With a maroon long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans on, Shawn sat in the main office of the construction company he started with his dad when he was in his early teens.
He mostly worked in the office nowadays, due to the fact that he used to overwork himself and one day ended up passing out in the hot sun.
He worked on organizing the office, which had looked like it went through a tornado thanks to the last manager he had in the office.
He barely had a moment off of his feet. He kept moving around the office with papers and receipts. He was thankful to have a bluetooth in his ear that was connected to the company cell phone he carried in his pocket. With a quick press of a button, he could book another job and file paperwork at the same time.
It also gave him a good distraction from the night before. Losing that job, for his other occupation, was a disappointing feat for him. He knew he'd have to accept it, but it was still too soon for him to be over it.
Bradley and Sam were out in the field on a job, which was where Shawn wished he could be--rather than at the office filing paperwork.
The company was the only thing that Shawn had left of his father. Shawn's dad drilled it into his head that if there wasn't a neat and competent filing system, then the whole company could very well sink. And after the last manager screwed everything up and made a mess of Shawn's office, Shawn wasn't sure that he could trust anyone else to take care of the company from home base.
Shawn couldn't lose the company. He couldn't lose the last thing that he had of his father.
When Shawn was just 15 years old, he helped his father start and build up Apex Construction Inc. into the business that it was. Shawn knew his father wanted to start his own construction company, and finally, after Shawn turned 15, he decided that he would help his father finally get his dream.
So, the two of them worked really hard to get the idea off of the ground. With money that Shawn had saved from yard work he completed around his neighborhood since he was 12, and with the money that his dad had also saved from working construction for another company, the two of them filed the correct paperwork.
Shawn's first--and only--real job was working for his father once the company was up and running. Everything he knew about running a business was taught to him by his dad--as well as through trial and error.
After his father's death, Shawn wasn't in a good space in his life. His mother had died when he was only ten of cancer, and he had no family left aside from his dad. After his mother had died, her side of his family disowned both Shawn and his dad. And because Shawn's father was an orphan growing up, he had no family either.
So, since the age of 10, it was only Shawn and his dad.
And then his dad was killed when Shawn was just 19 years old.
When he had gotten the phone call from the police with the news of his father's death, Shawn seemed to have lost his way. And after spending a lot of time in and out of the police station, answering questions and helping the police understand his father better so they could find his killer, Shawn had lost interest in the company and it had begun to sink slowly.
His father's case was left open but went cold after the police had spent a year trying to find the killer. Other cases took priority over the elder Keys' case and eventually all their leads had fizzled out.
But Shawn wasn't going to let the case go. He was all alone, no one else to live for, no one keeping him from staying out of trouble.
That was when he had decided to continue with the company. He wasn't going to let go of the last thing he had of his father. The only change that he made of the business was that it became a front.
Shawn started using money that came in from construction jobs to fund his secret life--trying to hunt down the man who killed his dad so that he [Shawn] could take his life like he had taken Shawn's father's life. He stole the files of his father's case from the police station in order to use them in his own investigation.
That was when Shawn was 20.
Now, he's 28, and still has been unable to locate the man who killed his dad. He found a suspect, based on the notes from the case files and further investigation of his own, but that suspect went underground--being tipped off about someone trying to find him.
"Are you sure this is the right place?"
The three girls looked at the building in front of them with uncertainty. The orange and forest green sign above the door read 'Apex Construction Inc.' There were men in wife-beaters tank tops and faded blue denim jeans with hard-hats on their heads.
Natalie could see Jade giving the men her flirty eyes as they walked by them, carrying long planks of wood with leather framer tool belts around their waists and checking the girls out as they passed.
A few of the men even whistled as they passed the girls. Jade and Bailey didn't mind the attention, but Natalie felt a little out of place. She crossed her arms across her chest and she scrunched up the upper part of her body. She looked down at her long-sleeved button-up plaid shirt, hidden beneath her leather jacket, and her black skinny jeans and then she looked over at her best friend and her sister.
Jade was wearing a white tank top tucked into a pair of dark blue capris. She wore a black leather jacket over the tank top, and the jacket was decorated in red roses and green leaves on the roses. On her feet were sandals with slender four inch heels and her hair rested in waves down her shoulders and back. She looked, as always, beautiful; and she knew that she did.
Bailey was wearing a purple dress with sleeves up to her elbows. She wore a pair of black tights with tan suede knee-high boots, with a gold chain necklace that had a black rose pendant at the end of it. Bailey was also confident in her looks, flashing soft and innocent flirtatious smiles at the workers as they passed her by.
But Natalie felt uncomfortable, even in her clothes. The workers even flashed flirty smiles at her and they admired her from head to toe, like they were curious about her. Most guys usually gave her curious glances when they passed her, because she always looked shy and reserved, and she knew that it usually turned them on more.
"Nat."
The older woman snapped out of her thoughts quickly and jumped at the sternness that was in her friend's voice when she said her name.
She shook her head, clearing her head, and looked over at Jade with wide eyes. "Wha-? Huh?" she questioned dumbly.
Jade gazed softly at her friend, noticing how uncomfortable she felt with all the men watching her. "I asked if you were sure this was the right place," she stated gently.
Natalie looked back up at the building and shrugged her shoulders. "This was the only place I could find in town with 'Apex' in the name," she answered her friends.
"And why did you pick this place?"
Natalie turned to look at her sister, who was looking at her as well.
"Shawn Keys, the owner," Natalie answered. "I ran his face through a software and I put a mask on his face. I think he's the man that showed up in the hotel room with us."
Understanding flashed across Bailey's face and she nodded her head once at her sister, before Jade elbowed both of them, bucking her head to gesture to something in front of them. The two girls twisted their heads and noticed one of the workers approaching them. "Can I help you ladies with something?" the young man--possibly between Natalie and Jade's ages--questioned kindly, smiling as he analyzed the three of them from top to bottom.
