Chapter 10

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah. That's why I am getting married to you. You can see that I didn't just agree to this because I fell for you."

He snorted. "I would be stupid to think it's because you fell in love with me. I just wanted to know what brought the change of heart."

She gave a mild chuckle. "Glad to know we are now on the same page."

"You could have told me this on phone."

She snorted. "And miss seeing your reactions."

"I guess you don't want your father to know that you are pregnant?"

She smiled at him. "Good to know I am marrying a smart man. No, my father mustn't know I am having a baby until we are married."

Derek Lowe looked around the club, at the men he was seated with and stroked his beard as he twirled the glass in his hands. The three dot tattoo on his arms twinkled in the illumination of the club lights overhead. Soft seductive music streamed out of the speakers and he watched as the strippers twirled and twisted themselves in a sensual seductive manner on the poles on the stage.

The heavy set, stern looking bouncers stood nearby at the entrance of the stage daring anyone who would like to go home without his teeth in his mouth to come near the stage and try to mess himself up with the girls.

Derek grinned, loving the atmosphere of the club. Though he and his club were secluded from all what was going on in the club, he could still see everything going on from the VIP section they were seated in. He nodded at the bouncers standing at the entrance of where they were seated at and they nodded back at him. Nobody would dare to disturb the club as they began their meeting.

He looked at the club, the powerful men seated with me and he felt a thrill run through him at the thought that he was the ruler of the club. He hissed as he thought of Adam Livingston, his friend and enemy. He was glad to have his dream made come true. 

Finally, he had gotten all what Adam ever had: his business, friends, position and girl. He felt like he was truly born as he had wanted to be born. 

"Are you listening to me at all?"

Derek started. "What?" He asked, looking around. "Were you guys saying something?"

Nathan smiled and chuckled at the other men in the room. "I knew he wasn't listening to you, Joe. I knew when I saw that look on his face, I knew he was counting his blessings."

Derek grinned. "I am sorry, guys. What were you all talking about?"

"Nothing much." Mark shrugged his shoulders. "We were just talking about Adam."

Derek hissed. "Adam?"

"Yes." Nathan nodded.

Derek scowled. "He is no longer a member of the Leo's club." He gave a slight chuckle. "He is too broke to be part of the club. Why are we talking about him when we have different things to talk about in the group?"

"Like?"

"The new deals each of us just signed. How our drug business is thriving and a lot more of what we would like to do in the next year." Derek suggested. He sighed, quelling the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't believe he was spelling out everything to them like he would kindergartners.

The men nodded. "Nice words, Derek."

"Of course, they are." Derek grinned. "That is why I am the leader of the pack. I have to be smart."

"Are you sure you don't want to hear about what is going on with Adam?" Nathan asked.

"Other than his broke ass getting his life messed up by the day." Derek hissed.

The men laughed. "Yeah, you really got him bad."

Derek scowled. "No, he brought that upon himself. He always felt like he was too good and always right. He should have just been a good boy and be a loyal member of the group instead of trying to get everything his own way."

"One would have thought there was another reason you meant to run Adam to the ground."

"Not at all." Derek lied, glaring at the men with a growl and a bare of his teeth to challenge what he had said.

Mike shrugged. "Can we just move on to the agenda of today's meeting, please? Guys, we have to end this pretty quickly so we can all get back to our respective lives."

"Agreed." The men murmured.

"What were you saying about Adam earlier?" Derek asked. He couldn't help getting curious now that the men had gotten him curious.

He hoped to know if his friend had fallen into more mess than he could come out of. He laughed in glee to himself. 

Joe looked at the others, his eyes seeming to ask a question Derek knew nothing about. 

Derek frowned, wondering what his club members were cooking up without his knowledge. He smirked. "What are you guys up to?"

Eddie shook his head, smirking back at him. "Nothing. It's just surprising you haven't known about this. The whole world knows of it already."

Joe laughed. "You can't blame him. His business has enlarged and he has gotten so busy that he finds it hard to keep up with trends as he is used to."

"What are you up to?" Derek frowned. "What are you guys not telling me?"

Nathan had a glummy expression. "I think we shouldn't have chases Adam off the club."

Derek scowled. "Of course, we should have. He was about to oust us and we needed to take away his power."

Joe snickered. "Well, he is about to get it back in a thousand fold. Adam is set to be one of the richest and powerful men in the country that no one can contend with. We just stressed ourselves and lost a good man for naught."

Derek hissed at them. He couldn't believe they were already regretting what they had done. A bunch of weak livered men, he growled to himself at them. He knew they would betray him like that if that was how he needed them to testify on his behalf.

