Chapter 169 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Have you given the Millers any information concerning Mr. Delgado?” The man sitting on the couch asked as he raised the documents and pictures of Benne which the private investigator had carefully arranged before his abduction.

“How did you…” The remaining words were lost in a loud cry when the man standing behind him slapped his back.

“We ask the questions, and you give the answers. There will be consequences if you do otherwise,” the man on the couch told him with cold eyes.

“I haven’t,” the private investigator answered with a shake of his head when he noticed that his phone was also on the table. They had probably gone through his call log.

“Good. We will keep all of these since it doesn’t concern you or your client. Just to be fair, we will double whatever has been paid, and in return, you will give Mrs. Miller a call this moment and decline the job,” the man on the couch said, making the private investigator’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Are we clear?” the man asked in a very calm voice, and the private investigator gave him a quick nod even though this went against the ethics of his job. He was smart enough to know that he would be in a very difficult situation if he went against their instructions.

“And don’t try to play smart,” the man warned before using the private investigator’s phone to dial Mrs. Miller’s number.

Once the call connected, he placed it on speaker and gave the private investigator a nod to speak.

“Why are you calling when you are yet to deliver the information you mentioned to me? Your money has been sent, and I’m yet to see what I paid for,” Mrs. Miller hissed in displeasure.

“I’m sorry about that, but I can’t go on with the job.Your money will be refunded,” the private investigator said apologetically.

“What do you mean by that nonsense? I have paid in full and I expect the information here at once, else I’m going to ruin your career!” She yelled at him angrily.

“You heard him. He won’t be doing your job anymore. I have a message for you from Mr. Delgado; If you want your family to remain relevant, stop digging your nose in places they don’t belong,” The man in suit warned, and hung up without waiting to hear her response.

He gathered all the materials on the table and handed them to his partner who was still standing behind the investigator, “We will keep your laptop, camera, and phone, if you don’t mind,” he said before picking the listed items.

The private investigator opened his mouth to protest but clamped it shut when the man raised a questioning brow, “You will receive a package within the next hour,” he said before heading for the door.

He hesitated by the door and turned around to look at the investigator, “What did the gang who took you earlier want?” He asked, returning his attention to the investigator.

The investigator looked slightly startled by the question. He was tempted to ask how they knew he had been abducted, but decided against it once he recalled the warning the mean one had given him, “They want me to help them find someone,” he confessed, already feeling tired of the whole thing. Once he got this job done, he was going to quit forever.

“Who?” The man asked once again.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that,” the investigator said with a shake of his head. As far as he was concerned, his business with them was over.

The man looked at him for a moment as if he wanted to say something, and then gave him a nod before walking out of the studio apartment with his partner.

Listening to the silence at the other end of the line, Benne could tell that she had finally processed what he had said, “Celsie? Are you still there?” He called softly, as he waited to hear her thoughts on his confession.

Celsie cleared her throat and licked her lips which were suddenly feeling very dry now, “Yeah. I’m still here,” she said, gulping softly while her heart continued to race wildly. What was she going to say to him?

This whole thing was very confusing for her. She loved seeing him, talking to him, and having him around, and now she knew she also enjoyed having sex with him too. But did she want a committed relationship with him? Was she capable of something like that? She had always said she didn’t want a companion, but now that Sonia was busy with Bryan most of the time, and Lucas was also too busy with the hospital and his fiancee, who else did she have to turn to apart from Benne? Was this relationship thing something that she could do? And if what he said was true, and he really wasn’t interested in any lady, then why had he convinced her into being in a temporary relationship with him? Had he done that because he really wanted to be in a relationship with her?

Seeing that she still wasn’t saying anything, Benne decided to find out what she was thinking, “What is in…”

Celsie cleared her throat, “I want to see you before I say anything else,” she said before Benne could complete his question.

“You want to see me?” Benne asked in confusion. That wasn’t the response he had been expecting. He had expected more questions, perhaps anger, or any other thing, but certainly not a request to see him.

“Yes. I want to look you in the face while I talk to you,” Celsie repeated, sounding a bit more confident now than she had been a moment ago.

“Can we FaceTime?” Benne asked hopefully since he was yet to hear from Harry about the situation with the private investigator, and he didn’t want to make any move until he was certain that it had been sorted out.

“No. I want to see you here,” Celsie repeated. “Call me when you get here,” Celsie said and hung up before Benne could say anything else.

Once she hung up the call, she blinked in surprise when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and noticed that she was smiling broadly. Why was she grinning? She asked herself, raising both hands to her cheeks.

All of a sudden she no longer felt exhausted anymore. It felt like all her tiredness had disappeared, and was now replaced with newly found energy. How was it possible that a single phone call could change both her physical state and mood entirely?

With her newfound strength, Celsie got off the bed and pulled off the bedspread which had some bloodstains on it. She had taken note of the bloodstain when she returned from the hospital in the morning, and also a couple of minutes after she returned from the office, but she had been feeling too tired to do anything about it.

Now she took the bedspread to her laundry basket, and once she dropped it, she walked over to the bathroom to wash her hands before returning to take off her contacts which she was yet to remove from her eyes. Sitting in front of her dressing mirror, she combed her hair and tied it in a ponytail. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she recalled Benne’s words to her. He really had feelings for her, and not anyone else?

Although she knew that she should be feeling angry that he had lied to her about being interested in a lady at the company, and for deceiving her into becoming his temporary girlfriend, she just felt relieved in a way, knowing that there was no one else in his life, and she wanted to see him.

Once she was done with her hair, she picked up a clean bedsheet and lay it over her bed, tucking it neatly around the edges. After that, she showered and put on a mini jeans skirt and a sports bralette before returning to lie on her bed.

She checked the time and sighed when she noticed that it was just past 2 pm. After their outing earlier, the CEO had dropped her off in front of the company and had insisted that she spend the rest of the day at home since there was nothing to be done at the office until the following day. Hence, she had to leave the office earlier than usual.

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