Jade could tell that he meant nothing by his actions, just a normal response of most men that interacted with them, but she could sense Natalie grow tense under his gaze. "Um, yes, please," Jade intoned smoothly. Her goal was to capture the man's attention and have it shifted solely on her, and she succeeded. "Do you know where we can find Shawn Keys?" Jade beseeched him smoothly. "You see, my friend here had a one night stand with him and she remembered he said he worked here. She just needs to get her jacket back from him," Jade mused.
Natalie wanted to shove Jade for the lie about the one night stand and she wanted to throw up as well, but she remained silent as the man suddenly looked at her with slight fear and wonder. So, apparently, this Shawn Keys character was a bit frightening and closed off to even his employees.
"Oh, um, yeah. I'll take you ladies to him," the man muttered to Natalie, and she couldn't help but observe how suddenly all of the admiration and lust he saw when he looked at her had diminished.
"Oh, thank you so much," Jade cooed as if she hadn't also observed how the man had immediately changed the way he looked at her.
Jade had to link her arm through Natalie's and pull her with them as they walked across the lot to the front office. Natalie couldn't help but glower at her friend and Jade just returned Natalie's glower with a big grin on her face.
The worker took off his hard hat and tucked it under his arm as he pulled open one of the double doors of the office building of the construction company. He allowed the girls to step inside before him and then he closed the door behind them as he stepped in with them.
"Uh, Mr. Keys, sir?" the young man called into the office.
A noise came from close-by, sounding like someone grunted in annoyance, and the girls could hear heavy footsteps coming toward them. Natalie turned her attention in the direction that the footsteps seemed to come in.
A tall man stepping into the main lobby. He had an athletic build; muscular and toned body, broad shoulders, and bulging biceps hidden underneath a long-sleeved maroon shirt with thick legs hidden by a pair of dark denim jeans.
He clutched a few sheets of paper in his hands, skimming through them with confusion and even a bit of anger. He was upset about something he must've read on the pages, but he lifted his head up when he entered the lobby.
His hands fell to his sides, the papers still clutching in them, and he looked at his employees. "Yes, Noah, what can I--"
His voice trailed off and Natalie lifted her gaze again to see that Shawn Keys' attention had fallen on her. His eyes had widened a little bit and she was sure his pupils were dilated.
"Bloody hell," Natalie could hear Jade mumble from beside her.
"You're not British?" Bailey muttered dumbfoundedly back at Jade.
"That's the hot guy from the shops the other day."
Natalie could hear the two of them mumbling back and forth and she could register their words but she had her eyes locked on Shawn.
He was totally and completely handsome. His sharp jawline leading to the front of his face, looking sharp enough to cut her hand if she touched his face. He sported a neat beard on his face, and the fact that he didn't wear a lot of facial hair seemed to make him more handsome to Natalie.
His stance was straight and confident, much different compared to Natalie's shy and demure demeanor.
"These young women were looking for you, boss," Noah stated slowly, taking notice in the way that his boss seemed to stare at the woman who was meant to be a one night stand.
Shawn was surprised to see this girl in his shop. A part of him wondered if she had somehow remembered him and located him. A part of him wondered if it was just a coincidence.
But either way, there she stood, in the middle of his lobby. She was even more beautiful than he had remembered. Maybe because the last time, her face was masked and she looked more like she was ready to die.
Shawn had to peel his gaze from the woman's apprehensive stance and turned back to Noah--the worker who had brought the girls into the office. "Thank you, Noah. I can take it from here."
Noah nodded his head once and quickly slinked out the front doors. And once the young man was gone, that was when Shawn seemed to have noticed the other two girls. His eyes widened noticeably more when he saw Jade, and Natalie remembered hearing Jade's conversation with Bailey just seconds before that.
"Wait a second--"
"Well, hello again, handsome," Jade cut him off, flashing a pearly white smile at him.
He cleared his throat and his eyes flickered back to Natalie briefly before he walked behind the countertop of the receptionist desk. "What can I do you ladies for?" he questioned. He set the papers in his hands down on the desk and then crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Natalie had shifted her gaze to the ground and reached into the inside pocket of her jacket. Jade observed the way that Shawn flinched and slowly lowered his arms. Her hand ghosted over her gun on her side, concealed by her jacket, as Natalie pulled her mask from her jacket and lifted it to her face.
She swiftly tied it behind her head and then glanced up at Shawn Keys. Now that she wore her mask, she became her alter ego. She stood up straighter, held her head higher. She felt more confident when her true identity was hidden behind that mask.
She watched Shawn's eyes widen and immediately he pulled a gun. Jade and Bailey were quick to draw their's as well, flanking Natalie and training their aim on Shawn.
"So, based on your reaction, I'm assuming that you know this mask," Natalie mused, a smirk growing on her now confident face. "Which means you were the man in the hotel room last night."
Jade smirked and cocked her head to the side when she saw the twitch on Shawn's lips.
"You have something that belongs to me."
Natalie giggled menacingly and shook her head, taking a step toward Shawn. "Sorry to burst your bubble, honey, but that envelope doesn't belong to you."
"How did you find me?" Shawn snapped at Natalie, keeping his aim focused solely on her.
"Well, you see, I opened the letter," Natalie began.
Shawn gave a knowing look at her. He chuckled dryly and shook his head with distaste. "And you were sent to kill me?"
The three girls shared looks with each other before bursting into fits of laughter.
"Oh, baby, you are way off," Natalie mused. Shawn scrutinized the way her demeanor changed with the addition of the mask on her face. Her façade changed, and she became independent and confident.
"Seems like we've got business to discuss."