Chapter Forty-Four

We were soon entering the house, my anxiety thoughts from the last time I was here start to fill my head. Being here was fine, it's what happened that same night that scares me to the core. I know so much has changed since then and according to Jacob, Markus sees me as a kind of property so he won't do too much damage, but the fear is still there. As we make it to the entrance of the house, Markus appears beaming from ear to ear which did freak me out. In the few months that I have been around Markus, I have never seen him this happy, that fact alone scarring me. 'It's so great to see you two, quickly come in before the cold follows you" he says eagerly which once again took me by surprise, before we could speak he turns around and walks in the house. I turn to Austin to see him looking right back at me, I guess from the look on his face he was feeling the same thing. But he soon leads me into the house closing the front door before us, where we spot Markus was already half way down the corridor. Woah that man can move fast! Before too long, we had followed him into the dinning hall that we were in before, the place which caused my attack. Austin seems to somehow realise where my mind was growing, his hand that was still holding mine sent me a little squeeze. I knew this was his way of telling me that I was going to he okay, without having to tell me in front of Markus. 'Please take your seats, we have so much to discus" Markus says pointing to two seats at the table, this is when I spot another man sat there smiling at us as he went. Austin smiles leading me over to the table, even pulling my chair out for me where I send him a smile. I could see that he made sure I was sat as far away from Markus and this other dude as possible, for that I was more than grateful. After a few seconds he takes his seat beside me, where he keeps one of his hands under the table. 'Now enough talking, we need to get down to business and explain why I called you both to dinner tonight" Markus says as soon as we got comfortable, well as comfortable as we can get in his presence. 'The only issue that we have right now is I can't see you, I can only guess what's going on by the sound. But don't worry, if anything were to happen I'll be in there in a flash" Jacobs voice says through the earpiece, I had to stop myself from jumping in surprise. 'This is my investor but also close friend, Jason Hawk" Markus explains snapping me out of the one sided conversation I was having with Jacob, Markus was pointing over to the other guy on the table that I now know as Jason. As soon as his name left Markus's lips, I hear Jacob let out a gasp. This alone only makes me confused on who this guy maybe be and why it shocked Jacob. But also scared out of my mind on who this guy was and why it shocked Jacob! 'I can bet you two are wondering why I have called you to have dinner with us, but also why Jason would be joining us" Markus says where Austin nods his head, but I didn't know if I fully wanted to know the answer if I'm being honest. But I knew this had something to do with what Jacob and I heard the other day, what could Markus be planning?! 'You Austin, have been the best worker that I have ever employed or even worked with" Markus begins to explain, while I just wonder on what other things Austin must do to get that comment. 'I hope you haven't brought us here to fire me" Austin laughs looking between the two men, I knew this was Austin trying to act as though we both weren't shitting a brick! 'Oh no, I'd be fucked in the head if I ever thought about firing you!" Markus exclaims with a laugh, perhaps it would be a good thing if Markus was to fire Austin, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation anymore. 'It's because you're so good at what you do, that I think you'd be the perfect person for our next plan, but also Payton" he smiles looking over at me, where instant fear washes through my body staring him in the eyes, while Austin tenses beside me. I don't want to be a part of anything that Markus is! I want to be left alone to live a normal life, not be thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire! 'You don't need to worry Payton, you know my team and me will always have your back no matter what that man puts you through" Jacob's reassuring voice says through the earpiece again, I knew what he was saying was right and did help me to calm down a tiny bit, but I was still worried. 'Before you say anything Austin, I know you don't want to involve Payton in anything that we do. But I can assure you, Payton will not be brought into anything and definitely, will not be in any kind of firing line" he says before Austin flat out tells him no, even though Markus is saying I won't be put in the firing line, I don't believe a single word that he says. 'We need to protect that pretty face" Markus says turning to me with a little wink, oh how I wanted to roll my eyes but I know I couldn't. 'How can Payton be apart of something but also not at the same time? I'm sorry Markus but that doesn't make any sense" Austin says finally joining the conversation, but now he brought it up that really doesn't make any sense. 'If you listen, you'll understand it all. Jason and I have come up with an amazing plan, which will change the business forever" Markus says putting that beaming smile on his face again, he looked as though he was a kid that just got full unlimited access to a sweet shop! 'The company has been looking to expand for years now, but we never had the resources to do so, that was until we met both of you" Jason says speaking for the first time, the same smile that was on Markus's face was also on his. Austin turns his head to look at me slightly, where I knew he knew by the look on my face that I didn't like this at all. I wanted to burst out crying, but now wasn't the time. From under the table, I feel Austin take my hand that was sat on my leg and hold it tightly. I knew this was his way of telling me it was going to be okay, even if we both weren't sure of it at this point. 'The task we want you to do isn't hard by no means, but you will need to do it together" Markus says trying to make us see that it wasn't a big deal, but when it comes to him, it's the biggest of deals! 'If it's not hard, why can't I do it alone so Payton will have no part in it at all?" Austin asks which did sound like a great thing, Austin is used to working with Markus but I'm not and quite frankly, I don't want to know what it's like! 'Payton isn't going to get mixed up with anything because what you'll be doing, isn't bad" Markus says which I also didn't believe, anything that he's involved with is never good. 'All you'll be doing is some simple delivers" Markus shrugs sitting back in his chair, but the Jason dude soon sits forward pointing. 'The contests of these deliveries, you will not have to worry about or look at" he interjects which really wasn't helping their case, if nothing bad was happening why couldn't we know what we're delivering? 'Where will we be taking these deliveries?" Austin asks raising his eyebrow at the two men, for once, Austin wasn't just jumping when Markus told him to! 'Just some friends of mine who are expecting you, see nothing that either of you have to worry about" Markus explains crossing his arms over his chest with a smile, he knew we didn't have much of a choice but then to agree with him. 'When are these friends of yours expecting us?" Austin asks which was a great question, I wanted to know how many days we had to mentally prepare ourselves. 'Around about now" Markus says that same annoying smile on his face, both Austin and I stare at each other shocked before turning back to Markus who was smirking.