Chapter Twenty-Eight

Austin sends me a little smile whilst looking away from Markus, we didn't want him thinking we were talking about him in anyway. 'If you can hear me, clear your throat" Jacob voice fills my ear, it did cause me to jump at first as I didn't expect it to be that loud in my ear. I bring my hand up to my mouth clearing my throat, Austin looks over to check if I was okay which I send him a little smile. I was unsure if this was going to be challenging, I would need to listen to Jacob while also keeping track with what was happening around me. 'Woah, that's one of the best throat clears I've ever heard" Jacob says which does cause a smile to fill my lips, I didn't know if I should take that as a compliment or not. 'Why are you smiling?" Austin asks which breaks me from what was happening with Jacob, maybe I need to be more careful moving forward. 'I'm just amazed at the beauty of this place, who would have imagined us two standing in a place like this?" I smile hoping that would be enough for him, he does smile holding my arm once again, this telling me he brought what I was saying thankfully. 'Good save" Jacobs voice says filling my ear once again, I look up at Austin as he begins to lead me through the crowd, it was crazy that I was hearing Jacob but he wasn't, I guess that's what earpieces are designed to do. 'Just act normal" Jacob tells me where I nod, I didn't know if he was watching me now or not but I know I couldn't just say yeah out loud. Before I could look around to see if I could see Jacob, Markus and the guy we saw him talking to start making their ways over to us. I take a deep breath in while Austin reaches over and takes my hand that was still on his arm, I knew that was his way of telling me I'd be okay without actually telling me. Seconds later, the two men were stood in front of us. 'It's nice to see you guys made it, Payton must I say you're looking mighty fine this evening, you're really making my company look good"Markus says looking me up and down as he went, I don't reply but the feeling of discomfort takes over my body. 'Arrogant pig" Jacobs's voice says in my ear which forced me to hold back a laugh, but he was correct on what he was saying though. 'Mason, this is my best worker Austin and his absolutely beautiful girlfriend Payton. Austin and Payton, this is my new business partner Mason" Markus says introducing everyone, I just couldn't get over how many gold rings this dude has on one hand, aren't they weighing his hand down in some way?! 'Is this what all women have to deal with on a daily basis? Well this was definitely an eye opening experience" Jacob says while I just smile at the two men, I haven't had to deal with it a lot until I met Markus! 'Mason will be running the finances section of the company we're hoping to open, when we do it will open so many more opportunities for us to expand as a company" Markus explains fantasying over this rather illegal company, hopefully Jacob is able to take it down before anything about expanding his company can happen, I would hate if other people had to go through what me and Austin are right now. 'We'll see where this dinner takes us for the moment" the Mason dude laughs which nearly makes me laugh, not because what he said was funny because it definitely wasn't, but the way he shut Markus up was something I had never seen before. 'The man that's stood right in front of you now is called Mason Dalton, he's this big time drug lord that the agency have been trying to take down for years. If we can take both him and Markus down in one operation, that would just be incredible" Jacob tells me which sounded like a big deal, I was more interested in just stopping Markus but it was nice they'll take another dangerous man off the streets. 'You're doing so well Payton" he reassures me which was definitely what I needed right hear right now, this place was more than a little intimidating. 'So what's Payton's role in the company?" Mason asks which is what snapped me out of the conversation I was having with Jacob, well the one way conversation we were having anyway. 'Actually, Payton isn't apart of the company at all, she's here as my girlfriend and nothing more" Austin interjects within a second, we didn't need Markus cutting in and trying to lure me into the company in anyway again. The man just nods looking over at Markus, who stared right at Austin as he went. Austin has told him before that I won't be involved in the company, he just needs to get that through that head of his. There is no way that I would ever work for a man like him, he can jog on! 'How would Roman feel if he found out you and Austin had to be a fake couple?" Jacob asks which I knew he didn't mean to make me feel bad, but I couldn't help but feel bad for what I'm doing. These last few weeks, I've been trying to justify that Roman wouldn't mind as I'm doing this to help Austin. I told him I would look out for him while he was away, me doing this is helping him. But then I start to wonder how I would feel if the roles were reversed and honestly, I wouldn't be very happy. 'You guys are doing a great job keeping the act on though and without catching feelings! I don't think I'd be able to do that so well done" he says praising us, I mean it's not that hard to not catch feelings when I only have eyes for Roman. 'We just need a quick chat with Austin, won't be long Payton" Markus smiles before he and Mason walk away, Austin turns to me where I send him a smile before he follows the two men leaving me alone. I watch him walk off to the side to talk to the men, but were close enough so he could still see me. I would have been terrified to be alone in this situation, but because I had Jacob in my ear, it felt like I was less alone after all. 'You're a lone wolf Payton! I would howl but that would probably cause way more attention to myself than I need" Jacob jokes where I take a look to the ground laughing slightly, it was good that he kept making me laugh and smile through this whole situation. I start to scan my surroundings to get a feel of the place, where my eyes soon land on the men on the balcony once again. But the item that was placed in their hands worried me to the core. Please don't say it's about to happen again.