Chapter 20
Zara quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Mr. Kingsley, you’re here for dinner too, right? You should try the mushroom soup here. It’s pretty good.
“And about that thing you mentioned to me before, I’m still thinking it over. I’ll get back to you once I’ve decided.”
Edward, not wanting to make things awkward for her, shot James a look. He then said, “Sure, I’ll give the soup a shot. I’ll be waiting for your answer.”
With that, he walked off to another table with his female companion.
Zara turned to James, who blurted out, “No, Zara. Don’t think about him; think about me. I mean what I said.”
Zara raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“I really want to hire you as my secretary! I’m clueless about running my need you more than anyone else,” James confessed with sincerity.
dad’s company. I
“Don’t worry,
I’m the kind of boss who doesn’t micromanage. I won’t breathe down your back. With me, you’ll have all the say!”
Zara had been a little annoyed with him earlier, but his straightforwardness now seemed funny to her. She promised to give his offer some serious thought.
on track for a
James was over the moon when she said she would consider it. He could not resist snapping a selfie with Zara and sharing it online with a boastful caption: [Looks like I’m jackpot in both love and business!]
Zara had no idea how to feel about the rather suggestive post he had made.
Ophite, casually scrolling on his phone, came across the post. He arched an eyebrow and showed it to Yosef, who was sitting across from him.
Yosef saw the post, but his face gave nothing away.
After they finished their meal, James was all pumped up about driving Zara home even though she had already rejected him. He dashed to the parking lot, all set to get his car.
Left with no other option, Zara hung around outside the restaurant, waiting for him.
She waited and waited, and after more than ten minutes, there was still no sign of James. She was just about to call him when she spotted a police car zooming toward the parking lot. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurried over to see what was up.
What she found was James and Edward, who looked like they had boxed a few rounds, being escorted into separate police cars.
1/3
Zara was speechless.
James caught sight of her and hollered, “Ms. Lowry! Call Yosef! Tell him to help me escape!” The officer snapped, “Escape? Cool it, buddy!”
Out fell
Edward chimed in, “Ms. Lowry, you have to bail me out. My old man can’t get wind of this!”
Zara groaned inwardly.
My
Part of her wanted to just walk away and leave them to their mess, but she could not just
ignore the situation. She did not want to get marked as the woman who caused trouble wherever she went.
Chances were, these two had fought because of her, considering the tension between them at
dinner.
If their folks got wind of their sons getting into a brawl over a woman and landing in jail, they would probably come after her without batting an eye. They might even kick her out of Starville to nip any conflict in the bud.
Having been around Yosef and his world of wealth and power for three years, she knew all too well that money made the world go round.
She had to stop this before it blew up into something bigger.
Finally, she picked up her phone and called Ophite.
Zara had the numbers of all Yosef’s pals since she was once the go–to for his day–to–day stuff. She reached out to Ophite because, in her eyes, he was the only stand–up guy in the bunch.
After all, he was still with his high school sweetheart and they had never once called it quits.
What she had not seen coming was Yosef tagging along with Ophite to the police station.
Spotting the two guys stepping out of their car at the station’s front door caught her off guard. She had been ready to stride up to Ophite, but she paused as she was thrown by Yosef’s
presence.
Where they had come from was anyone’s guess. They were both dressed in casual clothes. Yosef was as usual–cool, detached, tough to read.
Zara was not about to try to figure him out. She just nodded to one of them. “Mr. Moore.‘
Ophite closed the gap between them in a few quick steps. “Ms. Lowry, with that leg of yours, there’s no need to push yourself. I’ve got this.”
The station had a huge staircase in front, and it looked like a pain for Zara to climb it.
Grateful, Zara gave a nod. She bit her lip before adding, “The guy who fought with Mr. Sate is
She dug into her bag, pulled out her bank card, and said, “For the bail. The PIN’s all eights.”
Ophite gave a quirk of his brow and nudged her card back to her. “Leave it to me.”
With that, he went up the stairs.
Yosef clearly was not planning to go inside. Out of the blue, he said, “You summoned Ophite for James, and now you’re bailing out Edward too. Playing both sides so you don’t tick anyone off, huh? No wonder you managed to make two guys fight o
ver you.”
