Chapter 786: Toying with Her?

Chapter 786: Toying with Her?

"Who is this, Mr. Long? Somebody doesn't know how to act."

The woman perched beside Simon — the one who'd been coaxing him with sliced fruit moments ago — traced lazy circles on his chest as she pouted the question at him.

Simon pulled the woman closer and pressed a kiss to her cheek, fingers toying with her hair, while his gaze moved openly and deliberately over Emily.

"Oh, she's nothing like you girls. She's the heir to the Day family."

The words sounded like a compliment. They weren't. Comparing Emily to women in a place like this was its own kind of insult, and everyone in the room knew it.

He let that hang in the air, then cocked an eyebrow at Emily. "Am I wrong, Ms. Johnson?"

Emily held her ground. She had crossed the room to stand directly in front of him, but she didn't answer right away. Instead, she turned her gaze to the woman who had spoken.

"You're right — we are pretty different." Her tone was mild, almost polite. "I have some business to discuss with Mr. Long. Would you mind giving us a moment?"

The woman knew exactly how to read a room.

She could see Simon wasn't treating Emily like anyone important. Business or no business, this man was her meal ticket, and she wasn't about to step aside for some girl who walked in off the street.

"I don't think so." She speared a piece of fruit and slid it between Simon's lips, her smile sharpening as she looked back at Emily. "Mr. Long needs to be taken care of. Think you can do that better than me? Say yes, and maybe I'll move."

Simon chewed slowly, watching Emily the way someone watches a show they're not sure they like yet — waiting to see her flustered, rejected, out of her depth.

What he got instead was something else entirely.

Emily stood there with the kind of calm that looked down at you even when she wasn't trying to. Like she was the one doing the appraising.

She was just a girl. She had nothing, held nothing. And yet.

Simon's expression shifted. Something like curiosity moved through his eyes.

The woman beside him caught it immediately. She pressed herself closer into his side. "Mr. Long — you're not actually into her, are you? You promised we're your favorites. Don't even look at her. Look at me. Am I not pretty enough for you?"

"Of course not, baby. You know you're my favorite." Simon brushed a kiss against her temple, easy and automatic, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

Emily had zero patience for this.

"Mr. Long." Her voice cut through the room, cool and flat. "Is this really how you want to do business? Or did you invite me here just to make a point — humiliate me and the Day Group along with it?"

Emily was done playing soft.

Simon hadn't even opened his mouth before his companion jumped back in. "Humiliate? Honey, how did you even end up running the Day Group? That's what I want to know."

Simon seemed to enjoy that. He leaned back into the sofa, arms spread wide along the back cushions — the picture of a man who believed he already held every card.

"I called you here because I was willing to give you a shot," he said, his eyes moving over Emily with slow, deliberate interest. "Whether you take it is up to you. You're easy on the eyes. So here's my offer — you keep me company tonight, make it worth my while, and I'll sign the renewal. We keep doing business. Simple as that."

The woman beside him stiffened. "Mr. Long… you really do want her, don't you? She's probably not even — I mean, it's not like she could take care of you the way we do."

Simon's patience ran out faster than his interest in Emily had appeared. He nudged the woman aside with one hand, not even looking at her. "Alright, enough. Since when do you get a say in what I want?"

He turned back to Emily, his gaze sharpening. "Think it over carefully. This offer won't come twice. The Day Group has been bleeding since Calista stirred things up, and now Otto crawls back from the dead — that's a lot of turbulence for one company to absorb. If I walk away from this deal, trust me, I'm not the last one who will."

A threat, clean and simple.

And not an empty one.

If the Long family pulled out, it would send a signal — that the Day Group was slipping. Other partners would start doing the math. Renewals would get harder. Exits would get easier.

But Emily had already done her own math.

She hadn't come here afraid. She'd come to take the measure of the man currently running the Long family — see if the reputation matched the reality. She'd been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. A familiar partner, steady history, maybe worth keeping.

She had her answer now.

And there was something else she'd clocked, something she filed away quietly. This man didn't see women as people. He saw them as inventory. Which meant the things he'd done in private were almost certainly worse than anything on display tonight.

"Sounds like you've got this backwards, Mr. Long." Her voice was even, unhurried. "I came here for a partnership — something that works for both of us. But if your version of a deal looks like this, then we don't have anything to talk about. I'm done here."

She turned to leave.

"Stop right there."

Mr. Long wasn't done.

One look was all it took. A bodyguard stepped into Emily's path before she reached the door.

Emily's eyes narrowed, just slightly.

In the low amber light of the room, something shifted behind her gaze — quiet and cold and not quite visible yet. Simon didn't notice. No one in that room did.

"Mr. Long." Same even tone. Not a trace of fear. "We're not doing business. That's my call to make. So why exactly are you blocking my exit?"

That steadiness — the complete absence of panic — knocked Simon out of his lounging ease. He sat up straighter. His interest, already lit, burned a little hotter.

"Relax. You just got here." He rose from the sofa and started toward her, unhurried, like a man who owned the floor he walked on. "You didn't give me what I wanted, and now you're just going to walk out? That's not a great look for me. You understand."

Emily didn't move. Didn't flinch.

And then — something changed.

A flash of something crossed the depths of her eyes, there and gone. And slowly, deliberately, the corner of her mouth curved up.

"You like games, Mr. Long?" The smile stayed. "Fine. Let's play. But just drinking is boring, don't you think? Let's make it interesting."

Simon studied her face, searching for the catch.

A minute ago she'd been ready to walk. Straight-backed, all business, not an inch of give in her. Now she was smiling at him like that, talking about interesting.

That word alone did something to him.

He smiled back — slow, a little crooked, carrying an edge. "Interesting how? Walk me through it."

"We play a game. Loser of each round takes off a piece of clothing. How's that sound?"

Simon had been running through possibilities — trying to guess what a woman like her would pitch as exciting. She looked like the type who played by the rules, maybe bent them if she had to but never too far.

He'd half-assumed she was only saying it to hold his attention, buying herself time while she figured out an exit.

Then she said it.

His eyes lit up. His whole body leaned into the idea before he'd even processed it.

"Done. But playing in this private room?" He shook his head, and the grin that spread across his face was slow and predatory. "Where's the fun in that? If we're going big, we go out to the main floor. Let everyone watch. That's how you make it interesting." He paused, tilting his head. "Unless you want to forfeit right now. Stay in here. Just the two of us. All you have to do is make me happy."

He was working himself up now, riding the momentum of his own fantasy.

Emily's mind went cold and clear.

She'd known. She'd known exactly what kind of man he was the moment she walked through the door, and everything since had only confirmed it.

This was arrogance dressed up as a dare. He was certain she'd lose. Which meant she'd either fall apart in front of a packed room, or she'd fold right now and give him what he wanted.

He thought those were the only two options.

Emily met his eyes without hesitation. "Fine. The main floor it is. If we're going for a thrill, that's definitely the way to go."