The Mark

11. Mistaken Identity

...Damian POV...

Last night was an absolute blast. Tiffany or Tonia was an absolute bomb. Much better personality when she was silent, however. She definitely had the gift of the gab. Once she started, there was no stopping her. The only way I could silence her was by kissing her. I just hated that every time I kissed her, I would think of that woman from earlier. Haley? I think her friend had said. That kiss we shared was beyond amazing. It was easy to find myself lost in her presence. The way she held herself was beyond anything that I'd ever seen before. She was absolutely captivating. She had this seductive confidence about her. I found myself hypnotized in her presence, often wondering about what it would be like to date her. 

Each time I found myself going down that rabbit hole, I would quickly shake it off. I'm a bachelor and have no intentions of changing that anytime soon. Though that reminds me of my conversation with Zane and Liam. I had reluctantly agreed to their messed-up plan, solely to get them off my case. I'm sure I can figure something out. I would still maintain my bachelor's lifestyle, I would just need to be more careful with how I went about it.

After ditching Teresa or whatever her name was, I came straight back to my condo. I had planned on sleeping in today, as I didn't need to go into the office. I don't normally sleep in, so felt like it would be a well-deserved treat. However, my brother seemed to have other things in mind, as I was woken up by the harsh sound of my phone ringing.

"Zane? What's going on? Why are you calling?" I ask, trying to sound awake.

"Were you sleeping?" He asks.

"Yes. Now tell me what's up so I can go back to it."

"Unfortunately, that won't be happening."

"What why not?"

"That's why I phoned. The lead architect will be arriving shortly at the office. However, I won't be able to get there for another hour. I'm tied up in the meeting with the Parkinsons. It ran far longer than I'd anticipated."

"Can't you just leave, and I can cover for you with the Parkinsons?"

"No. The meeting is done, but as you know, we were meeting in Jersey. So I won't be able to get there on time."

I rolled my eyes, knowing my brother couldn't see me.

"I can tell you're rolling your eyes at me."

"Well, if you can tell that, then I'm sure you can probably guess my answer to your request then as well." I snarkily replied.

"Damian. You're going to that meeting. If you don't go, we could lose the architect. Do you know how long it took to find the one that would be perfect for this project? So go there now, or so help me, I'll eliminate you from the running as CEO myself."

"No need to get your panties in a knot. I was going to say fine anyways."

"Mhmm... sure you were.." My brother replied. He knows me better than I thought it turns out.

"What time do I need to be there?" I asked, changing topics.

"9am."

"What?! That's in less than half an hour, and it takes ten minutes to get there!"

"Well, I guess you better get going."

I huffed out a response in annoyance. Leave it to my brother to leave this to the last minute.

"Oh, and one more thing. Show Cunningham around the office. I want our technology included in the design. In order to do so, Cunningham suggested that we provide a tour of our facilities."

"Fine, whatever. I got to go." I said, quickly disconnecting the call. I could hear the echos of my brother's laughter ring out as I ended the call.

"Jerk." I huffed out in annoyance.

I quickly got out of bed and ran to the closet. I grabbed the first suit I found and quickly changed. I lightly brushed my hair, added a quick touch of cologne and deodorant, and washed my face. At least it would appear as though I was awake, even though I didn't feel like it.

I didn't have time to arrange for a driver, so instead, I took one of my cars to work instead. Traffic was abysmal, but I managed to make it there just in time. The odd thing, was when I got there Valentina wasn't at her seat. She'd never missed a day of work before. Perhaps she had to make a trip to one of the clients to drop off paperwork instead. It wasn't a task she was normally assigned, but we did sometimes use her on occasions. I decided to ignore it for now, and instead made my way to the elevator. 

Greg, one of the members of our security team nodded to me as I boarded the elevator. I slightly nodded my head back in response, smiling as I did so. Greg was always a great and trustworthy employee. 

I still had a few minutes to spare, so decided to go straight to my office. I had called Zach before I got here and asked him to pick up a coffee for me, since I was pressed for time. I don't normally have him do that, so he didn't mind when I asked him on occasion. 

When I made it to the floor, I saw Zach on the phone. I didn't want to disturb him, so I grabbed my coffee happily from Zach and took a sip as I was about to enter my office. Zach seemed a bit flustered, but I decided not to dwell on it. The door flew open, and there standing in all her glory was the woman that's been haunting my dreams for a week now. I nearly spit out my coffee I was so surprised.

"You? What are you doing here?" I asked.

