Upon hearing it, Loredana completely ensured that the man was truly Declan Bailey. Otherwise, Abbott wouldn’t have called him “Mr. Bailey.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I saw him come in earlier.”
“Would you like to wait in the lounge, please?” asked Abbott.
Loredana shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m going to go in and join their conversation.”
As she spoke, she walked to the door of Cormac’s office.
When she reached the office door, her cell phone started ringing in her pocket. She pulled it out and found the caller ID was “Uncle”. She walked aside and swiped to answer the phone. Before Oscar spoke, she took the initiative to ask, “Hello, Uncle. Anything happened over there?”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t call her right now.
“Nothing serious. Everything’s fine here. Someone came here to get the tailored clothes, but I told them that we have a lot of orders already so if they were willing to, they needed to wait for a long time. For those who were unwilling, I suggested they leave. The factory runs as normal. Theresa and you both left so suddenly, and you’ve taken the kids away. I guess something urgent must have happened. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry. I’m calling you to remind you no matter what has happened, please do let me know if you have any difficulties. You must believe in your parents. What they have left you was not only the treasure. Do you know what I mean?”
Loredana looked down at the tip of her toe. “I see.”
“Okay. How are the kids? I miss them so much.” Oscar had already got used to them. Once they were gone so suddenly, he always felt that his life lacked something.
“I’ll ask them to give you a video call tonight,” said Loredana.
“Okay. I’ve gotta go now,” said Oscar.
Loredana hummed. After hanging up the phone, she stood there motionlessly for a moment. Oscar didn’t tell her anything about her father, but after being with Oscar for a long time, more or less, she could feel what kind of man her father was.
No matter what kind of man he was, she would remember what was mentioned in Jolene’s letter — he was a good man.
She adjusted her mood, turned around, and walked to the office door. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. A moment later, she was asked to enter.
Loredana straightened her back, pushed the door open, and entered.
Cormac was sitting on the sofa with his back to her, and Declan was sitting opposite him. They didn’t touch the coffee in front of them. It seemed that they were talking all the time and didn’t stop until she came in.
Seeing her, Declan looked a bit awkward for a short while. With a smile, he said, “Nice to see you again.”
Cormac turned around slowly. When seeing Loredana, he slightly frowned. He had never expected that she would come over. He asked gently, “Why are you here?”
He didn’t hide anything from Declan. Since the latter sent some photos to Loredana, he believed that Declan must know who she was and her relationship with him.
Loredana walked over and smiled at him. “Can’t I come here to see you?”
As she spoke, she sat down next to Cormac.
Declan licked his lips in interest. “Are you going to do PDA in front of me, an outsider?”
“Is there any outsider here?” asked Loredana with a smile.
Declan burst into laughter. He glanced through Cormac’s face and intentionally tried to embarrass Cormac. He said deliberately, “Ms. Flores, did you mean you never treat me as an outsider? I do think we are quite close.”
He wondered if she was still appreciating him for “helping her” in City C last time.
“Oh? I just haven’t noticed you are also here.” Loredana still smiled faintly.
“Ho ho. Ms. Flores, how interesting! I’m sitting here right in front of you. How couldn’t you see me? Am I not a human?” Declan put away his smile.
Loredana still smiled. “You’ve got that conclusion yourself, Mr. Bailey. I didn’t make any remarks, all right? Since you’ve admitted that you are not a human, I wouldn’t disagree with you.”
Declan’s expression was stiffened for a moment. Then he put back his smile. “A sharp-tongued woman isn’t attractive to the man. Be careful. Your man will dump you.”
“Mr. Bailey, please mind your own business.” Loredana slightly twitched her lips. “Last time, when I met you in City C, I didn’t know you are Mr. Bailey, so I didn’t thank you. I’ve got a gift from you as well. I do appreciate your hard work.” She looked over at Cormac gently, who was looking at her right now. Their eyes met. Without any words, they could understand what was in each other’s minds. With a smile, she asked, “Mr. Bailey has sent us such a big gift, don’t you want to return one for the appreciation?”
Cormac reached out to toss the hair next to her ear and gently keep them behind it. With a doting smile, he said, “Of course, I will. Courtesy requires a return of visits received, and so does sending a gift. I wouldn’t be that impolite.”
