Chapter 33

Azalea's POV.

“Mr. Miller and Miss Smith, what an honor to have you here,” Damon introduced himself but was cut off by his mother.

“I’m Laura Trumann, and this is my son Damon Trumann,” Laura jumped in to introduce herself. Despite the dwindling funds, she never gave up her fashion, for sure. “Alongside us is Lucas Doherty, he’s the current farm manager,” she pointed to Lucas. She kept up her sweet act, which I knew was fake.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Miss Smith and Mr. Miller,” Lucas said with a slight frown. Good. He’s not exposing me yet.

“It’s great to meet y’all,” I said politely, using the best Southern accent I could muster. I had worked with enough people on Jakob’s farm to mimic that accent now.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to hearing about the Trumann Belt. I’m here on behalf of the new owner of Tattlington Farms,” Rowan explained.

“The owner who hasn’t yet come to the public?” Laura asked with a slight smirk. “I do hope we get to meet them,” she hummed, clearly eager to find out who it may be.

“I think we should start with a nice refreshment. I know the flight must’ve been long,” Damon commented.

We were soon led to the ranch, but before we reached our destination, I noticed Lucas was walking slower, so I matched his pace. He veered off the path and headed to his shed instead. When he tugged at my sleeve, I followed him into the shed.

“Azalea, what the hell are you doing here?” Lucas asked as he closed the door behind him. He narrowed his gaze at me. Those beautiful whiskey eyes were on me with such authority. Lucas had his arms crossed over his chest, his biceps bulging and forearms on display from rolling up his flannel. Oh dear, these feelings rising within me are bad. I didn’t want to risk anything, so I toned myself down and reminded myself I was here for business, not pleasure.

“And don’t you dare pretend to be someone else,” Lucas warned, holding his pointer finger up. "You're unforgettable, even without sight, I’d still know it’s you within a heartbeat,” he said in a much softer tone.

I’m not sure if it was his intention to make me melt on the inside, but I sure did melt a little. Lucas is going to make this hard on me without even trying. All his sweet messages and occasional calls were easy to manage as I could convince myself we’d never become more since our jobs and distance wouldn’t allow it.

Now I stood before him. If this business transaction goes through, all the possible obstacles will be removed between us.

“Fine, I won’t deny that I’m your oldest friend,” I sighed and looked up at him. I wondered if he’d lie for me, and go along with my plan just because I’d ask.

“Now is not the time to joke. I mean it, why are you here?” Lucas asked again, worry laced in his tone. “You said it wasn’t safe for you to come back here,” he reminded me, looking over his shoulder for a moment before stepping closer to me. He took my hands in his and said, “I don’t want you to get hurt, Azzie.”

“Lucas, I truly love that you care about my well-being,” I said sincerely. “But I can assure you that I’m safe now,” I promised.

“Truly?” Lucas asked, excitement dancing in his eyes. I know what he must be thinking right now, but I’m not sure if I’d be moving back here. It would be dangerous for my heart, would it not?

“Yes, Lucas,” I confirmed. “I know this is a lot to ask from you, but could you do me a favor?” I asked, biting down on my lip as I looked at him.

“What is it you need, Azzie?” Lucas asked right away. Of course, he’d be ready to do anything. I should’ve known that. We’ve both grown, we are both mature now, and there was no more dancing around and causing issues between ourselves for no reason.

“Just refer to me as Miss Linda Smith, please,” I stated first. Him calling me Azzie or Azalea sure as hell would get my cover blown. I was already getting slight frowns from others, but I was sure they couldn’t pin a name to me yet.

“Okay… Linda Smith,” Lucas replied and raised a brow at me.

“I need you to keep this a secret,” I stated and began to walk around the shed. I made sure there was no one around to overhear what I was about to tell him. This needed to be kept secret at all costs.

Lucas frowned as he watched me go around to make sure it was just us two around and that no one was outside listening in on this.

“The man I worked for, Jakob Tattlington, he passed away,” I revealed to him, though I’m sure he knew that since it was plastered all over the news.

