Liar Liar Billionaires

17. Lucille

“Why on earth are you taking mint ice-cream? Are you some kind of frost queen?”

Chloe eyed Amir, who kept staring at her in wonder as if her liking her ice cream was a big crime.

“It’s not as bad as you are making it sound,” she answered.

“I’ll just stick to my chocolate,” he gave up trying to understand her.

“So,” with a smirk, she licked off some cream on her spoon, “why does this guy we’re going to meet like ice cream so much?” Her eyes flickered to the huge box securely strapped in the front seat. “We’re meeting him with ice cream enough for twenty kids.”

“Sebastian never got to enjoy the bliss while he was little. So he makes up for it now that he’s grown up.”

“Oh. His mother deprived him of ice cream?”

“Something like that.”

“That sucks.”

“Hmm. Anyway, speaking of something that sucks…”

Chloe groaned inwardly, she could feel a dirty joke coming.

“How is it that you, with your enviable intelligence, are working as a maid?” Amir concluded, oblivious to the arms she crossed as though guarding herself from any s*x joke that might arise.

Well, those crossed arms fell. Not only did she not see that question coming, but she also never thought she would be asked such a question. So she had no direct response prepared.

But definitely, she would find a way around it.

“Uhm… Things in my life have never been so…” She made a whoosh sound with her mouth as she processed her lie. “In my life, things have been just very difficult. My many attempts to get a job to survive either didn’t happen or failed halfway. So, when I heard there was a huge paying job as a maid, it sounded better than the hell I had been living in. So… here I am.”

As a brief silence accompanied her response, she hoped her lie was believable. It would be a huge stress to have to add more to it.

"Difficult, huh?" Amir looked out the window as he seemed to be processing her words. After some seconds, while still looking out the window, he said, "I don't know how difficult things might get for you, but just know that you have a friend right here always willing to help in whatever way I can."

"We are friends?"

His head instantly turned in her direction.

"Of course we are!" he exclaimed with a touch of unbelief on his face. "Look at us, we are taking ice cream in an Uber. What else could scream friendship if not this?"

Chloe chuckled. Amir wasn't so bad to be with after all.

"I guess we are friends then," she said as she scooped the last of her ice cream.

"Guess? Babe, we ARE friends. I already stamped that in my head." He made a dramatic arrow towards his forehead. As she stifled her laughter, Amir announced, "Oh, we are here."

Contrary to what Chloe expected, they weren’t at the mansion. Instead, after alighting from the car, they were both dragging the ice cream box towards a black van which stood alone at the side of the road like a cast-out.

“Don’t tell me ice-cream man lives in a van,” Chloe commented as their feet dragged over the asphalt road as quickly as possible.

"Nah. That's his office."

"But..." Chloe looked around. "This place is surrounded by nothing but trees."

"Well, at least we know where he goes to answer nature's call."

"Yeah, after getting high on ice cream."

Amir chuckled.

Soon, they were facing the double doors of the van's rear, and Amir was about to announce their arrival when the doors swung open.

The shocked look on Chloe's face did not escape the two men.

Sebastian, the ice-cream-loving man, was the bodyguard who found her suspicious.

"Chloe," Amir placed a hand on her shoulder as he peered at her with worry. "Honey, I get that you two don’t seem to like each other. But, why do you look so shocked?"

"Well..." Chloe shook her head to erase the look on her face. She gulped before she continued. "I did not picture him to be the guy you were talking about. He doesn't even look like someone who likes to drink juice."

"Oh, please, I love juice." Sebastian snatched the box from their hands and went into the van. "Come in if you please," he said as he walked away.

"Sweet. Did you get more stuff?" Amir asked the man who was already digging into his first bowl to Chloe's amusement. The van had nothing but computers living in it, well apart from a long bench that was fixed to both sides of the van .

"Well, something like that. I am assuming you are here because of the accusations."

Amir's face turned serious.

As he took a seat next to Sebastian, he sighed. Chloe could tell the issue bothered him more than he showed.

"I am trying to figure out things myself," he said, his hands running through his thighs. "I really need to prove my innocence and clear my name from this mess once and for all. So, I was hoping you would be able to help me with some professional investigation."

Chloe also sat and watched as Sebastian asked, “Do you have anything so far?”

Amir shook his head. "I don't. The only thing is that I think I am being framed."

"Hmm. Do you have any idea who that might be?"

"I have no idea at all. Come on," his hands spread into the chill air, "you have been working for us for a while. If I had an enemy, you would know."

Sebastian nodded his head slowly as his fingers scratched through his little beard, which Chloe could tell would be gotten rid of as soon as he found access to a better restroom. "Well," he started, “I have had the club under surveillance for the past few days, but I have gotten nothing."

Chloe's eyes bored into the laptops that showed sections of Club NAG. Nothing special caught her fancy.

But her eyes fell on room 006, and her interest was roused. The rose in the room… Again, she couldn't take her eyes off. There was something technical and suspicious about its setup.

Chloe's eyes went to the surveillance of room 005, and she confirmed her feeling.

The rose was definitely suspicious.

"How about we drive closer to the club and observe things from there?"

"That is a good idea," Amir replied to Sebastian.

"Nice. You are driving."

"Why?"

The man’s eyes grew excited as he glared at the ice-cream box. "I need to finish these lovely delicacies."

Amir eyed him as he got up to move to the front. "You are so weird sometimes," he said.

Chloe was not patient enough to notice Sebastian's response. All that occupied her mind, even as the van got set into motion, was the flower and the connections she could make to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So... " Amir jumped next to Chloe, snapping her out of her thoughts that shuffled between the past and the present. "How are things between you and Nathaniel?"

Chloe's eyes narrowed as her lips tried to betray her and bring up a smile. "What do you mean?"

His eyes shifted to the laptops and huge monitoring screens, which they had to keep checking for anything odd, while Sebastian went to check things out inside the club. "You think it is not noticeable that you guys have kick-started the chemistry between you."

"There is no chemistry between us."

"Two dates with Nathaniel and you expect me to believe you don't feel anything yet?" Amir looked at her again, one of his full brows raised at her.

She shrugged, hoping within her that she was not dropping hints that she was beginning to feel a kind of ‘stir’ at the thought of his friend. "I don't think I do."

"I call bullshit."

"Uh?"

"You like him. I have noticed how different you are around him. You may think you are doing a good job at hiding it, but even when you look at him, it’s just so obvious that you feel something."

"Uh..." Words failed Chloe.

Amir had just talked as though she were heels in love with Nathaniel.

Besides, there is no way she had been staring at Nathaniel. She always made sure not to look at him, especially during dinner.

"Chloe," Amir slung his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to his warmth and manly scent. "I do not know if you are trying to run away from something. Or maybe you’re the one chasing something. Whichever one, it would be best to take a break before you lose the chance to have even a few minutes of happiness.”

"Uh... I will... Uh, consider your words," she said as she slowly pulled away from his hold.

With her mind finding Amir’s statement fascinating enough to ponder on, her eyes returned to observing the footage before them.

That was when her eyes caught something. Or rather someone.

Shifting forward, Chloe tapped Amir and gestured to the screen. Together, they watched as a person dressed in all black blended with the night and made their way to the club through the back door. Clearly, it wasn't the person's first time there.

“Show your face,” Amir whispered, and that was what Chloe was thinking too.

And as though a heavenly puppeteer heard them, the person made direct eye contact with the closest camera.

Amir shifted backwards by a few steps, and Chloe’s fingers dropped off her chin.

This person was not who they expected.

“Uh…” Amir struggled with his words. “Is that… Is that really… Lucille?”