Cormac looked over at Declan. “Mr. Bailey, how do you like my gift in return?”
Declan squinted. “It was you who provoked me first.”
“Mr. Bailey, what are you talking about? Didn’t you work with Jeffery Harris to kidnap first? Or, do you think the Mendelsohn family is a pushover, and anyone in the family could be kidnapped?” Cormac’s voice went deeper, full of hidden anger.
“Was the woman I kidnapped a member of the Mendelsohn family? Doesn’t everyone know Victoria Forbis used to be the mistress of your father? Mr. Mendelsohn, you don’t like your stepmother, do you? Now, you are against me because of this unimportant person. What benefits would you have?”
Declan calmed down a bit and continued with a more friendly tone, “Don’t forget that your uncle can’t help you with anything now. He has lost his position in the government now. Well, you are supposed to be enemies to each other. So what Boyce Shawn has been promoted as the deputy officer? I just don’t want to make trouble for him. If I do, I’ll ask my father to move his fingers. Boyce Shawn will be fired immediately. How can you fight against me? Do you think the investigation on John would lead to me? Last time, I could escape from it without being impacted, and so will I this time. Like I said just now, as long as you are willing to apologize to me for using me and hurting me last time, let’s end this matter. From now on, we will be going in our own ways. Of course, Mr. Mendelsohn, if you want to make friends with me, I’m willing to.”
Apologizing to him?
Loredana wanted to retort him, but Cormac grabbed her hand to stop her. He shook his head at her, hinting at her to calm down.
Cormac looked at Declan, pressing his lips into a sharp arc. He said in a cold and determined tone, “As long as she was from the Mendelsohn family, no one should lay a finger on her. Mr. Bailey, you do have a strong backer. However, no matter how strong your backer is, he must have weakness, right?”
He slighted leaned back to the sofa, looking quite leisurely. With a snort, he continued, “You son of bitch played dirty tricks and got something nasty to show my wife. You kidnapped my wife’s friend. No matter the old or the new grudge, you must have an explanation to me, Mr. Bailey. Don’t you think so?”
Declan bared his teeth. “You’ve gone too far!”
He insisted that Cormac should apologize to him.
“Too far? The man found in the temple should be working for you, Mr. Bailey. What has he done to my friend? Don’t you know it?” Loredana chimed in. She clenched her hands, trying so hard to calm down. “Mr. Bailey, if you turn fighting into friendship, you should apologize for the car accident during the kidnap and take responsibility for the matter. Hand out the man who has harmed my friend. As for the photos and your show played with your men in City C, we could be generous and let it go.”
“Are you kidding me?” Declan was also annoyed that John had been to find Theresa in secret. John didn’t only want to rape her but also let her escape. He also wanted to kill John. When he knew what had happened, he was so angry that his lungs almost exploded.
However, he didn’t want to hand John to them. “If I simply gave John to you guys, who would be willing to work for me and trust me in the future? The car accident was just a pure unexpected incident. I wasn’t the mastermind. The mastermind has already paid his price, hasn’t he? Why do you still insist that I need to take the responsibility?”
If he handed John to them, his subordinates would be disappointed in him. Nobody would be willing to work for him in the future.
He believed that it was important to keep his men’s trust in him.
Hence, even John had made a mistake, Declan would try to protect him. He wasn’t protecting just a single person but the loyalties of his men.
The nightclub manager took the initiative and went to jail for him, so Declan believed that he had been treating his men indeed very well.
Loredana sneered. “Mr. Bailey, how couldn’t you understand the thing that everyone could? If I don’t care about my friend, do you think my friend would trust me in the future? We didn’t insist on anything. We just want anyone who has been involved in this matter should take his or her responsibility. Is it too much?”
Loredana’s words poked the sore spot, and Declan was rendered speechless.
What she said truly made sense.
Since they couldn’t achieve an agreement, Declan didn’t smile as he did earlier. Looking at Cormac and then at the sharp-tongued woman, he seemed to understand why Cormac had fallen in love with this woman.
In his opinion, most women and the women he knew were always waiting for men’s protection no matter what had happened, or they would shed tears. However, she was standing by Cormac’s side fearlessly. Declan wondered if she was way too ignorant so she feared nothing.
Looking at Loredana, he said, “Do you know who my father is? You wouldn’t have any benefit if you are against me.”
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.