Chapter 369 Ambushed at Dinner
<i>Leslie’s </i><i>POV </i>
、(29)
Finished
With Kirby’s kind of madness, taking care of a counterfeit like Carl would be perfectly normal.
<i>But </i><i>then </i><i>again</i><i>, </i><i>Carl’s </i><i>the </i><i>sort </i><i>who’d already </i><i>be </i><i>bawling </i>to <i>me </i><i>if </i><i>Kirby </i><i>had </i><i>hit </i><i>him</i><i>. </i><b><i>If </i></b><i>even </i><i>he </i><b><i>doesn’t </i></b><i>know </i>who <i>did </i><i>it</i><i>, </i><i>the </i><i>culprit </i><i>must </i><i>be </i><i>hiding </i><i>deep</i>. Whatever–let him get beaten. Who cares.
My phone buzzed. Adler’s message popped up: “Leslie, dinner tonight?”
Followed by another: “To celebrate the project moving forward.”
I paused, then felt the corner of my mouth lift. Adler always had a way of offering reasons that were pleasant and hard to refuse.
I did owe him an apology over the Apex situation. This was a good chance.
I texted back: “Okay.”
We set a time and ce and I drove there.
The restaurant was an elegant private spot with semi–open seating–intimate without feeling stifling. Unless someone was deliberately peering, you couldn’t see other diners. Quiet and refined, it was the kind of ce for a date.
<b>I </b>scanned the room. <i>This </i><i>choice</i><b><i>–</i></b><i>tsk</i>, <i>pretty </i><i>suggestive</i><i>, </i>Asphodel teased.
Adler chose a window table. The view outside framed his face in soft light; he looked unspoiled by the world’s dust. When he saw me he rose and, ever the gentleman, pulled out the chair opposite. “I heard the desserts here are good–girls like sweets,” he said.
His attentiveness went beyond what a mere business partner would do; I knew it, but I didn’t call attention to it.
I had no expectations<b>, </b>so I only offered a cool, “Thank you.”
He sat, warm smile steady, calm andposed. “n came to my hotel yesterday to apologize. He said a lot of pleasant things and asked me to put in a good word for him with you. I told him it’s entirely thanks to you.”
I smiled faintly, voice even. “It was nothing. It’s my duty. Rogue Pack is a partner; rmending Apex was my call. If they slow the schedule, we’ll rece them.”
Adler blinked, surprised by how decisively I cut it off, then rxed with a small smile. He’d probably checked Apex’s shareholders and knew exactly whom my ruthlessness targeted.
<b>19:04 </b>Mon<b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>22 </b>
Chapter 369 Ambushed at Dinner
429
29
Finished
He switched to lighter topics and we chatted. I asked about Eren; apparently the practice book I sent had sent him into tears all night–no amount of coaxing helped. I couldn’t helpughing and the mood eased.
A server’s “Wee” rang out more loudly than usual. Secondster a cold, knife–like gaze cut toward us.
A chill ran down my spine before I realized someone had draped a cool, hard arm over my shoulder, mint pheromone brushing my skin. A firm hand circled my waist, and someone sat down beside me without asking.
I looked up and met Kirby’s shadowed eyes.
He smiled, teeth clenching audibly. “What a coincidence, mydy.”
The single word dy” made the air thicken with a charged, ambiguous tension.
Send Gifts
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