Her Con Artist

CHAP-17

Scrolling the i********:, i passed my time waiting for Eric. Today we were going to have a meeting or discussion about their last target in which i had a role to play too. I didn't knew about their new location, so Eric had messaged me a while ago to get ready he will be here to pick me up.

After changing into cozy clothes, i had enough time on my hands so i decided to reply to my investor's emails. Even after doing that there was no sign of Eric.

What's taking him so long?

Opening the contact icon, i dialed his number but before it could connect. I heard the house bell ring.

Ding dong.

Quickly cutting the call, i switched off the lights on my way to the door. Opening the door without looking at the peephole, it was him standing outside scratching his head with a guilty expression.

Shaking my head at him, i walked out and locked the door behind me.

"What took you so long?" I asked him curiously.

"Um i had to buy something on the way it took time there. Sorry for keep you waiting."

"No no. It's fine. I was just worried that's all." I said, giving him a smile and linked my arm in his.

He returned the smile and we made our way back down the elevator. My phone buzzed with message, taking it out in curiosity. It was Dalton. Opening the messages, i read his messages.

Hey. Up for today?

I frowned at his message, confused.

What's today?

"What happened?" Eric asked me noticing the look on my face.

"It's Dalton. He messaged- oh" i suddenly remembered what's today.

A few days ago, a colleague of ours proposed another colleague and they are getting married soon. So today was their engagement party. I totally forgot about it.

Typing i replied back to him.

Guess what? I forgot :p so i will inform you in evening. Okays!

Explained to Eric about the situation while i typed.

"You should go. If you want i can take you." He said, putting an arm over my shoulder and pulled me towards him as a guy was rushing towards elevator and was about to bump into me without me noticing. Until he passed by me then i noticed the whole thing.

These small actions made my heart flutter for him and for me actions speaks louder than words.

Walking into the parking lot, he opened the door for me. I was a little surprised at his unexpected gentle-manliness. But it sure did make me swoon at him. Thanking him, i sat down and again i was met with another unexpected situation. After joining me in the car, he grabbed something from the back seat while i was looking around the car.

He nudged me to look at him. Turning my head towards him and found him holding a bouquet of red and white roses.

"For you." He said softly as he stretched it towards me.

"Thank you, Eric." I couldn't describe how i was feeling. No one has ever done this for me. He was making it impossible for me to not to fall for him.

He only smiled at me, eyes filled with adoration. He grabbed my hands in his and looked at me with sudden nervousness. I frowned at his expression but waited for him to talk.

"Since we never truly spoke about our feelings but i know we have mutual feelings. I like you Monica, alot. You have made this world bearable for me. I wish to have you beside me. Will you be my girlfriend?" He said, blue eyes large with excitement and nervousness.

I never expected him to be nervous because he always appeared confident in front of me. But of course, he was opening up to me now, letting me know about himself more day by day.

"I like you too Eric. And yes." I giggled in the end, making me shock at myself

Did i just giggle?

While Eric found this adorable and laughed at me. Pulling me forward, he placed his lips against mine, kissing me lightly. After the soft yet tingling kiss, he had another gift for me.

"Here. I remember you love fries." He said with a smug look.

Smiling while rolling my eyes, i grabbed the box from him.

"Thank you. I really appreciate your efforts." I applauded him.

Nodding his head, still wearing the smug look on his face. He began started driving while i enjoyed my fries and put a few in his mouth too.

Reaching the new place, it was kind of similar building to mine. We got out after parking the car and made our way inside with me holding the flowers. I didn't want them to falter in the car, they want fresh air to survive a bit longer.

"Do they know about this- us?" I asked him as we entered the elevator.

"Nope." He said, pushing the button on the elevator.

I can't wait to see Russell's facial expression.

Taking a few turns, we reached an apartment. After ringing the be, we waited outside. I sniffed the sweet scent of the roses and smiled at them.

"How did you know these were my favorite?" I asked him,

"I saw your phone's wallpaper. So i assumed you like them." He said, with a relieved sigh.

Chuckling at him, i nodded my head.

The door was opened was Owen, who held a half eaten sandwich in his hand and waved his hand at me. Greeting me. Waving back we both walked inside. They all were waiting for us in the living room, laptops, papers were lying everywhere.

"Hey." Ella and Lexi greeted me, Keith waved at me while fixing his glasses. Russell had his eyes fixated on the paper in his hand.