“I think I heard about that, yes,” Lucas shrugged off, then asked, “What does that have to do with any of this?”

“Well… He didn’t have any relatives, and the last year of his life was spent with me and Lynn…” I told him awkwardly, hoping he would understand where I was headed with this.

“Did he– did he leave something to you?” Lucas asked with a slight frown on his face.

“Something? Try almost everything, including his company, and I’m now on the board since I own the majority of shares he once did,” I revealed to him. I counted on him to keep this a secret like I had asked. If this comes out before I get to close the deal with the Trumanns, I can surely forget that deal.

“Az– Linda, that’s amazing, wow,” Lucas was baffled by the information just told. “How has it been?” he then asked, realizing that he missed out on a lot, and that was on me. I hadn’t exactly told him any of this during our chats or calls.

“A challenge and a learning curve, but Jakob had prepared me for this,” I admitted truthfully.

“Okay,” he nodded along.

“I got a file on my desk one day, Trumann Belt is looking to partner up with us, but I did some digging and saw how terrible things are going around here,” I explained, getting to the part on ‘why’ I was here.

“Yeah, we had to let go of many of our workers, and while I try my hardest to make everything run smoothly, it’s still harder since Damon constantly thinks he knows what’s best,” Lucas sounded frustrated. He butted heads with Damon, which was natural to happen.

“I know,” I mentioned and shrugged, “Which is why I want to buy the Belt outright.”

“What?!” Lucas choked out, his eyes widened at the mention.

“You and I know the full potential of this Belt, and while I hate Trumann, I know this place deserves far better, so I will buy it and make it prosper yet again,” I reminded him.

“I don’t doubt you for a second, Azalea,” Lucas smiled and reached for my hands, giving them a squeeze. “But I do wonder how the hell you’ll convince them to sell this place to you. It’s their pride,” he asked.

“I’ll make a damn good offer. I plan on keeping the same workers, and I can tell we’ll need more. I’ll personally see that this comes up and runs far better than it once did,” I said truthfully. I wasn’t planning to steal it from them, it would be a fair and square deal.

“So the made-up person?” He raised a brow at me.

“It’s to ensure they go into business. If they know outright that it’s me, I’m sure they’ll refuse it, which is why my lawyer is playing his part,” I said with a shrug, and he just smiled.

“You’re so damn smart,” he commented and carefully tucked a strand of my hair away. “Footsteps, someone’s near,” he handed me back my glasses and hat, and I donned those.

“This should be where they went,” Damon commented, and the door opened up.

I pretended to be interested in one of Lucas' woodworks, and he put on a show too. I looked at the door and saw Damon and Rowan standing there. Damon glared at Lucas for a moment, and Rowan just raised a brow at me.

“Look at this fine piece, boss-man,” I brought the wooden squirrel to Rowan. “Lucas over there handcrafted it; I didn’t believe him at first,” I said to Rowan.

“I assume you’re crazy about wooden sculptures then?” Damon frowned.

“Miss Linda said her boss loves those, so of course I showed them to her,” Lucas answered, and I subtly nudged Rowan. He grabbed it right away and admired it.

“This is excellent work, Mr. Lucas,” Rowan said, looking over at Lucas.

“Thank you, sir, you may keep it as a gift,” Lucas smiled politely.

“Well, now that that’s over with, how would you like a tour?” Damon asked, turning his attention to Rowan, but I could feel his eyes raking up my body, and it disgusted me.

“That sounds like a lovely idea, right Linda?” Rowan looked over at me.

“Yes, sir, you go right ahead, I’ll discuss these sculptures for another few minutes then we’ll catch up,” I promised.

Damon nodded and walked off with Rowan. Rowan glared at me for a moment; it was a look of ‘please don’t leave

me alone,’ but it would only be for a moment. The minute the two were out of earshot, I turned back to Lucas.

“I guess this means you’re in, right?” I asked.

His lips curled into a smile, “Of course, Azzie, I’d do anything for you.”