The Billionaire's Secret Baby

Missing Pieces Of A Puzzle

Xavier's POV

I will say that I was impressed with the way Miss Mane handled herself last week. I thought that it was going to be easy, that she would gladly accept the job but she gave me a run for my money, if it was anyone else, I would have found another way to get to work for me. I don't take kindly to people turning me down. I always make them regret it, the problem is that there is always c*****e when that happens.

I am glad that things didn't get that far with her. The last man who refused to work for me is now at the bottom of ocean inside a cemented barrel, no one is going to find him and his replacement is doing a great job for me. I am not sure if I would have gone that far with her, I mean her face is too pretty to be swimming with the fishes.

That very same that has been haunting my dreams for the last week, the same face that has been on my mind ever since she left. We had dinner and for the first time in a long time, I had a real conversation with the opposite s*x, she is intelligent, she is bright and whitty, I like it. Grant would have a heart attack that I liked something in a woman that has nothing to do with her looks.

I was surprised by this as well, men are very visual and I know myself, I always see what I see, the problem is that it just doesn't end with just the eyes, I always want more, that doesn't mean that I want to go on an have a full on relationship with them, no I just need to bed them and get them out of my system.

I don't want to do that with Hope, this is simply because I need her, getting her to take over the publishing house is more important than getting her into my bed. I have been doing this long enough to know that mixing business with pleasuere is a bad idea, I need her to trust me, so much that she won't even ask questions. I have to build a strong working relationship with her.

She will be arriving this evening and tomorrow we have our first meeting. For now, I have people I have to talk to. The meeting with the Cartel at one of my warehouses, this is why I have Grant with me, he is back from Columbia and he doesn't have good news, I hope that Hope's appointment will soothe things a little bit.

Right now I have a lot to deal with. While the legal side of the business is going exceptionally well, the other side of the business is a mess. Since my trucks got hijacked, people are nervous and they are worried, the fact one of our routes is closed is not making things any easier for me.

As the head of the family and the operation, this failure will be considered mine, I have to reassure everyone that they can still keep their faith in me, that I can do what needs to be done. The supply of the product has been running low for weeks, this is a problem since we have such a high demand.

" Are you okay? You look a little nervous," Grant said as he sipped his whiskey.

" I am fine, don't worry about me," I said as the car stopped outside an old warehouse. I use it for private meetings with the heads of the families. There was four other cars parked there, that mean that everyone was there, I found this surprising.

I didn't think that Jonathan would be here, I heard that he was sick and that he couldn't be out in public. Seeing his car here gave a bit of hope, of all the people here today, I know for sure that he is my one true ally. The men here are old enough to be my father's and most of them don't like the fact that I am their boss. I have been running this operation for three years and still they doubt me.

" Isn't that Frank's car?" Grant asked me as he made his way out.

"It looks the old man is back from the dead," I said to him.

"That is impossible, he flew out to Cuba last night to see some medical specialist," He said to me.

"I know what you told me, his car is here, how do you explain that?" I said as we walked inside the old warehouse.

My fave changed as soon as I saw who was sitting at Frank's place. It was his son and the one person who hates me the most in this room, Justin, Frank's first born son. You see Justin doesn't think that I am fit for this position, well mostly because I come from a well off family. He thinks that my family name and money has given me privileges and an unfair advantage.

Well it looks like that from the outside but it is not like that. The city was not handed to me, the position I have was not given to me, I had to fight tooth and nail to get it. I earned my place as the leader and it kills him that he can't do anything about it. I composed myself and walked to the table.

"Gentlemen..." I said and sat down.

"What is this about Xavier, we have places to be," Justin said with an attitude.

"Justin we don't do that here boy!" Sven said with a Southern Accent.

" Thanks Sven, I am not going to waste your time so I am going to get straight to the point, the Columbians didn't give us enough product, one of the farms burnt down," I said.

"What? So you are trying to tell us that we won't be getting any product?" Wesley asked me.

"Sound exactly like what he is saying, I told my father that he can't cut it, a few years in and he is already trying to bankrupt us all," Justin said.

Like I said, Justin and I don't like each other that much, infact, I couldn't care more about what he likes and doesn't like but he on the other hand can't even hold himself.

" I hate to say this but I agree with the boy, It's the second time in a row now, our trucks are getting high jacked, our biggest route is closed, we lost a huge shipment at sea and now this?" Wesley said. Wesley is one of those guys who doesn't like me very much, I am not surprised by what he said.

"I understand that we are all nervous at the moment and I want to assure you all that I will fix this," I said.

"Is that supposed to make this better? How are you going to fix this exactly?" Justin said. Everyone turned and looked at me. I was not nervous because everything that is happening right now is expected. I knew that they were going to act like this, which is why I came here prepared.

" That is why I have Grant here with me today, I have a stash house and lucky for us, I can be able to supply everyone for at least a month, it will give me enough time to sort out the mess in Columbia." I said.

" And what about the routes? I need it open, how am I supposed to move my merchandise?" Sven asked.

" I have taken care of that, since our route is busted, I have found us a new route, I know that you are going love it," I said. I saw the looks on their faces, they won't say it but they were impressed.

