Chapter 271: A Greedy Gentleman
The elevator doors slid shut with a soft, clean click, cutting off the floor and leaving the restaurant penthouse completely quiet.
Monique stood right by the edge of the table. Her body was visibly shaking. Her expensive golden dress was rumpled at the hips, and the heavy bracelets on her wrists jangled together as she buried her fingers into her leather bag, her knuckles trembling. The proud director mask was gone; she just looked like a woman who had been completely stripped of her power in front of her own boss.
She forced herself to swallow, taking a deep, shaky breath before turning around to face the man who was still leaning back in his chair.
"Sir," she said. Her voice was incredibly tight, struggling to stay formal and polite even though her throat was burning with pure humiliation. "Why? Why did you do that? You completely withdrew the contract. You walked right into his trap and let a slum rat dictate everything about this meeting."
Hector didn’t even shift in his seat. He just kept slowly swirling the amber wine in his glass, his handsome face completely relaxed into that calm, effortless smile. His emerald eyes were totally cold, but his voice came out smooth, carrying that light, melodic rhythm.
"I felt a bit nostalgic, Monique," Hector murmured, looking past her toward the massive grid of the Spires stretching out below his shoes. "That boy... he reminds me so much of my precious little pet. The way he growls, the way he tries to fight for his own territory... it is exactly like her when she thinks she has finally found a way to slip her leash."
Monique’s jaw tightened, her throat going completely dry as she stood there under his unbothered gaze.
"Creatures like him... require a very specific kind of patience," Hector continued, his smile turning thin, sharp, and entirely unbothered. "They are complicated books wrapped in a very false, deceptive cover. He wants to play the greedy predator? Fine. I prefer to study exactly how much he wants to eat before I clip his wings. Let us see how much he can swallow before he chokes."
The next morning, the heavy hum of Hangar 47 was grinding at its usual relentless pace. Up in the office, Victoria was pacing the concrete floor like a caged lioness.
Her back was dead straight, her tailored suit sharp, and those dark glasses remained locked over her eyes. She moved with that elegant stride that always kept her looking high-class, but the tight line of her lips and the way her manicured fingers rubbed against each other showed the absolute chaos hiding behind her lenses.
She kept muttering under her breath, her voice low and frantic.
"I don’t understand... it makes no sense. It’s completely impossible."
Nash was already sitting in the chair across from her desk, looking a bit bored. He had his legs casually crossed, his jacket unbuttoned, completely relaxed as he twirled a silver pen. He had been listening to her circle the room for the last thirty minutes.
"Look, how many times do I have to tell you?" Nash sighed, tossing the pen onto the desk. "He withdrew the offer himself when I laid it down. It’s completely logical. Actually, technically, I was the one who refused it first because I told him I wanted an entirely different kind of contract."
Victoria stopped dead in her tracks, her glasses snapping toward him.
"An entirely different contract? Why would Hector ever refuse a deal that would permanently tear away my life insurance? What did you even ask him for? His life?"
Nash let out a lazy, slight smile.
"No. Just the kind of contract that keeps you well-fed even after your retirement. I told him I wanted shares in Apex Records. Real decision-making power. I even told him I had zero interest in the Baby-Boom girls, and thanks to that, he’ll barely care about those girls anymore. All the attention is on me."
Victoria stood frozen, her eyes narrowing to tight slits as she stared through her lenses.
"And what exactly tells me he wouldn’t have just accepted that? What tells me you didn’t just sign a rock-solid deal to screw me over?"
"Damn," Nash muttered, leaning back. "You seriously doubt me that much after everything?"
SLAM.
Victoria brought her open hand heavily down on the mahogany desk, leaning right over it to face him, her mask completely cracking.
"No! I doubt everyone! Especially a slum rat who manipulates all the predators around him with abnormal ease every time!"
She was completely breathing hard, her high-class composure melting into raw desperation. This was too beautiful to be true. For years, Hector had been her ultimate nightmare, a clinical master of manipulation who treated people like data on a screen. He had held her in a state of absolute psychological terror since her adolescence, breaking her spirit whenever she tried to breathe.
To her, Hector was an unbeatable monster. And now Nash, someone she took from the gutter to play ball, came back casually claiming he won the first round 1-0 on Hector’s own floor. She couldn’t understand his success. It was a terrifying anomaly.
Nash scratched the back of his head, looking up at her.
"How exactly do you want me to convince you without making it sound like I’m just manipulating you too?"
Victoria completely cracked. She leaned further across the desk, her face tight.
"Don’t try to convince me, Nash! Just say clearly what it is you actually want from me! I will give it to you right now, even if I have to sacrifice Dahlia to keep you on my ledger!"
Dahlia’s head snapped straight up from her tablet.
"Ma’am, please..."
Victoria closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a shaky breath, trying to force her class back into place.
"Yes... yes, I meant Blacklist. Just give me a tangible reason to believe you, Nash. I don’t want your modesty, and I don’t want sweet, empty words."
