Chapter 111 He Can Give You, I Can Too
"Bella? Are you even listening to me?" Brian tapped the edge of my plate with his fingertip.
Seeing no response from me, he raised his voice, "Bella!"
I jolted back to reality and spat out the egg tart foil from my mouth.
The morning sunlight fell on Brian's furrowed brow as he looked at me in confusion.
We were having breakfast, but I couldn't stop thinking about Lucas's proposal for cooperation yesterday.
I hadn't agreed to Lucas, yet I couldn't forget his words, his expression, or his breath that made my skin burn hot whenever he got close.
Lost in thought again, I'd eaten another piece of egg tart foil.
Brian reached out to touch my forehead, "Have you been too tired lately? You must have too much work piled up. See, we really should have Gale come back to help share the load."
I quickly shook my head, "Work isn't tiring! I just didn't sleep well last night. Dawnharbor has way more work than here, Gale is even busier than me, we can't ask him to come back."
Brian puffed out his cheeks and muttered, "You're always defending him. He's not busy with work, he's clearly busy dating."
"Isn't that a good thing?" I smiled with my eyes crinkling, "If things go well, we might have a little baby in the family this year."
Brian's eyes lit up instantly, the dissatisfaction on his face vanishing, "That would make the house lively."
After a while, Brian asked me, "The Chaotic Zone has been getting more and more restless lately. Are you really confident about becoming the master of the Chaotic Zone?"
I nodded slightly, "Yes."
Brian gazed at my calm and confident expression, "Just ask if you need help. Gale, me, Marcus—we'll all do everything we can to help you."
I showed a sweet smile, "I know, you'll always be my strongest support."
After breakfast I headed to the hotel. I'd just finished handling several urgent documents when the internal phone rang.
James said, "Ms. Sorelli, Jonas is here to see you."
Not long after hanging up, there was a knock on the door. Without looking up, I called out, "Come in."
Jonas pushed the door open, his face showing undisguised fatigue.
He walked straight to the sofa as if he owned the place, collapsed backward, stretched out his limbs against the backrest, his voice lazy and hoarse, "I just got off the plane, been traveling all this way, tired and sleepy."
I was pressing the intercom to have my secretary bring coffee, but hearing this, I changed my mind and asked her to bring hot sweet milk and butter cookies instead—eating something sweet when tired helps restore energy.
I looked at Jonas on the sofa, almost dozing off with his eyes closed, "You came here specially, is there something you need from me?"
"What?" Jonas slowly opened his eyes.
I looked at him puzzled. If there was no business to discuss, why didn't he go straight home to rest after getting off the plane, instead making a detour to come here?
Jonas sat up straight, rubbed his temples, and said somewhat helplessly, "I haven't seen you in so many days, I just wanted to see you, so I came here as soon as I landed."
He paused, "What about you? Did you miss me? Even for just a second?"
I nodded slightly—if it was just for a second, then I had indeed thought of him.
Jonas let out a soft sigh, "Looks like I still have a long way to go before I can win you over."
"Giving up would be much faster." I shrugged, my tone flat, "We're better suited as friends."
Jonas didn't want to dwell on this topic. His expression became more serious, "I heard you went to the Chaotic Zone. Are you starting to fight for territory? Do you need my help?"
"How do you plan to help me?" I raised an eyebrow slightly.
Jonas said, "My family also has some interest in the Chaotic Zone."
I immediately shook my head. The Chaotic Zone's territory was only so big—if his family got involved to take a share, I'd end up with even less.
Seeing my quick refusal, Jonas added, "I can also help you in a personal capacity."
I still didn't agree.
Jonas's personal power was already less than Lucas's, and his base wasn't in Starstream City. If he rashly deployed large amounts of weapons and personnel here, Lucas couldn't possibly remain unaware, which would only cause more trouble.
Jonas looked dejected and disappointed after wanting so badly to help me but being repeatedly refused.
"Have you already decided to work with Lucas? Bella, working with Lucas comes at a price! You should know very well what he wants!"
"If saying a few nice words to sweet-talk him, or sleeping with him can expand my influence, then there's nothing wrong with that." I folded my hands on the desk, looking at Jonas across it, my tone completely calm.
His eyes widened, "You, you would actually think that way?"
"Jonas, you might have the wrong idea about me." My fingertips tapped lightly on the desk, "I've never been some perfect good woman. To achieve my goals, I can use any means necessary."
Jonas's expression kept changing, then he walked toward me, placing both hands on either side of my desk, leaning close.
The distance between us shrank to just 3 inches. As he tried to get even closer, Cole and Adrian immediately stepped forward, standing on either side of me.
"Whatever Lucas can give you, I can too." Jonas took a deep breath, as if making some kind of resolution, "Give me some time, I'll transfer my forces to Starstream City."
I softened my tone to comfort him, "Jonas, you're too tired today, go home and rest first."
Jonas stared at me, slowly showing a bitter smile.
Just then, the internal phone suddenly rang. I instinctively pressed the speaker button.
James said urgently, "Ms. Sorelli, Mr. Valeri is here."
I couldn't help rubbing my temples. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jonas looking eager and ready, anticipating a confrontation with Lucas.
I asked into the phone in a deep voice, "James, is there anything else?"
James paused for a few seconds on the other end, then said, "The important meeting at 3 PM is about to start. Do you need me to postpone it?"
"No need to postpone." I said decisively, "Tell Lucas I don't have time to see him."
After hanging up, I made a "please" gesture to Jonas, "You should go too."
During the meeting, I learned that Lucas and Jonas had met outside the hotel, exchanged a few words, and parted on bad terms.
After the meeting ended, Lucas called. I held my phone, hesitated for a few seconds, then pressed answer.
"What is it?"
"Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together."
"I'm not free." I didn't even think about it and refused directly.
It wasn't that I hadn't considered accepting Lucas's proposal to take a shortcut, but my brothers would definitely be very angry if they found out.
Taking over the Chaotic Zone without relying on anyone wasn't difficult for me either, it would just take more time.
Night fell and the lights came on.
"You said you weren't free, I thought you were just brushing me off, turns out you really are busy." Lucas pushed open the door to my office.
"How did you get in?" I asked in surprise.
Where was James? Where was the security team? Had he taken them all down?
The next second, the office door was pushed open again. James rushed in with several Soldatos, out of breath, "Ms. Sorelli, sorry! We couldn't stop Mr. Valeri."
My anxious heart settled. I waved my hand, "It's fine, you can all leave."
Lucas ignored the people who came in, carrying several elegant food containers in his hand. He casually set them on the desk, then walked to my side and grabbed my right hand without asking.
"What do you want to do?" I frowned and struggled.
Lucas gently rubbed my reddened knuckles and the base of my thumb. From holding a pen for so long, my right index finger unconsciously twitched slightly twice.
He massaged my right hand with gentle movements, "I wanted to have dinner with you. You weren't willing to come to my place, so I had to come here myself."