Chapter 48 Chapter 48: The Heavy Weight

Chapter 48 Chapter 48: The Heavy Weight
Alaric Stone's POV:

After I had set all that, I decided to remain silent. I wanted to sit there and let everything I had said sink in before I said anything else. Corvin was very good at what he did. No matter, he was still asking for a lot of information. Information that I was still obtaining myself.

A lot was about Leila's name, her location, and the specifics that would lock her into a document that she'd never consented to. If I can help it, I would ensure that she would never see it until it was already done. I give all of that specific information to him... but not just yet.

I wasn't going to give anything to him until I knew what the fee was. And not until I knew what a man like Corvin did with leverage. He wasn't the kind of person who entered into an agreement without knowing the stakes and attempting to be able to hold something over the other's head to ensure that everything went according to his plan, not theirs.

I wasn't going to be fooled. I wasn't going to allow Corvin the upper hand on my part of this. I was going to make Leila mind one way or another. I was going to make it so that she didn't have any other choice. How and when that came to pass would certainly stand the test of time.

As I continued to sit there, I noticed that Corvin was watching me. I was doing the same. I was watching him back, ensuring not to waver in my position.

"Sit on it overnight if you must," I spoke up, finally breaking the dead silence. "But no longer than that. I want this file before anyone else has the opportunity to find her. And that goes for her uncle too."

Corvin turned the pen once in his fingers before he set it down in front of the position where his hand was placed.

"Come back tomorrow," Corvin stated, his tone unwavering, just as well as mine. "Be here promptly at nine in the morning. Bring all the necessary details."

When he spoke his final statement, I didn't say anything else as I stood up to my feet. Beta Finn stood up right after me with little hesitation. The room seemed to have rearranged itself around the new geometry of the atmosphere in which everything was set.

Corvin, on the other hand, didn't budge in his position. He remained seated with his hands neatly folded atop the folder, looking up at us the way a man looks at whether he can't stop. I didn't say anything else. I didn't even bother to shake his hand. He didn't offer either. He didn't even offer when he first entered the room, taking his seat in his high-back chair behind his desk.

As I turned to head towards the door, I didn't bother saying another word as I took one last glance at the folder still open, lying there under Corvin's folded hands, neatly positioned in the center of his desk. Beta Finn was already moving, falling in right behind me, only he was half a step behind my pace as we made our way closer to the door.

Just as I was about to reach the handle, I heard Corvin's voice cut through the silence.

"Stone," Corvin called out in that emotionless manner.

This caused me to stop walking, but not so much to turn around. If he had something to say, then he would say it to my backside.

Whoever she may be, the girl for whom you request that I prepare a set of documents on your behalf," Corvin's words interrupted the silence. "I want you to ensure that she justifies the paper I am about to expend in her regard."

The silence almost burned in that moment. I had to quickly bury my anger and frustration as I refused to show any emotion. Then and only then did I slightly look back over my shoulder, but not so much as to fully turn around whenever I spoke.

"She is," I told him in that moment, my tone cut a bit more fierce than before.

And at that, I reached the handle, opening the door and walking out into the corridor. Beta Finn was quick on my heels, ensuring to close the door back as I continued on down the hallway. However, when Beta Finn finally reached my position, he ensured to keep pace right there behind me in the hallway.

That's when Beta Finn spoke, ensuring to keep his tone low when he stated, "You didn't tell them the name."

"I told him enough," I responded, continuing to look around as I made my way back up the darkened hallway towards the foyer. "

"He'll want more than that tomorrow," Beta Finn replied right then.

I couldn't help it as my jaw tightened, and I clenched my teeth together, trying not to lose my edge.

"He'll get it," I said through slightly gritted teeth. "Tomorrow and not a moment sooner."

We finally managed to reach the front entrance again, as I didn't allow Beta Finn to push his way around me when I reached the front door first. As we walked out into the night air, it hit me like a wave. The air was cooler out here, carrying a wet earth smell you could only get under the trees at the dead of night. It was almost serene if not for this deadly moment.

As I looked down the set of stairs positioned right in front of the doors, I noticed that Kael was right where we left him. He was sitting there behind the wheel with the engine off, his eyes positioned forward. He didn't bother to move until it was time to drive.

I walked up to the back passenger door of my blacked-out sedan, and this time I allowed Beta Finn to walk around me so that he could reach for the handle. I took my seat inside the vehicle when Beta Finn closed the door. I didn't bother to say anything. Beta Finn walked around and again took his seat behind Kale before he started the engine without having to be asked.

Just as the vehicle started to pull away, Beta Finn spoke, his tone still low, when he spoke, saying, "Her uncle is going to smell something is amiss if this isn't airtight."

It was in that very moment that I finally allowed my facial expressions to show emotion. I smiled, but it wasn't like my smile reached the corners of my eyes. I slowly turned to face Beta Finn sitting there beside me as we made our way back up the small gravel path lined with trees.

"That's the point, isn't it?" I spoke as I watched Beta Finn swallow rather hard in that moment. "Once Corvin signs it and stamps it with his seal of approval, her uncle Ryker's right goes out once her signature is next to mine. It will be one slick, quiet, and final move that he will never see coming."

I could see the uneasy tension growing in Beta Finn.