Dahlia took a step forward, looking at Nash.
"Please forgive her, Nash... It’s just... what you’re saying about Hector sounds completely impossible. You have to understand the kind of man he is. He manipulates entire syndicates for breakfast. Hearing that you succeeded on your very first try... it is just too hard for us to believe."
Nash shrugged, a small smirk pulling at his lips.
"Well... then I guess it’s a terrible idea to tell you that Monique was on the floor, about to suck my dick."
The office went dead silent. Dahlia and Victoria momentarily locked eyes in pure, frozen shock before their gazes snapped straight back to Nash.
"What the hell?" Both shouted.
Nash chuckled, entirely amused by their faces.
"Relax, I stopped her before she could actually unzip me, but she put a knee on the floor. Honestly, I should’ve taken a picture, it was precious."
Dahlia moved like a flash, crossing the distance between her and Nash in a heartbeat. She grabbed Nash tightly by the shoulders, shaking him with a mix of anger and sheer panic.
"Are you kidding me right now?! You just came here with a pre-written scenario in your head, didn’t you? You’re a complete liar, Nash! Hector has convinced you to join him and you’re playing us!"
"Alright, that’s enough shaking," Nash said, gently removing Dahlia’s hands from his shoulders. "It was funny. And it worked. Just wait a bit, he’ll come back with another offer."
Victoria let out a long, heavy breath, her posture slowly straightening as she forced her emotions back down. But she wasn’t calm. Her eyes behind the dark lenses were hard as stone.
"I’m changing our agreement, Nash. Right now. I refuse to blindly trust you anymore. I need something tangible between us, something you want from me, just to give me peace of mind."
Nash frowned, his playful mood completely vanishing.
"Victoria, don’t do this. I told you I don’t want that..."
"I am doing this for myself, not for you," she cut him off, her voice dropping into an icy, unyielding tone. "In my world, nothing happens out of kindness or generosity. Everything has a price. If you want to continue dealing with me, you are going to use me just as much as I use you. And we both know exactly what a man like you desires from a woman like me."
The air in the room completely turned icy. Victoria reached up, her manicured fingers slowly moving to the top button of her tailored vest, her intentions entirely clear.
Dahlia gasped softly, her body freezing as she watched her manager prepare to give up the last piece of her pride just to anchor her star player.
Before she could undo the fabric, Nash moved. He stood up, his large hand reaching across the space to firmly wrap around her wrist, stopping her fingers dead in their tracks.
He didn’t pull away aggressively; he just held her hand there, his face entirely serious as he looked down at her.
"I understand your logic, Victoria. I know you’re terrified of being tricked again. Fine. I’ll accept your terms, but we’re doing it under my conditions."
Victoria blinked, her hand staying trapped in his hot, solid grip.
"I am a greedy man, but I take what I earn gradually," Nash rasped. "Before, I was helping you as your best player on the court. In return, you gave me total control over the team’s training and roster. Then, I brought in sponsors and secured millions in sponsorship. So in return for that, I want your absolute help in managing my financial assets, my real estate in the Spires, and any corporate intelligence I ask for. You work for my business growth."
He leaned in closer, his face inches from hers as Dahlia watched from the side, completely holding her breath.
"Each time, I bring you something even bigger, and I’ll take something from you, gradually. And the day I finally hand you your total freedom from Apex Records? That is the exact day your body can become an option on my table. Not a second before, and only under my conditions."
Victoria stared at him through her dark lenses, her chest heaving as the absolute weight of his counter-proposal settled into her mind. It wasn’t an insult; it was a brutal, perfect contract that respected her worth while locking her to his trajectory. Slowly, a small, highly complex smile touched her lips, her tension finally breaking.
"Deal, Nash," she whispered.
Nash let go of her wrist, offered a sharp nod to Dahlia, and casually grabbed his jacket.
"Good. I’m heading out to get my new car... we’ll discuss about my finance management after that. Don’t stress too much."
The heavy door closed, leaving the two women completely alone in the freezing office. Victoria sank back into her executive chair, resting her forehead heavily against the back of her hands, her mind completely spent.
Dahlia stood next to the chair facing her, her tablet held loose against her hip. She stared at the closed door for a long time, her eyes soft, a delicate sigh escaping her lips.
"He is... the biggest enigma I have ever seen in my life," Dahlia murmured, her voice carrying a strange, heavy warmth. "One second, he acts like an arrogant brute who completely cuts the legs of his own bench teammates. The next second, he is spinning these ingenious, impossible plans just to protect the lives of the women around him. He keeps telling us he isn’t a good person... and maybe he’s right. He isn’t good."
She turned her eyes toward the desk, looking at the manager who was still holding her face in her hands.
"He’s just... incredibly greedy," Dahlia whispered softly, a small, gentle smile appearing on her face. "And you, Ma’am... you are simply one of those people he is far too greedy to ever abandon."