I took a seat beside Lexi and looked around the house, it looked cozy and nice.

"Come on. Let's discuss now." Eric said, standing up from the sofa and walked towards the center of the living room where we all were huddled around.

"We gathered information regarding the incident that happened eight years ago. I told you to write the statements about your family." Eric said, looking around at them.

"Yes we wrote it down. But there's a problem, i need to check some facts with someone except us who know about all this. Some one from the inside." Ella said, holding a pen against her chin while thinking.

"Edgar can help. He proposed that he will help us whenever we need him." i said, looking at them and then found Eric nodding his head.

"Okay, first let me inform you about the staff there whom we will encounter." Eric said, grabbing a paper from the table.

"Owen please bring the board."

Russell passed me a page and told me to go through it. Sitting cross legged on the sofa comfortably, i looked down at the page. It consisted of background history of Leon which also includes some personal stuff as well.

Leon Dexter

CEO of TSB construction.

Leaving the achievements, i read his personal information.

Two sons- Sam Leon and Smith Leon

One daughter- Bailey

"Okay, focus here guys." Eric announced, clapping his hands together.

Sighing, not interested in Leon's information as i knew almost everything. Putting the paper beside me, i looked up at the medium sized white board behind Eric.

Eric started writing something on the board.

Target: TSB const. Leon Dexter

CBDO (Chief Business Development Officer) - Sam Leon

CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)- Smith Leon

"Now we need to know about there schedules. Ella, Keith and Owen tomorrow you all take a look around the company building. Keith you have to see how many cameras are there outside and panels. You know the rest, to find the place where signals are the strongest." Eric said, pointing at them.

Keith nodded his head, pushing his glasses back on his nose.

"Owen and Ella act as a couple and look for secret doors or back doors where we could run and hide if anything went wrong." Eric said to them, putting the cap on the marker.

Owen and Ella looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"That's for today. We will discuss more tomorrow with the information you guys will bring." He said, coming towards where i sat.

Taking a seat beside resting his back against the sofa. I was sitting on the edge of the sofa looking down at my phone as everyone was busy talking among themselves. I felt a fingers playing with my hair, a smile formed on my face as i looked back at Eric. Who had a blank face on with eyes looking where his fingers were in my hair. Feeling my eyes on him, he looked up at me innocently and blinked. He was lost in his own world, he looked back where his hand was and quickly withdraw it in shyness. I find it funny and chuckled out loud, which attracted the audience.

"What's going on?" Lexi asked, looking behind us with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Nothing." I said, pushing my baby hair out of my face nonchalantly.

"You liar." Ella said, with a smirk on her face. She knew something was going on between us.

"They have a thing going on." Lexi said, throwing it out without any care.

Russell blinked his eyes in surprise and looked at us in confirmation.

"Yes we do. Now shut up guys." Eric said, putting his arm over my shoulder.

Lexi and Ella started hooting and laughing while Owen had a look of hurt on his face. Russell nodded his head but had a small smile on his face which was a plus point for me. He seemed genuinely happy for us.

"I thought we had something special between us." Owen said, with a fake pout but had a playful expression.

"You are my friend. That's special!" I gave him a toothy smile.

Others laughed at my response while Owen rolled his eyes. The rest of the day passed by in a blur with us playing random games in the house and decided to go outside for fresh air.

I and Eric walked behind all of them, our shoulders were touching each others as we walk. I felt shy and tried suppressing a smile that was threatening to form on my face. Ella, Keith and Owen were goofing around and i had my focus on them. They looked so happy, i hope they remain like that. Suddenly i felt fingers touch my fingers and then intertwine with mine causing eruption of butterflies and a blush on my face. Turning my head to look at Eric and found his blue eyes already on me. His lips morphed into a beautiful smile, his eyes held emotions of adoration and love. I had a sudden urge to hug him and i did. Turning around and wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest. He was taken back at my action but quickly hugged me back.

"What happened?" He asked, softly whispering into my ear.

His cheek caressing mine.

"Nothing. Can't i have a hug?" I said, jokingly and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

He chuckled and nodded his head. Putting his chin over my head. We heard howling and looked behind us to find the others hooting at us.

"Get a room!" Owen said, sticking his tongue out at us.

"Shut up!" I called back and pulled away from Eric.

