeping although I know he isn’t. Nobody could sleep in these conditions.
I can’t sit still. I alternate between pacing and sitting down while bouncing my legs up and down. I’m twitching and anxious and above all, really fucking angry.
I don’t know how anyone could do something like this. It’s beyond inhumane, especially when we’re innocent. They just want to fuck with us, all over some business deal.
It’s insane. And I have to admit, I hate them.
Eventually there’s a loud knock at the door. It scares the hell out of me and I nearly jump out of my chair. Leon opens his eyes lazily and gestures for me to come sit next to him.
I obey just as the door opens.
In walks Maxime, smiling ear to ear. If Leon’s surprised, he doesn’t show it.
“Friends,” he says, sounding sincere. “I am so, so, so very sorry.”
He does not look sorry. He’s smiling, ear to ear, like he just won a prize.
“I have great news,” Maxime says, strolling over to the other side of the table.
Leon just looks at him.
“You’re letting us go?” I blurt out.
Maxime gives me an enormous smile. “Even better!”
I stare at him like he just sprouted tentacles and asked me out on a date.
He grins huge and sits in a chair. He leans back, crosses his legs, and beams at us.
Leon sighs and rubs his temples. “What is it, Maxime?”
“I got your approvals!”
Leon sits up straight and stares at Maxime without a word. I stare at Leon, my whole body frozen in horror. I don’t know what’s happening but I know this isn’t what Leon expected.
“You got… what?”
“The approval. I am so sorry I haven’t been available to you, I really am, my friend. I know it has been hard. I am very sorry I detained you as well, I truly am, but I couldn’t let you leave, not when I was on the verge of finishing this deal!” Maxime is practically dancing out of his chair with excitement.
Leon leans forward and stares at Maxime with a flat expression. It’s actually pretty menacing, I have to admit. I feel a flutter of excitement just looking at him.
“You got the royals to approve?” he asks, his voice almost a whisper.
“Oh, yes! Oh, yes, I did! That’s what I’ve been doing, I am so sorry I sent Claude, that man is an incompetent. He made you feel neglected, but you were not neglected! I was simply too busy working hard at finalizing this deal. I am truly sorry for all this, but my friend, we are finished! You can build!”
Maxime practically screams this last sentence and Leon winces as he sits back in his chair and crosses his arms.
“Show me the documents,” Leon says.
Maxime blinks. “You are not excited?”
“Show me the documents,” Leon repeats. “Show me the contracts, the signatures, and maybe then I’ll be excited.”
Maxime looks like he wants to shout at Leon. His face turns red and one eye twitches. “You want… you don’t believe me?”
“Show me the documents,” Leon answers, almost stifling a yawn.
Maxime takes a deep breath and lets it out before reaching into his breast pocket. He produces some folded pages and slides them across the table to Leon. “There you are,” he says. “The documents.”
Leon takes the pages and opens them. He rubs his eyes then begins to read slowly, taking in the words. I look over his shoulder and the type is tiny and there are at least seven pages there, maybe more, printed front and back. This is going to take a while.