Chapter Eleven

Gabrielle. I walked into the hotel with my head high, trying as much as I could to keep my face as expressionless as possible. I knew for a fact that my decision to come here was literally me walking straight into the lion's den but lately, I can't help but enjoy putting myself in difficult positions. I couldn't even bring myself to tell my mom about this cause I knew for a fact that she would try to talk me out of it by giving me a million reasons why it would be a bad idea and since I didn't really care much about her opinions anymore, I decided against letting her know anything. At the end of the day, even she would do exactly what I'm doing cause we're not that different after all. "Hi, good afternoon," I greeted the hotel receptionist with a small smile. "Good afternoon madam, how can I help you?" she asked. "I actually have an appointment with Mr Robert Deville, please check to confirm," I replied. "Oh, your name please?" she asked. "Gabrielle Johannson," I replied and after a few minutes of calling to confirm, she finally replied to me. "Mr Deville approves your visit miss. The room number is 5502, I'll get someone to escort you," she said suddenly and I frowned deeply at the word 'approve'. It felt somewhat like an insult and I know for a fact that Robert Deville is a cocky man but to think he would disrespect me over the phone with a mere receptionist irked me to no end but since I have a mission to accomplish, I couldn't afford to ruin it by acting out. I arrived in front of the hotel room and nervous would definitely be an understatement to describe how I felt at the moment. The fact that I'm about to walk into the room of the father of someone I tried to kill made me feel both nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous at the fact that I could shoot myself in the foot and play right into his trap and excited because thrilling situations like this are exactly what I live for. Imagine sleeping with the woman who almost killed your only child? I swiped the spare key that was given to me and walked into the room that unsurprisingly already had dim lights. I spot Robert sitting on the bed in his robe and with his legs crossed. Now I get where Martin got his good looks. Even with the age difference, he was definitely not someone I could call unattractive. He, unlike some older men, looked pretty fit and healthy and his height definitely made him more attractive. "Hello there beautiful," he greeted with a sly smile that made him look a little bit dangerous. "How about we skip the courtesy and get right down to why we're here?" I said to him nonchalantly, taking a seat on the couch with my legs crossed. He chuckled a little before replying, "Are you in that much of a hurry my dear cause I'm not," he said and I scoffed. "Oh really? Okay then, what is it you want to do first?" I asked calmly. "Let's talk first, beautiful cause if you want to be with me, you need to know they're some things I do not overlook and my rules should not be disobeyed," he says and I mentally scoff. How unsurprising! "Well, I hate to break it to you Deville but I always break the rules and I cannot be controlled like you probably control your other women. If you want to actually enjoy having me around, you need to make a little adjustment to the way you speak to me. I won't accept your constant disrespect towards me and if you know you can't do any better with your manner of approach then let me know now so I can get the hell out of here," I snapped back at him, hating the fact that he actually thinks he could speak to me however he liked. Unsurprisingly, he starts to laugh out loudly like I had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Never knew I was this funny," I hissed and he laughed even harder, infuriating me even more but I refused to lose my cool over anything. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that no matter how cunning and dangerous this man is, I, Gabrielle Johannson, will have him eating out of my palm in no time cause I'm undeniably attractive and I bet his cunning nature was nothing next to mine. "How old are you again?" he asked suddenly and now it's my turn to laugh at the unexpected and dumb question. "Are you really asking my age? Didn't you already investigate me before agreeing to meet with me?" I replied, not exactly avoiding the question but wondering why he would bother asking for my age. "You do know how old I am, don't you?" he asks, I mentally roll my eyes. "Obviously I know your age just like you should know mine. Now, why again are we talking about our age because if that is in any way a barrier for you then you'll have to excuse me," I tell him quickly, getting a little tired of his unnecessary questioning. "My point is Gabrielle, I am older than you are which means they are certain things I cannot condone from you. If you believe I was being disrespectful, you'll have to forgive me cause I meant no harm. It's just a gentle reminder that even if we are lovers, I will not allow you to try to make a fool out of me or disrespect my authority. If you respect me, I'll respect you and our relationship will proceed smoothly. Does that sound understandable?" he explained and honestly, I'm not even surprised he sounds so serious. I mean, he is Martin's father and the Martin I know is very much capable of sounding this serious with someone he's about to sleep with. "With all due respect David, you do realise this is not your typical business transaction where you have to sound so serious, right? I