After the dinner, Eric left me back at my place. Upon my constant pouting and asking him to stay at my place as it was every late. It was awkward at first when we both laid on the the bed but then i laughed at his innocent confused face. Pushing the shyness away, i rolled towards him and hugged him to sleep.

The next day, we woke up to my alarm and started to get ready for the day. Eric left early because today the others had to start the execution of plan. I followed my usual routine, make breakfast, brush teeth and then drove to the office. Do meetings, make a report and present it to the boss, eat in the break, work, work and work.

My phone chimed while i was having lunch with my colleagues. Cleaning my fingers with the tissue, i leaned back in the chair and opened my phone. It was a message from Eric.

Hey. When will you get free?

Typing in the message,

Hi. Around 6. Umm why?

Grabbing the juice, i took a sip. Nodding my head to what my colleague was saying though i didn't hear his full conversation.

Okay. I will pick you up at 7. See you soon :) Stay hydrated!

I felt a smile forming on my face at his cute message.

You too. :P

The long and tiring day finally came to an end. After getting fresh and changing into new clothes, i went down the elevator to wait outside.

I waved my hand when i saw Eric's car pull up where i stood. Nodding his head in aknowledgment. Opening the door, i sat inside, the car smelled of his usual cologne. Which i liked.

"Hey." I said, smiling at him.

"How was the day?" He asked, driving the car.

"Hectic and tiring. How about you?" I asked, looking at him giving him all my attention.

"I talked to Edgar earlier in the day and we discussed some stuff. He is gathering people who suffered from Leon's wrong doings and we will use their words against Leon. But he asked me to find solid evidence that will prove his wrong doings." He explained.

I nodded my head and thinking about all the situation.

"Eric." I said after some time. Breaking the comfortable silence in the car.

"Yes." His soft voice reached my ears making a smile appear on my face.

"How was your father murdered?" It was a sensitive topic to touch but I needed to know about his death to formulate the plan.

He sighed and nodded his head.

"Dad was thrown under the bus for the things he didn't do. He was going through tough time and depression when Leon came to visit us. Dad begged him of his innocence and asked him for help. They went inside his study room to discuss some stuff, I was with my mom in the kitchen when we heard a gun shot. We ran to see what happened and found Leon wiping his gun with a napkin while my dad lay dead on the floor. He shot my father. My mom thrratened him and you know what he said. Leon said our words can't compete with his. We were nothing just a bump in his road to success. We tried filing complaint against him in the police but as he said, our words were nothing more than a background noise to them. We tried and tried and finally we gave up. But I didn't." His knuckles were white by the time he finished the story. He was griping the Steering wheel so hard all this time.

We stopped at the signal and I turned my body towards him and grabbed his hand from the wheel. He resisted at first but than gave in. I intertwined our fingers and caressed his hand with my other hand.

"It must be very hard to go through all this and think about that all day long. I am here with you Eric, I will help you get this revenge. I promise you." I said, softly and laid a kiss on his cheek.

He sighed and gave me a small smile.

"Eric do you have any evidence other than your words about your father's murder?" I asked as this question suddenly rose in my mind.

Excited I looked at him with wide eyes. This might hit the jackpot!.

"Sadly no." He said, making me sigh.

We drove in silence but lost in our own thoughts. We reached at the apartment in no time, I waited for Eric as he was parking the car. It was extra chilly today and I wasn't wearing any jacket to keep me warm in this harsh atmosphere.

"Come." He said as he appeared from behind me. Nodding my head, I walked beside him into the building.

He grabbed my hand as we were walking and suddenly stopped making me stumble into him lightly. Frowning I looked up at him in confusion to find him taking his coat off.

"What are you-" He cut me off by placing the coat on my shoulders.

"You are freezing. Now let's go." He said, pushing my fallen hair back behind my ear and pulling the coat in front so that it fully covers my front.

His small gestures like these made my heart flutter. He sure was a gentleman. But what was his problem before he was my man?

Shaking my head at the weirdo with a smile on my lips, I followed him and linked my arm with his. He shook his head at me but didn't stop the smile spreading onto his face. He loved when I get clingy with him but he never express verbally. It was fine with me, I could read him and understand him.

"Thank you." Standing on my tiptoes, i whispered in his ear. There were people in the elevator which made me shy to be romantic in public.

He only tightened his gold around my shoulder in response.

Russell opened the door for us, greeting him we walked inside to see laptops and papers here and there. It took me a moment to find any empty space to sit and soon Eric followed suit. I was noticing some things and one of them was Eric followed me where ever I go.