I knew how much of risk I was putting myself in when I got into this business, I also know that the fastest way to get a bullet through your head is by not being able to keep your word. I knew that a day like this would come and so I put in a contingency plan in place. I have been putting away some merchandise for a rainy day.

I stashed it away and kept the news to myself. I didn't want to have any problems should a time comes and I had problems with my supplier. Grant was also surprised to hear that I have a plan in place. This was my secret and as a great magician once said, "A magician never shows all of his tricks".

"On to another business, what about the girls? We are losing out on a lot of money because of your leader's misguided moral compass!" Justin said.

"I said it before and I will say it again, I don't care how much money it's in this, we are not doing that, we are not savages!" I said firmly.

I might be a drug dealer, infact a Mafia boss but human trafficking is one crime I refuse to commit. Justin is right that it is worth a lot of money but abducting young women is just wrong. I don't care if he thinks that I have a misguided moral compass, all that I know is that I will never allow anything like that to happen, not while I am still alive.

" I agree with Xavier, I ain't stealing nobody's kids!" Sven said.

"They are right, we are not doing that," Webster said.

"Well I believe that this concludes our business for today, Gentlemen, I will see you at the Mayor's party, I am sure that your donations will be highly appreciated," I said and stood up.

" Not so fast Xavier, you still haven't told us about the Chinese, or are you planning to cut us out on this new venture?" Justin said with a smile, an evil smile.

I was surprised because this man caught me off guard. Only a few people knew about my talks with the Chinese. We are working on a new drug, one we would be able to sell to pharmaceuticals and make billions. This drug is still being tested and if all goes well, we are going to be making a lot of money. I wanted to finalize things first before telling them anything.

I don't mind that Justin told them, I just wonder how he was able to get this information. There can only be one explanation to this, he has been talking to someone, this means that I have a rat in my house, I will have to find it and kill it before it becomes a problem. I didn't want the men to see that I was shocked that he knew about this, I composed myself.

" What Chinese? What is he talking about?" Webster asked me.

" There is nothing to tell, my business with the Chinese has not been concluded and if and when that happens, I will be more than happy tell you about it, for now all that I can say is that we are working on something new," I said firmly.

I saw Justin's face, I know that the guy doesn't like me and right now I don't care, all that I want to do is do this the right way. I got up and so did Grant, we walked out to the car and got in. I was agitated.

"Why didn't you tell them about the money?" Grant asked me.

"I would have but Justin would have made this whole thing look like it was my fault, I am sure that I can be able to cover what's lost, the cartel doesn't need to know about it, what I want to know is how Justin got hold of the information about the Chinese, I think that someone told him," I said to him.

" Do you thinks it's someone close to you?" He asked me.

" I know for a fact that it is someone close to me, the question is who and why?" I said as we drove out of the warehouse.

"Who would want to cross you?" Grant said.

" Either someone who is very stupid or someone looking to go into an early grave." I said.

" Did you ever find out who Phill was working with?" He asked me.

"No, the bastard took his secret to the grave," I said.

" Do you think that he might have told Justin about the Chinese?" He asked me.

"No, he didn't know about them, besides you, the only people who knew about the Chinese was Henry and Hunter, I know with certainty that neither of you would disclose such sensitive information, especially to someone like Justin, " I said to him.

" So how did he get hold of the information?" He asked me.

"I don't know but we will find out soon, first it was Phill and now this? I am beginning to thunk that someone is behind this whole thing," I said just as my phone rang, it was Henry.

"Hello!" I said.

"It's me, the eagle has landed," Henry said.

"Finally some good news, we will talk later," I said and hung up.

"What did Henry say?" He asked me.

"Nothing for you to worry about, just someone I hired to run Writer Bean," I said to him.

" Oh that, why is it that I have never met this woman that has got you all worked up like this? The last time you were this invested in a woman was back when you were with..." Grant said but I stopped him because he could finish talking.

I didn't let him finish because I didn't like where he was going with this. I know what he is trying to imply and he couldn't have been further from the truth. Right now all that he is doing is bringing up old stuff I don't want to think about let alone talk about, especially so close to the month that it happened.

"Stop! We don't talk about that and if you must know, she is nothing like her so this situation is completely different." I said to him in a firm tone.

"Cool man, I get it... forget I said anything!" He said.

"I hope that this is the last time you bring this up!" I said to him.

"Come on man, it has been eight years already, you are gonna have to get over it at some point," Grant said.

Hearing him saying that, talking about her like this got me angry, yes it has eight years since it happened but it still feels it happened a few minutes ago, thinking about her hurts and I hate hurting, without even thinking about it twice I took out my gun and pointed it at Grants head.

" What the hell man? Look I am sorry okay?" He said to me. He was scared, I have never pointed a gun at him and he knows better than anyone else that someone always falls when I take out my gun.

"She was a selfish and self absorbed girl, I want to forget that, do you hear me?" I said.

"Sure man, I will never bring this up again," He said to me.

"If it was anyone else, they would be dead!" I said hit him hard with the back of the gun, he fainted. They say that I am heartless and maybe I am, what I know is that I don't get along too well with people who don't listen to me, he knows me, he should have known better, this is why he is being punished. I want this to be a reminder that just because we are friends, it doesn't mean that we are equals.