He growled, impatience filling his blood. "Would you men get it out already? What is all this suspense all about?"

"Adam is getting married to the only daughter of Matthew Hussey." Joe told him.

Derek gasped and gaped at him in disbelief. "You are kidding, right?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not at all. It's all over the blog. You need to see their pictures all over the internet. The two of them look so loved up."

Derek was amazed. "But Mathew is very wealthy and he has just one daughter. How can he let his daughter fall in love with a man as broke as Adam?"

Joe nodded. "That was what everyone else also thought of. The bloggers speculated that Adam probably romanced Veronica in order to get in touch with her father so he could save his family's business."

"What has Mathew got to say to that?" Derek was intrigued. He knew a cold, calculating business man like Matthew would never agree to his daughter to be married to a broke ass like Adam who had nothing but his fine face to give. He knew he wouldn't give his daughter out in such a marriage if he was Matthew.

Nathan laughed. "That's the most funny thing. He said he doesn't care who his daughter gets married to as long as she is getting married and happy and that he knows Adam has a good pedigree and he is ready to help his failed business and nurture it back to life as he would his own business."

Joe nodded. "The internet is on fire analysing the match between the two and rejoicing over how the stars never forsake a good man."

Ethan groaned. "It's good that things worked out for Adam but I hope he remains quiet over the Leo's club."

Nathan nodded. "We can always deny him if he levels up accusations against us. We can always tell the cops that he is lying against us because we refused to let him keep being a member of the club."

"Good." Ethan nodded. "Can we get back to the business of the day now? Enough of talking about a man who was once a friend and member."

Derek scowled. Though he nodded to what they were saying but he could barely concentrate. His mind was filled with anger, hatred and irritation towards Adam.

What a lucky bastard. He hated that the fate was also helping him and on his side. When he was finally happy he had run the man he was envious of to the ground, fate found him a way to get back up stronger. He wanted to tear his cloth and roar to the sky. What nonsense!

He had thought he had crushed his business. He got a conglomerate. He had thought he had desecrated his name, now he was more spoken about on the internet than before. He had thought he had snatched from him his girlfriend whom he loved so much, cruel fate got him a wife.

He hissed at the world. Why was the universe hard against him and kept on favouring Adam? He wondered. His wishes were not much. Just to see Adam become a scrap of what he was and him taking his place but it was getting hard to have his dream.

He hissed. Just when he thought he had had it all. The universe was cruel. What was it about Adam that everything and everyone liked him instead of him. The world had forgotten that they once soiled and mocked him when he lost his fortune due to the series of misfortunes that happened to him.

Derek growled, his fists hardening. The world had forgotten but he would make them understand. 

He would show Adam and the world again that he deserved the favours he received and not him. His life belonged to him.

"Our dealers have increased and we need to increase the supply of drugs we buy."

Derek nodded, wishing they could all be done with whatever it was they wanted to say and get out of his space. He needed to think. Though he had called for the meeting, he couldn't wait for them to leave.

He gave a long sigh of relief as the meeting ended and everyone moved to their various offices. As soon as they were gone, he turned on his data connection and searched for news relating to Adam.

He growled as he feasted his eyes on the pictures floating online and shook his head as envy reared up in him. 

"The lucky bastard." He growled.

His men hadn't been lying. Veronica was smiling at Adam like he was the sun in her world and Adam gazed at her like she was a precious gem and he would do anything to make her feel safe.

Derek doubted Adam and the lady were in a sincere relationship as they showed themselves to be. He knew Adam wasn't a cheating type and he loved hard. He couldn't have fallen in love so soon with Veronica.

He was certain he was using the poor lady to get his business back on track. Derek couldn't deny that Adam was a handsome man and also a smooth and sweet talker. That was one of the things he hated about him. Even ladies who he didn't smile at would leave him and flock towards Adam once he entered a room, even if he was enjoying a conversation with him.

He scrolled through the news, his eyes popping out as he read the contents.

"What!" He almost screamed out loud.

How could they be getting married in less than two weeks? No, he shook his head. This wasn't a whirlwind romance or a love at first sight bullshit they were forcing down the throat of the media.

Adam had done his magic with his looks and words again and the universe had foolishly danced to his tunes just like his to-be wife.

Derek looked at the lady again, amazed at her beauty. She should be smiling like that to him and not to Adam. She didn't deserve to be used by Adam like that in a loveless relationship.

He deserved the lady and the wealth of her father not Adam and he was going to get it. He was going to get everything he deserved in life that fate was hellbent on giving to Adam