To my surprise, the woman never said anything. Instead, she just crossed her arms and looked at me with a sour look on her face. Almost as if hating the mere ground I stood on. Boy was she annoyed with me. Though, I can't blame her, as I did make it a point to show her she meant nothing to me. We had shared a brief moment together, and had found myself quickly falling for her. But I couldn't do that. I was a bachelor. Bachelor's don't have girlfriends. So I had to do anything to make sure those feelings were extinguished. I knew it would be harder for me, so decided to hurt her instead. I figured if she saw me for who I really was, then she wouldn't want to be near me. As I looked at her, I can tell my plan had indeed worked. Though why did that hurt?

"Look love, I know we had a moment, and I'm sure you're head over heels with me. But you can't be here. I don't know how you got past security, but you need to leave." I said, putting my briefcase and coffee on the desk. 

To my surprise, she didn't respond once again. Instead, she simply raised a brow at me.

"Look, I'm not supposed to do this. but since you came all this way, we can have a quickie before I have Greg escort you out." I said, taking off my jacket and undoing my tie.

Just in that moment Zach ran into the office.

"Sir."

"What Zach. Can't you see I'm busy?" I asked, looking towards him, hoping he'd figure out what I was planning on doing.

"But sir, the meeting." He began. 

"Don't worry. Cunningham isn't here yet. Just page me when he arrives."

I heard the woman laugh, so I looked at her to figure out what was so funny. I couldn't stop smiling as I listened to her adorable laugh.

Seeing that Zach wasn't going to leave. I walked over to the doorway where Zach stood, hoping to usher him back to his desk.

"But sir. That's what I'm trying to tell you Cunningham is here."

"What? Why didn't anyone tell me? Where is he?" I asked, walking back to my desk to grab my jacket.

"Sorry, love. Looks like there's been a change in plans. We may not be able to have any fun now, but once I'm done with this meeting, as long as you're a good girl, we can begin where we left off." I said, putting my jacket back on and straightening my tie.

I turned around to leave, to see Zach face palming.

"What's with you?" I ask.

"Cunningham is in your office." He said, as if I was missing something.

"No.. only..." I begin, only to eat my words.

I spin around to look at the woman.

"You?" I say, my eyes going wide.

"Well... this has been fun boys. But I'm beginning to regret this trip. Tell Zane that something's come up, and if he would like to continue this deal, he needs to see me in person."

My eyes went wide in response. She wasn't actually planning on leaving, was she?

Before I could even gather my thoughts, she reached down, and grabbed her folder and a jacket from the seat. She grabbed the coffee sitting on the desk, and handed it to Zach.

"Be a dear and give this to Vanessa. It seems I won't need it anymore."

I looked at her confused. But before I could respond, she walked out of the office and went straight towards the elevator.

"What just happened?" I asked, hoping Zach could explain it to me.

"I don't know what you did, but that there is the top architect that Zane hired to design the buildings in Europe. The very one that will probably catch a plane to England very soon, unless you somehow manage to stop her." Just like that, it was as if everything started to make sense.

I rushed to the elevator to stop her, however, I was a second too late. She had already boarded and was waiting for the doors to close so that the elevator would begin its descent back to the main floor.

"NO! Wait!" I shouted, running towards the elevator.

I managed to get on just in time. The elevator doors closed and began to head to the first floor. Panicking, and not quite sure what I was supposed to do, or how I could stop her, I did the only thing I could think of. I pressed the emergency stop. The elevator came to a sudden halt and shook slightly from the sudden change in course.

"What are you doing?" She asked, shooting daggers at me with her eyes.

"You can't leave. Not like this."

"And why not? Ever since I've come here, it's proven to be nothing more than a mistake. You've led me on numerous times, and have always made me realize that I am nothing but another mark to you. Not only that but this has been the worst first day in my life. From that b*tch you like to call a receptionist to the unprofessional behaviour from both you and your brother. I don't need this. I have way too much self-worth to work for a company this volatile."

I felt bad when she yelled at me. I couldn't deny my part in all of this. Even though it was Zane that was late to the meeting, I knew out of everyone that she mentioned, she was more upset with me. I couldn't say it didn't hurt when she called our company volatile, but I tried to ignore it for now.

I didn't know what to say, so I responded the only way I knew how. I closed the distance between us and kissed her. I could feel her hesitate at first, only for her to answer my kiss right after. At that moment it felt as if everything else didn't matter. I even briefly forgot about my hit it and quit it lifestyle, as I started to picture what it would be like to kiss her every day.

I could feel our kiss deepening. I reached my hand behind her head and pulled her closer to me. I wanted, no, needed the distance between us to be removed. I don't know what she's doing to me. In such a short amount of time, she's managed to wrap me around her little finger. I was just about to wrap my arm around her waist when I felt her bite my lip. I stepped away from her shocked and reached up to nurse my lip. It still stung, but there didn't seem to be any blood. Before I could say or do anything, she slapped me across the face.