I will surely ask him and tease him about it. Would be fun!

"So we found a hide out near the building and a few emergency exists. We already have marked them on the map of the building." Owen told us, while pointing to a large sheet in his hand which had a building structure printed and red circles made on it.

Eric nodded his head and looked at Keith.

"I checked the system and it's not that hard to break into it. Half an hour is all I need to hack their system." He said, informing us about his side of information.

"Good." Eric said, standing up and moving to the center of the room where we sat on the sofa.

"Now we need to do a very important task. Edgar is finding people who suffered from all this. He needs us to find evidences against those crimes. Write names of the people your mom, dad or brother were close with in the company. We could gain some information from them." Eric said, pacing back and forth slowly.

"Guys. Wait a second." I stood up in shock.

How could we be so stupid!?

"What happened?" They asked me but I was too busy in my own thoughts. My brain was running at a speed of cheetah.

"Guys how could we forget about Leon's right hand! The man who clears the mess behind him, the man who has his back! We need to find that man first before we attack Leon." I said, and found their eyes widen in shock and realisation.

"Oh my yes." Owen and Ella yelled in surprise.

"It totally slipped my mind." Eric whispered, nodding his head.

"Keep using your brain like that. Good work." Russell said with a teasing tone but he was glad to know about it.

I rolled my eyes at him and nodded my head.

"Let's go to Edgar he must about Leon's man who got his back." I said to Eric who nodded his head.

As Eric was discussing and finalizing some stuff, I talked to Edgar on the phone informing him about our arrival. To my surprise he said he was about to call me as he has an important information to share with us. After taking a seat in the car, I looked at the watch to read the time and got surprised, it was just 8 right now. I thought we spend three hours in there. Time was moving rather slowly than usual or it was just my illusion. Whatever the situation was, I was really tired today and wanted to eat and sleep.

"Tired?"

I blinked and turned my head to my right to see Eric looking at me with a frown on his face making him look so cute. Unable to resist myself, I leaned forward and pecked his lips. Moving back in shyness, I looked at him to find him frozen in surprise. But he chuckled at my shyness and only intwrtiwned our fingers.

"A little. How did you know?" I asked him, surprised at his good judgement.

"I am good observer." He simply said as he drove the car.

Good. I like men who are observant.

After thirty minutes we were at my office building. Edgar finds his office suitable for this type of meetings. Using my card, we entered the building and stepped inside the elevator.

We looked around the office and it was completely empty and I found it haunting.

"It's scary. With only a few lights on and with no one here, it looks like a scary scene from the horror movie." I said, walking past the booths.

"Stop exaggerating." Eric said with a chuckle.

Sticking my tongue at him, i turned left towards Edgar's office.

"Very mature." He commented, with a teasing tone.

"More than you." I said, with a shrug of my shoulders to which he rolled his eyes.

With a knock, I opened the door without waiting dor his reply because I knew he was waiting for us.

"Hey uncle." I greeted him and took a seat beside him.

"Good you came here quickly." Edgar said, looking at us.

He stood up from the couch and walked towards his table, picking a file which laid on it.

"Here. Look at this man and tell me if you know him." He said, passing the file as he reached my side.

Grabbing from his hand, I looked down at the picture inside the file. The man had large face with sharp features which were hard to miss. The thick eyebrows which had white as well as black hair. His eyes were round with cold black orbs. His face was blank like a statue. Small lips pursed into a thin line. A mob mix of small white and black hair decorated his head. His aura was strong, you could tell by looking at his picture. He looked like a man with a lot of power in his hands.

But unfortunately I don't know him.

"No. I don't know him but I feel like this man holds some power." I told them my thoughts as I passed the file to Eric.

"You are sharp. You are exactly right. He is a man of high rank." Edgar said, resting his elbows at his thighs.

"I don't exactly remember him but i feel like I know him from somewhere." Eric said, lasting his eyes down at the picture in his head once again.

"Okay now listen Kids. Recently I heard some stuff was going on in the TSB CONSTRUCTION. Today the news spread everywhere of what caused havoc in there."

I was exciting by every second as I listened to him.

