Chased By The Billionaire

Five

The first thing that popped into Alex's head was “Why the hell didn’t Tee warn me?” A split second after that, he thought, “I can’t let him take a good look of my face.” So, without missing a beat, he grabbed his bag and put it up in front of his face in a panic.

He was about to take one step back, when he heard Cassian say in this deep, tired voice, “Aren’t you getting in?”

Alex's eyes widened behind his bag. He was hoping that the man hadn’t noticed him, but it was apparently too late. He ruffled his hair to cover his forehead and his eyes, then quickly rushed into the elevator, making sure that he was standing as far behind as he could from Cassian.

“Floor?” Cassian asked, thankfully, looking ahead.

“B-B2,” Alex replied in a whisper as he lowered his bag. His target pressed on the button and Alex murmured a thank you in a small voice.

Cassian was on the way to B1, which were just two floors away from the lobby. The elevators in the building were fairly quick, but at that moment, Alex felt as if they were moving in an extremely slow speed. He stared at Cassian's broad back, his styled‐back hair, his expensive watch, and his clean brown shoes. From just an arm's length away in a confined space, Alex could get a whiff of the perfume he was wearing, and he could tell the exact brand and type it was.

When the elevator finally dinged open, Cassian stepped out. He glanced back at the last second—his upturned dark brown eyes expressionless as they briefly met Alex's. It was his first time seeing his target up close, and not from a dark corner at a bar, nor a photo from the internet. And from that split-second and years of studying and conning people, Alex already knew that he wouldn’t be an easy man to befriend.

Alex immediately tilted his head down and looked at his feet, so his hair acted like a curtain to cover his face. Cassian walked away, just before the metal doors met in the middle, and Alex finally felt as if he could breathe.

As soon as he got into his car, he clicked on the emergency button on his phone that he knew would wake the tech up. He could hear the alarm sound in Tee's office, and the man himself jolt awake.

“Wh-what, what is it? What’s the problem?” he panicked.

“Tee,” Alex said through gritted teeth as he started the engine. “You said Cassian had already left the building.”

“I did!” Tee said, followed by a noise of buttons clicking. “Oh, s**t. Looks like he got back just twenty minutes ago. Oh. s**t! You got into the elevator with him!”

“No s**t, Sherlock! I thought the coast was clear!” Alex complained.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I thought it was all good because he went straight back home before!” Tee lamented. “But it looks like your cover is intact. I doubt he saw your face with your hair and your head down.”

“That better be the case,” Alex threatened.

“Sorry, Ace. What’s the plan now, anyway? What happened with your new work friends?”

“Nothing substantial. Just a bunch of regular workers who like to drink on a Monday night,” Alex sighed, massaging his temples. He took off his glasses and placed them on the side, then proceeded to take out his colored contact lenses. “What about his home? Doesn’t he live in a fancy penthouse in the city?”

“He lives in the center of Middlemist Red street. Specifically, the tallest, fanciest schmanciest apartment building there is,” Tee informed him. “But it’s a no-go. I’ve been doing surveillance checks around, and it’s like Fort Knox up there since it’s full of rich, powerful people. Undercover guards at every floor, IDs checked all around, and I can’t get you a position on their staff. It would be very risky for you to sneak in, especially at the penthouse where only Cassian has the key card. Not even his bodyguards are allowed inside.”

“How about cleaning staff?”

“None. So either Mr. Hotshot does his cleaning, or his giant place is a mess,” Tee chuckled. “Either way, you need to be escorted by Cassian himself for you to get in.”

“So, I need to be… best friends with him or something like that?”

“Or something,” Tee said. “But he doesn’t even let his weekly lovers get in. That’s why he takes them to the Garden Hotel on Lily Street.”

“Damn it,” Alex cursed, hitting the steering wheel with his palm. “He has got to be hiding something in there, don’t you think? He seems way too secretive.”

“Maybe,” Tee thoughtfully muttered. “But I’ve been doing some digging and he is clean. Like, weirdly squeaky clean. No offshore accounts, no sketchy contacts, no nadda. Plus, with that money, million-dollar face and hot bod, he just really is Mr. Perfect on paper.”

“He's got to have something somewhere. There’s no way he got to where he is without a little dirty business,” Alex murmured. “Anyway, I’m heading home to think. I’ll follow him around the rest of the week. Let me know if something comes up.”

“Roger that.”

But nothing did come up by the end of the week. Tee continued his search, and Alex kept tailing Cassian in between his office work. The man rarely left the building on time, and when he did leave, he only ever went to the gym or straight back home. He only talked to people when needed, and with him every day was Sheena, his head secretary. Aside from that and corporate meetings, he never met with anyone else.

“Squeaky clean,” Tee had said. Alex knew there was no such thing.

When Friday night rolled in, Cassian was right on schedule to leave the office. Alex, now dressed in a better-fitting suit, and his hair not styled into a mop, took a seat in Fox Bar at Foxglove Street and waited. Just as Tee informed him that Cassian was arriving, he immediately angled his face away.

