Bet Of Love

Chapter 8

Bria

The next day I'm headed to Valen's office, and I see a man waiting in front of the door. I recognise him. He's the man Valen signalled to grabbed hold of that woman yesterday...

He walks over to me and does a quick bow. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Johnathan, I'm the manager of this hotel. We're used to Mr. Hayes' extravagant tendencies but—" His dismay is apparent on his face.

"I appreciate your concern but I was the one who agreed to his conditions. What's done is done. I said I would go with him."

"Well then, if you insist. Mr Hayes is in his office. Take care not to offend him." I nod and with that he disappears into the elevator. I guess he's used to being forced to deal with Valen's unreasonable whims.

I go to the door and raise my hand to knock on it lightly, and wait until I hear him telling me to go in.

On the other side of the door, Valen cuts an imposing figure. He's seated at his wide desk and watches me stroll in with my black heels clacking against his marble floor. "You look stunning." He gets up and saunters to me, his sensual vision glued to the black satin draped dress on me.

"I bet other women fall for you in seconds when you say things like that."

"'Other women' being the crucial turn of phrase..." He reaches out his hand to touch my arm but I delicately brush it away.

"Unfortunately, I intend to do more than simply stand around and look pretty. I view this as a business trip."

"You mean you're going to satisfy me as a business partner?"

"All I want to do is live up to your expectations... as a business partner if I can, of course." I plaster a wide smile as I make a point of emphasising on 'business partner'. This causes his mouth to quirk up into a smile. "But first, regarding the bet... Am I correct in understanding you're the one who decides who wins and loses?" He chuckles at my question.

"This is going to be tough, isn't it? But it'll be that much sweeter when I do get you to fall for me."

"You've already decided that you're going to win?"

"Don't be ridiculous. A bet is only fun because you don't know who the winner will be until the very end."

"Let's talk business, shall we? I get the impression that Johnathan is your secretary as well, other than being the hotel manager."

"I have a number of secretaries, but Johnathan's the one who really handles everything. You could say he's the de-facto head secretary."

"In that case, I'll be sure to ask him about any questions in regards to your schedule in London."

I guess that you could say that was a declaration of war.

"I see. Looks like you want to take this business partner thing seriously."

"I think it would be easier for you that way too. That way there's nothing to cover up. Or do you frequently ask women to accompany you abroad?"

"You're the first woman I've ever asked to do this. Oh well, this is exactly the kind of question I'd expect from the woman who unflinchingly glared at me straight in the eyes yesterday."

No matter how direct I get, he never seems the least bit offended by what I say. On the contrary, he must be looking forward to hearing how I'm going to challenge him next.

I guess you don't get to be the second richest person in the world without developing a thick skin.

With our little back and forth complete, he picks up a remote control and a large monitor appears. On there is the map of 'Hayes Hotel', which surrounds this hotel.

"I have an intuition that you're going to be coming to the hotel often so memorise everything I'm about to tell you." I nod in response. "The executive office floor, in other words is off-limits to the general public. As far as this room goes, not even Johnathan comes in here regularly."

"But women are a different matter entirely?"

"You love to cut straight to the point, don't you?" He laughs when I remind him the scene I walked in on. "The floor above this one is my private residence. It can be accessed via a secret stairwell, but typically, no one's allowed up there but me."

"Not even your lady friends?"

"Not even them." Wow, I would've thought he brought women up to his place all the time. Does that mean his proclivity for mixing professional with personal doesn't go any farther than this office? "Curious about what's upstairs?" He says, reading my mind.

"You could say that... I'm curious about how Valen Hayes spends his private time."

"I'll bring you upstairs when the time is right. Like for instance, if I win this bet... I'll bring you upstairs even I have to drag you. Basically, if you want to go upstairs, all you have to do is throw the bet." Oh, he'd want that, wouldn't he.

"I don't think that's ever going to happen though." I'm confident it won't.

"There could be an unanticipated twist right at the last second, that the best thing about a bet. Who knows?"

I'm determined to win this: losing to him is not something I'd want.