He couldn't resist the temptation of seeing her hazel eyes fire up. So instead of him explaining what he meant by his statement when it was obvious that that was what she was expecting, Maxwell merely paused and gave her a steady look.
Rilling her up was a bonus anyway. He was also thinking of what he should say that wouldn't have her send someone to throw him out.
He was known to be good with his words, but he was amazed that when faced with this woman, he wasn't as great as he had always thought.
Hey, your husband is fucking my sister, and I know that you know about that and their children. By the way, I suspected that you might have a hand in her arrest, and now I am here to make a deal with you.
Maxwell cringed at what the outcome of that could be.
She seemed to be done with waiting for him as she picked up the receiver and dialled a number. "Hello, yes. Come to my office right now. Someone needs to be escorted out. What are you doing?" She asked in outrage when he leaned over and disconnected the call.
He kept his arm's length from her as he raised his hand in surrender. "I come in peace. I just... I would want you to listen to me carefully and objectively, please," he said in a serious tone. He was amazed at how tense he had gotten. She must have detected it as well, because she told him to take his hands off the phone.
"Unless you wouldn't mind being thrown out, of course," she added when he hesitated. Maxwell quickly removed his hand and she put the receiver to her ear after punching numbers in. "Hi, yes. Hold off on that," and then, with her eyes on his, she added, "I will inform you if there will be a need for that."
"Start speaking, please," she said through gritted teeth. I have a meeting by ten."
Maxwell checked his watch to see that he had less than twenty minutes to make sense. She didn't look like she would be open to the extension of that time. He respected time as well, and he wouldn't want anyone to impose on his time unexpectedly.
He suddenly felt like a cad for what he wanted to say, and he started by clearing his throat. Then again. And again.
She raised her brow at him when he hesitated again.
Maxwell knew that there was no other way to say it than to say it.
He didn't want to lay it on her like that, though, so he started by saying, "Can I tell you a story?"
"A story?" she asked incredulously before pointedly looking at her watch as if to tell him that it was his cup of tea if he intended to use his few minutes to tell a story.
Maxwell looked at the time and decided to make it worth it.
*************************************
Reyona was tempted to doubt the sanity of the man. But then she had already given him her word to spare him a few minutes. Why a grown-up man would leave his place of business early in the morning to come to hers to tell her a story was beyond her, but she nodded for him to start.
And he started.
"I could be using this time to..."
Reyona felt as if someone poured ice water over her while poking her with a hot rod simultaneously He did not take his eyes off hers as he laid it on her. By the time he got to the part where the scorned wife decided to get revenge on the husband and his mistress, she desperately felt like pacing. She could feel her feet twitching in her shoes.
Something tells her that would be all the encouragement and confirmation he needed, though. A story he called it? Well, she would listen to it like one. She decided as she kept her face devoid of emotions while listening to him add assumptions to the facts.
How did he know? Who is this man? What did he want with me? Did he know me even before approaching me in that bar?
Her heart thumped hard, and she called herself all sorts of names when she realised how surprised he had acted when he saw her ring.
Had that been a game all along? The bastard knew. He knew that she was married, yet he acted as if she were the one full of deceit! He…
"What was it that he said the other time?" she tried to remember. She remembered just as he was rounding off his story.
"His sister! That woman is his sister!"
Anger propelled her body up almost unconsciously before she took hold of herself. With her eyes directed at his, she mentally scolded herself to take control. She took a breath without making it visible before she said in a steady voice, "Oh, that was a very interesting story, Mr. Rohan," as she looked at her watch and saw that he still had two minutes. Well, she didn't care.
"I believe that will be all, and your time is up too. Thank you for wasting your time and mine. If that story is in any way related to you, I can assure you that going to a psychiatrist would be the best option, sir. You don't need a CPA," she said tightly. She hated the fact that her anger was taking over.
"You are levelheaded, Reyona. You are level," she was repeating to herself before he disrupted her thought as he gave her a straight look devoid of his perpetually present smile.
"You know what I am talking about, Mrs. Lanoth," he said with an emphasis on her surname, which irked her.
"I can assure you that you are mistaken, Mr. Rohan," she repeated with emphasis on his name. "I can assure you that if you ever step foot in my company again with this kind of ridiculous time-wasting tale, you will be promptly arrested for trespassing. I don't care who you are. You had better believe that. Now, out of my office if you don't need an unceremonious escort to find your way out.
"You can't escape your own story, Reyona," he said, and the dam broke.
Hot lava of fury roiled through her. Blinding her to everything else but the urge to cut this arrogant bastard down to size.