This time, Cassian walked in with a different aura. He seemed angry—almost impatient—as he made his way to his usual table. The routine was the same for an hour, as guys hit on him and sat on his booth. Except this time, they all ended up walking away while a stressed Cassian drank more than he usually did.

“He's looking particularly sour today. Did anything happen when I had my eyes off him?” Alex murmured.

“I don’t know,” Tee replied. “Nothing out of the ordinary from my end.”

Just then, Cassian stood up. Alex thought he was about to leave, when he walked to the back of the bar and disappeared out of sight. If he remembered correctly, that was where the restrooms were. Only, Cassian didn’t return to his seat after five minutes.

“You think he’s…taking a dump?” Tee snickered.

Alex stood up and decided to see what was going on. There were three doors, exactly. One was for the employees, which he entered and quickly checked, saying a goofy, “Oh, sorry, I thought this was the restroom,” when employees frowned at him. Cassian wasn’t there. And he wasn’t using the toilet either. That left him with the last door.

“Where does it go?” Alex asked.

“An alleyway, I think, based on the maps,” Tee said. “No cameras there, though.”

Alex pressed his ear against it, but heard nothing. He held onto the doorknob and took a deep breath. Either Cassian had managed to slip away, or he was standing in the alleyway doing some sketchy business. Either way, Alex was prepared to say the same handy “Oops, not the toilet,” excuse.

“Here goes,” he murmured, keeping his guard up and feeling the small pocket knife he kept in his pocket. He turned the knob and slightly pushed the door open. It actually did lead into a dark alleyway. Except, Cassian wasn’t there meeting with anyone nor engaging in any illegal activity. It was quiet and dark, and it took a few seconds for Alex's eyes to adjust. But when they did, he found the man in a corner with a cigarette between his fingers, exhaling a puff of smoke with obvious frustration.

Just as Cassian was about to lift his head to look at his direction, Alex closed the door and hurried back inside. He stepped into the restroom and locked himself in one of the cubicles.

“What? What is it? I couldn’t see, it was too dark!” Tee complained, but Alex couldn’t answer because he heard the restroom door swing open and someone use the cubicle next to the one he was hiding at. He heard a flush, someone wash their hands, then the door opened again.

After giving it twenty seconds, Alex decided to come out.

“You.” The hairs on the back of his neck stood as he heard the familiar voice coming from a corner. Cassian. Obviously waiting for him.

“Oh, s**t!” Tee cursed so loudly that Alex had to double-click on the earpiece to mute the man and himself. He looked around, pretending to be confused. “Sorry, did I take too long in there? Bad shellfish for dinner,” he chuckled. “I’ll be out of your hair in a sec.”

He proceeded to wash his hands as quickly as he could, with Cassian standing still and watching his every move. Just as he was about to head towards the exit, Cassian purposefully stepped in the way, that Alex had to take a step back to avoid colliding into him.

“Uh, sorry, but you need to, you know,” he awkwardly gestured for him to move out of the way. “So I can go out,” Alex nervously stammered as Cassian stared him down.

“I know you,” Cassian said, narrowing his eyes as if trying to picture Alex's face. “Don’t you work at my company?”

Too late, Alex thought. He had to play it by ear.

Immediately shifting to his Alex Smith the Temp's personality, he scratched the back of his head and let his shoulder droop a little. “Ah, you caught me,” he sheepishly said, thanking the stars that he decided to wear the colored contact lenses that night.

“You’ve been following me,” Cassian remarked.

Way up close, Alex could really see how good-looking he was, but also how intimidating he seemed to be. And with his posture and the way he looked down from his height while keeping his head up, the air of confidence and power he commanded made Alex finally understand what Aly and Tee—and the rest of the media—were going on about.

“Was I?” Alex nervously chuckled, fishing for his glasses in his pocket and putting them on. “Oh, Mr. Cassian, that was you! Sorry, I couldn’t see well—”

“Cut the crap,” Cassian firmly said.

“What’s your business with me?” Cassian asked, taking a threatening step towards Alex, who quickly took a step back. He could choose to knock this 6’4” man unconscious and run away, but that would do him no good.

“I-I, uh,” Alex stammered, playing into the nervous wreck role pretty easily. “Nothing, um, sir.”

“You were at the company late at night, and Sheena saw you following me the other day, up at the 42nd floor. Now, you’re here sneaking like a rat.” Cassian took another step forward, and Alex, backwards. “Why are you following me?”

“I-I was just catching up on work, and the other day, I just got lost, is all.”

“You want me to believe that a temp worker at Marketing was catching up on work on his first day?” Cassian lightly scoffed. “I should commend Mr. Yamada for getting such a good employee, then?”

Alex nervously smiled, making his lips quiver a little to display some fear. “I guess so…”

Cassian took another step, but Alex found himself already backed against the wall of the cubicle. “I’m asking you one last time,” Cassian breathed out, without a hint of humor on his face as he inched towards Alex's with every word that followed, “Why. Are. You. Following. Me.”