Chapter 52: He Is My Man
Seeing that they were about to discuss business, Leah started to get up to wait outside for a bit, but Asher pulled her back down. "Stay put. Don’t go wandering off."
Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling didn’t react much. They had both figured it out: Asher was happy to dote on Leah now, to the point that he no longer excluded her from business discussions.
Since Asher had told her to stay, Leah sat down quietly. Knowing she had a sweet tooth, Asher had a waiter bring her a small slice of cake to enjoy.
"Hahaha, Second Master Keating must be furious, right? But what on earth was he thinking? What made him believe he’d get that land?" Ethan Shaw roared with laughter.
"He doesn’t know yet. The old man just called me back to tell me personally. When I acquired this land, I never for a moment thought it would fall into his hands," Asher said, his fingers drumming a steady rhythm on the tabletop. If the Southwood project was going to be handed to Second Master Keating, he never would have gone through all that trouble for the land in the first place.
"So, Asher," Riley Sterling asked, his tone turning serious after his laughter, "are you going to start cleaning out Aevon’s people now? Where do you plan to start?"
"The Director of Human Resources. Even if that old lech wasn’t one of his people, I was going to get rid of him anyway."
Asher had looked into it before. The HR Director had leveraged his control over personnel changes to prey on several female employees in the company.
Whether they did it for a promotion or simply to keep their jobs, these women had never told anyone. Asher would not allow a person like that in his company.
"What about the Project Department and the Design Department?" Ethan asked, lighting a cigarette for him.
Asher drummed his fingers on the table, then after a moment, he asked Leah, "What are your thoughts?"
Leah froze, unsure what he was asking. Asher flicked her on the forehead. "Do you think there are any moles in the five project departments?"
Leah thought for a moment before sharing what she knew. "I don’t know about the other departments, but I don’t think our department has any. My boss, Mr. Langdon, doesn’t seem to like that sort of thing. I heard from Zion that he left his previous company because he got tangled up in their backstabbing and infighting. So, it’s unlikely there would be a mole among the people he manages. Besides, you know how hard it is to get into our department."
After she finished, the corners of Asher’s mouth curved into a smile. "Your boss is one of my men."
Leah was shocked. Ethan and Riley started to laugh. "What, you think that when we ran into you last night, your boss would’ve just let you all go have fun with us under those circumstances?"
’Thinking back on it, it was true. Normally, if employees happened to run into their boss while out eating, a simple greeting would have been enough.’
’Employees rarely go out for something like karaoke with their boss, and as a department manager, he would normally rein in his own staff a little.’
’But last night, Mr. Langdon had really just told them not to get too rowdy and then left.’
"So... does my boss know about you and me...?" Leah managed to ask. ’If Mr. Langdon knew about her relationship with Asher, she really had no idea how she would be able to face him.’
"He doesn’t know. I’m more at ease with you in his department," Asher said, knowing what she was worried about. He pinched her cheek reassuringly.
"Okay, so... do you need a mole? I can gossip with Zion and Todd Coleman to dig up dirt on the other departments," Leah said, relieved and suddenly excited.
"Hahaha, you, a mole? Forget it. You don’t have the smarts for it," Ethan said, amused by her eagerness.
"Excuse me? I graduated from a top-tier university, for your information," Leah retorted, rolling her eyes at him. She was particularly annoyed with Ethan today. ’After dinner, I’m going to rope him into going drinking,’ she schemed. ’I’ll drink him under the table.’
"Right, right. You got this! Work hard and try to become a project manager someday," Ethan said dismissively, not taking her seriously in the slightest.
"Just focus on doing your job well. I don’t need my woman getting involved in this stuff. There’s going to be a lot going on at the company soon, understand?" Asher told her, tapping her nose lightly. ’Seriously? What kind of man drags a woman into a war between men?’ he thought.
"Alright."
Leah wasn’t too disappointed. She knew that the matters Asher and the others were dealing with weren’t something a workplace newbie like her could participate in. It was better to do her own work quietly and not cause him any trouble.
After dinner, Leah began trying to rope Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling into going drinking. Ethan said they wouldn’t go to their usual lounge tonight; instead, he was taking her clubbing.
As soon as Leah heard that, she forgot all about her plan to drink him under the table. She’d never been clubbing before. Seeing the excited look on her face, Asher didn’t object and let her drag him along.
Even before they entered, Leah could hear the muffled thumping of the music from outside. The moment the four of them appeared at the entrance, they were incredibly conspicuous, and heads kept turning in their direction.
Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling were regulars, while Asher Keating only came on rare occasions. Dressed casually today, he looked sharp and stood tall, exuding the lazy, confident air of a wealthy young scion.
Leah, in a simple hoodie and short skirt, looked very much like a curious younger sister being brought out to see the world by her three older brothers.
The moment they pulled back the heavy curtain and stepped inside, Leah was hit by the deafening music. She looked around excitedly, finding everything novel and thrilling.
The dance floor was a sea of men and women radiating raw energy. Asher wrapped an arm around her and led her toward a booth. They had barely sat down before Ethan was already trying to pull her onto the dance floor.
Leah glanced at Asher. He remained seated, giving her a nod to go have fun. She then excitedly followed Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling. Asher leaned back lazily, smoking a cigarette and occasionally taking a sip of his drink, his eyes fixed on Leah on the dance floor with a faint smile.
But he was too conspicuous. Soon, two young women in camisoles that revealed their long legs and slender waists approached Asher. "Hey, handsome. All by yourself?"
Asher took a sip of his drink and said coolly, "I have company."
The girl followed his gaze to the dance floor and chuckled. "Bringing your little sister out for a night on the town?"
Asher didn’t reply, but his cool, aloof demeanor only made the two women more intrigued. Running into such a high-quality man here, a one-night stand seemed like a very appealing prospect.
Besides, the man was obviously rich. They had been watching him from nearby for a while; his clothes were from Louis Vuitton’s latest collection, and the watch on his wrist had to be worth at least three million.
One of the women grew bold and placed her hand on his thigh. "Aren’t you going to buy me a drink, handsome?"
Asher put up a hand to block her, saying expressionlessly, "Go bother someone else."
"Oh, come on, handsome. No need to be so uptight in a place like this. Why don’t we go dance?" the other woman said. Making herself at home, she picked up a glass from the table and took a sip. It happened to be the one Leah had been drinking from earlier. Asher’s brow furrowed as he watched.
Meanwhile, on the dance floor, Ethan Shaw and Riley Sterling were already in the middle of a heated dance with a couple of beauties. Leah was watching excitedly from the sidelines when a man sidled up to her. "All alone, little miss?"