"What? No..!!" I whined.
"I'm not gonna come with you."

"Stop whining like a kid, Miss Nolan." He said with a grim expression.
"And don't you dare embarrass me infront of Mr Armstrong. I have a very important deal with him."

"But--" I was cut off.

"And if anything happens because of your immature behavior, you have to face the consequences, Miss Nolan." He was kind of intimidating as I gulped.
"Now follow me." He spun around and marched towards the large two mahogany doors as I followed him suit like a lost puppy.

Why the hell did I even wake up at 6:30. I should have woken up at nine or ten am..

Darn it.

Stupid foolish Naomi.

We entered inside the large house which was more like a palace, with marbled flooring and expensive furnitures and portraits hung on the wall. In the middle of lounge, there was a huge spilt staircase leading upstairs.

A woman came and guided us towards a room, which looked like a conference room. Harold and I entered inside as Mr Armstrong and some other men and women were seated in their seat.

Mr Armstrong passed Harold a questioning look but Harold however asked me to sit on the couch, at the corner of the room. Without muttering any word, I obeyed him.

Harold took a seat next to Mr Armstrong as a young woman stood infront of projector and started explaining about her slides.

Half an hour later:

I yawned.

This is my ninth time of yawning, I was feeling so drowsy. All I wanted was to sleep.

The girl finally said a Thank you to her audience and sat on her given seat.

I grinned as I lifted my head up.

Is the meeting over?

Suddenly Harold stood up from his seat and with proud and high morale, he stood infront of the project before opening his laptop. He started explaining about his ideas as my shoulders slumped and lips twitched downwards.

I inwardly sniffled.

All I wanted was some quality time with Dylan.

But what I got?

An agony time with Mr devil.

Oh god!! Why me??

The meeting went on and on till afternoon as Mr Armstrong clapped his hands then shook his hands with Harold before saying a good job.

Everyone left their seat except for Harold and Mr Armstrong.
"Come Mr Kingston, lunch is ready. Let's have lunch together."

Harold glanced at me and I gave him a firm look, which was NO.

He glanced back at Mr Armstrong and passed him a small smile.
"Sure."

Snooty bastard.

"Good....um.." Mr Armstrong glanced at me as I forced a smile.

"Naomi Nolan." I smiled.

"So Miss Naomi Nolan, will you join us for lunch." Mr Armstrong asked with a smile.

I couldn't say anything so I just blurted out.
"S....sure."

Kingston and I followed Mr Armstrong downstairs towards a large 12 seater dinning table. Mr Armstrong sat on the head of the table while Harold and I sat across each other beside Mr Armstrong.

"Serve the lunch!!" Mr Armstrong ordered as one by one all the maids entered holding different kinds of dishes. They placed several mouth watering dishes in the table making my starving stomach happy.

This is what I expect to be lunch in billionaire houses..

The maids served us the delicious food.

Bon apetit.

...........

After lunch Mr Armstrong and I went upstairs towards the massive terrace of this mansion. There was a gazebo in the corner of the terrace, where we took our seats, the maids served us some delicious desserts.

Harold was on the conference room, explaining about the deal  with some of the employees of Mr Armstrong.

Suddenly Mr Armstrong cleared his throat.
"Umm... Miss.." he trailed off.

"Naomi Nolan."

"Can I call you Naomi?"

I flashed a toothy smile.
"Sure." He smiled back.

"So Naomi, in which department do you work?"

"In finance department."

"Finance, huh" he gave me an impressed look.

"Yes, Mr Armstrong." I chuckled lightly.

"Oh!! Call me Joey. I'm not so formal as your boss."

"My boss?" My brows furrowed.

"When we first signed up a deal, I asked him to call me by my name Joey.  But he refused saying that we are connected by business and we have to act formal with each other." He shrugged and I was trying hard stifle my smile.

So that Snooty being acts snootily with everyone.

Glad!! I found someone with whom I can backbite about Mr arrogant.