"This man you just saw is Leon's right hand- Talon Hudson. The man who has his back and clears his mess but as expected Leon kicked him out of the company. The reason of his dismissal is not known yet but theres one thing for sure. Leon won't take him back into his wing again. From my hunch, Talon rejected to do dirty work for him which made Leon angry and betrayed so he decided to cut him off. Much better than killing him. I guess. We need to take action fast and approach him before Leon changes his mind." Edgar was pacing the room by the time he finished.

I literally got goosebumps after hearing all this in excitement.

"Uncle you are genius. We came here to ask you to find his right hand man." I chuckled at the end to which he joined.

"I am smarter than you remember. " He said teasing me. Making me roll my eyes at him.

But there as no denying in that, he was indeed smarter than me.

"I already have my men on finding Talons location. I will share as soon as I revive it. Until then you guys prepare yourself on how to persuade him to take our side. Okay?" He said, looking at us with expectation evident in his eyes.

"Sure. Don't worry. I will inform the others and get into it right away." Eric said, rubbing his hands together like he was ready to jump into action this very second.

I liked his eagerness.

"Take the file with you. It contains some information regarding Talon." Edgar said, pointing to the file which Eric was holding.

We nodded our heads and looked at each other with the same thought - we caught a big fish. Leon won't be able to save himself now.

We bid our byes and left the building. My stomach growled as I was putting on seat belt which made me freeze in mid step.

"What was that?" Eric said, tease evident in his thick voice.

"Nothing." I said, trying not to be embarrassed about it. But Eric was Eric he won't let it go without making fun of me.

" Let's feed the hungry lion." He joked, with a chuckle as I rolled my eyes at him but soon joined him in laughter.

"It's not like you are not hungry." I said nonchalantly.

"I am hungry for something else." He said with a serious tone. Making me head turn towards him in shock.

Did he meant what I think it was? Trying to seduce me?

He smirked as he found my surprised look.

It surely was seductive talk.

Unable to reply back to him in sudden shyness, I looked away and found the dark sky interesting than him. My heart was beating fast at his words. Neither I have I ever seduced anyone nor someone seduced me. So it was a whole new experience for me and I wasn't complaining. Sure I know the idea of seduction which I picked from the romanitc movies only.

"What would you like to eat?" He changed the topic, sensing i wasn't comfortable at that level with him yet.

I really appreciated his thought and smiled at him.

"I can eat anything. I am so hungry!." I said, sighing in tiredness.

He nodded his head and took a right turn on the road. Lines and lines of cafes and restaurants were located on either side of the road. Entering one of the restaurants we took our seats and ordered our food. While we waited for our food, I was thinking of asking Eric questions which were on my mind for a while now.

"Eric, what do you have in mind for yourself after all this chaos is finished "I asked him, judging his expression as I was finished talking.

He seemed to be taken back at first but leaned back against the chair and had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Frankly, I haven't given it much thought. I couldn't compete my degree, so I won't be able to get a decent job. That's for sure." He said with a humorous chuckle at the end.

I frowned at his negative thought.

"Why are you underestimating yourself? Have faith in yourself. You have Edgar and me to help you. Don't worry." I said, grabbing his hand in mine.

He only pursed his lips into a thin line.

I hope he is not thinking that he can't do anything himself.

Dropping the subject, I talked about random stuff which loosened him into his usual self.

I will talk to Uncle about him.

After eating dinner, we got in the car. I gathered my hair and put them into a loose pony tail. Eric suddenly cleared his throat, making me look at him.

"Why don't you stay at my place today? It's getting late and you seem very tired." He said, his body was stiff with nervousness.

I found it cute and felt my smile coming up. Feeling my eyes on him, he threw a glance my away before keeping them on the road as he drove the car.

"What?" He fidget in his place. I was making him nervous which greatly boosted my self-confidence.

"Sure." I said, leaning forward and kissed him on his ear, messing with him. I saw a male actor doing this to his female actress in one of the movie and it made my heart flutter so I was sure it would work on Eric if I do this.

His neck and ear started getting red making me chuckle at him.

He mummer something under his breath only adding to his cuteness.

As we neared his home I was feeling little nervous, now it was my time to be nervous. Parking the car outside on the road, we exited the car. Biting my lip in nervousness, I quietly followed him inside his house. It was double story house with a small loan outside. It was cozy cute house.

"Your house is really pretty." I commented as around the house.

"All of the decor you see, was pick by my mom. The stuff used to be in our previous house when dad was alive. After his death, we shifted the stuff here as the house was snatched from us. Later as you know, we left this town." He said, looking back at me.