mean, I'll respect you, you'll respect me, we'll discuss a little bit on the terms of our relationship and then we'll have sex. You really don't have to sound this serious with me cause if you did your research, you'd know how easy going I can be when I get what I want," I said to him, "I was actually getting to this but what exactly do you want to gain with this relationship with me? You do realise I'm the man who wants your sister locked up in jail for the rest of her life and I'm also the father of someone you and I both know you don't get along with so, what exactly is your aim?" he asked and I smirked. "Isn't it obvious David? I want something that you have and that's easily power. I don't care who your son is cause it's not like our relationship would be open anyways so he is nonexistent to me and about my sister, you would be doing me a huge favour by locking her up cause I can't stand the idiot," I replied and he frowned. "So you believe she really did try to murder my son?" he asked and this time, his question got to me. "Honestly, I doubt it. My sister is too big a fool to actually try killing someone and Martin would definitely be last on her to kill list. Strangely, she genuinely cares about your son but that better not stop you from putting her in jail," I told him quickly. "You shouldn't have told me that she cares about my son then," he replied with a shrug. "Well, I didn't want to lie cause I'm pretty sure you're also well aware that she's no murderer. Her only crime in life is being born and sadly, the only way she can repent is by either willingly killing herself or enjoying her hell on earth that'd be proudly sponsored by me," I replied with a small smile and he stared at me in disbelieve for a while, whilst shaking his head. "Your mother was right about you. You are one mean hearted young lady," he said and I frowned. "She spoke about me to you?" I asked, not liking the sound of that one bit. "Are you surprised? Your mother and I have been acquaintances for years now but if you're worried I'll tell her about any of this then be rest assured, I'm not a man who would kiss and tell and besides, we are simply acquaintances with a mutual interest, there's absolutely nothing more to discuss," he assured and I'm immediately curious on what this mutual interest is. "Mutual interest? May I know what this is or is it none of my business?" I asked. "If you are so curious then you should ask your mother instead cause only she can satisfy your curiosity," he replied bluntly and I mentally smacked myself for even trying. "So, do you still wish to lay down your terms?" I asked, getting tired of the unnecessary talking. "It's simple Gabrielle. Firstly, we remain a secret. I am, as you know, a public figure and I can't afford my business getting out there. Secondly, you show me respect and do not pry into my personal life. Also everything about us begins and ends in this bedroom, understood?" he responded and I'm not exactly disagreeing with his terms cause I also wouldn't want to be known as a home wrecking bitch and besides, I had my eyes on another man and I can't afford to have any scandals. "Your terms are quite simple and agreeable but then, here are my conditions. Firstly, don't ever tell my mother about us. Secondly, I will make requests once in a while because like I said, your status is the most important thing about you to me so, I'll definitely be using you to climb my way to the top. Thirdly, make sure you do everything you can to throw my sister in jail because you and I know if you want to have complete control over your son, you need to keep her as far away from him as possible. Last but never the least, I want you to invest in my company's future collections. Simple," I stated to him straightforwardly. "Invest in Elite fashion? And why would I do that?" he asked and I frowned. "Better question, why not?" I retorted immediately. "You need to give me actual reasons why you think that your company is worthy of my investments my dear. I'm not the kind of man who mixes business with pleasure," he replied and I scoffed. "There's always a first time for everything Mr Deville and besides, Elite fashion is one of the best fashion companies in New York and we have amazing collections that usually sell really well so I'd say that my company is worth your money," I told him confidently. "According to my reports, your company did a lot better when your sister was in charge. Isn't that so?" he asked and my blood immediately boiled. How dare he even compare my success with hers? "Don't you ever repeat that David cause you cannot compare Ella and I. She, I'll admit, is a talented designer and she knows her craft one hundred percent but you know what she lacks that I don't, it's the ability to do actual business. She only has the talent but lacks the brains to keep up. Talent isn't everything David, it can easily be bought but you cannot buy a strategic mind. So as far as I know, she will never be able to run Elite the way I have because she isn't built for this business," I said to him strictly and his blank expression switched to an amused one. "I like the way you think. It is relatable. Anyways, since we've already moved past talking, how about we get down to what brought us here? Suddenly, you're starting to seem even more attractive to me," he said and I mentally giggle. Silly old man. "Then come with me…," I reply in a low, seductive tone before slowly pulling off my heels and heading towards the bathroom with him following closely behind me.