"Yeah, actually--" I was cut off by him.

"But however formal he is, he's truly a very good man with great ambitions. Maybe that's the reason why he is so successful at this very young age." He had a proud look on his face while talking about Harold.

And I forced a smile.

All I wanted to do was scream about his truth.

He's a Mafia king, a criminal, a murderer, a girl trafficker, drug smuggler and so on...

List is very long.

At the same time, Harold came into view. And sat next to Joey.

"Mr Kingston, is everything closed up?" Joey asked as Harold nodded.

"Sir, everything is ready." A man came and said it to Joey as Joey nodded with a smile.

"Come Mr Kingston, let's go." he called and turned towards me. "You also come." He called me too.

We walked outside the gazebo as we saw a man was setting something on a big rectangular machine. Another man came holding a big shotgun.

My eyes popped out.

Is he also a Mafia man??

"Ready!!" Joey shouted at the man, near the machine before adjusting the barrel.

Abruptly the man pulled the lever of the machine followed by a loud screeching sound and a disc came out of the machine and flew up in the air.

Joey narrowed his eyes at the front sight of the gun and pulled the trigger and BAM...

He aimed right as the disc exploded.

It's a fun game.

"Your turn, Mr Kingston." Joey passed the shotgun to Harold as he took the gun with determination.

He did the same as the man pulled the lever and disc flew up, Harold aimed from the front sight and pulled the trigger and in an instant the disc exploded.

A proud small smile appeared on Harold's face.

"Oi!! Oi!! You're a good shooter as I expected you to be." I said while patting his shoulder and with smile at his victory.

In return he shot me a deathly glare with a scowl as I gulped and pulled my hands away from him before glancing up at Joey, who had amusement all over his face.
"Are you guys sure that you are nothing but a boss and an employee." He asked.

"Yes!!"

"Yes!!" Both of us replied simultaneously.

"Okay." Joey glanced at me. "So Miss Naomi, would you like to try." He asked, pointing towards the shotgun.

I grinned.
"Sure!!"

Let's experience gun game also.

Harold passed me the shotgun and frowned at me. BUT I CARE..... NOT.

I took the gun but it weighed like tons as the barrel fell on the floor with trigger and the receiver still up in my hands.

I clenched my lips and tried to pull it up. A vein on my neck also popped out by trying so hard, but no one came to help me.

Merciless people.

"Mr Kingston, help her out." Joey said as Harold quirked his brows. "I would have loved to help this beautiful young lady but my wife will be too upset if I do so....." he trailed off. "And however, you are a bachelor, you can help her out." He smiled.

Harold exhaled deeply and walked towards me and stood behind me, he circled his arms around me and held the gun, our hands slightly brushed as a tingly sensation ran down my spine. His hot breath was fanning my neck as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

He lifted the gun up as our cheeks touched, his slight stubble brushed against my cheek, pricking my sensitive skin. My throat bobbed and the proximity wasn't helping.

I wished this moment with Dylan.

"Raise your head up." He ordered in a whisper as I nodded and lifted my head up.
"Now get a firm grip on the trigger and eyes on the fluttering disc." He whispered again, sending chills down my spine.

God! Why he has such a velvety voice instead of a gruff voice.

"Okay." I whispered.

Why the hell did I whisper!!

The man near the machine pulled the lever as Harold adjusted the gun,
"PULL!!" He ordered as I pulled the trigger followed by a heavy sound of the suppressed air.

The bullet directly hit the disc, resulting it to explode in pieces.

Harold pulled back and took the gun from me as I grinned and clapped my hands.

We sat there till evening as Mr Joey Armstrong kept on talking about his business experiences and Harold was listening to him quite intently.

To be honest, Joey is truly a very good man.

Finally we marched out of Joey's house and a sleek black expensive car was parked outside as Harold marched towards it.

"Have a safe drive." Joey smiled.

Now.....off we go back to the haunted house..

__________________