King of My Heart

22. "We have a plan."

(2464 words)

I made a stop at Ariana's place after college the next day after having learned that Zayn was there too. There was something I wanted to talk to him about. I had texted Ethan, letting him know.

"I hope I didn't disturb your privacy." I spoke sheepishly to Zayn and Ariana. Ariana gave me a 'are you serious' look.

"Don't be silly, Ana. We're happy to have you here." Zayn said to me politely with a warm smile.

"Zayn was about to leave though." Ariana told me.

"Really?" I looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah, I need to get back to work. Can't let all the work-load be on Ethan's shoulders." He replied.

"Don't leave yet, please. There's something I need to talk to you about." I requested as I watched him grab his car keys.

"Is everything alright?" He asked me with concern on his face, letting go of his keys and sitting down on the bean bag in front of me. Ariana also watched me with curiosity.

"Is everything okay at work? Any problems?" I inquired.

"Yeah, the usual. Why?" He responded, confused.

I shrugged my shoulders lightly. "Ethan seemed tensed about something and he wouldn't tell me about it."

"Oh that...." he trailed off, looking elsewhere.

"What?" Ariana and I asked in unison.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Ana. It's just business stuff. We'll handle it." He said.

"Are their any issues with some client or party?" I questioned.

"No, no such thing. Like I said, you shouldn't worry about such things. Ethan and I will take care of it." He assured me.

"I'm sure you guys will take care of it, but I'm concerned. Why won't you tell me?"

"Yeah, you aren't even mentioning it. What's up?" Ariana spoke up as well and I mentally sighed contentedly. Maybe now he would tell.

Zayn sighed. "It's Caleb Greene..." Unnecessary memories rushed to my head at the mention of his name.

"Ethan must've picked up a fight with him or something after those photos, right?" I prompted.

"He would have, but you know the events that occurred afterwards. He couldn't. It's not that."

"Then what is it, Zayn? What's all the suspense about?" Ariana pressed.

He sighed once again. "Long story short, Caleb Greene has been purchasing some of the projects that we've been associated with or were going to be associated with. He keeps on expanding his business; weird thing is, he hasn't been doing any investments. Now, he is no doubt a billionaire and filthy rich, but the money he's been spending is raising questions. No way is it coming from his business.... basically it's just sketchy."

I blinked my eyes, not understanding anything. Ariana also had a confused expression on her face, like every word had flown over her head. "So, why is Ethan stressed? What does this have to do with you guys?" I questioned.

He took a deep breath. "It's a threat to us. He's using all means to keep us from expanding our business. The worst thing is, it doesn't seem like he's getting all that money from fair means. He might start purchasing our company's shares very soon, too. That could result in our downfall."

The thought scared me. "Have you found out what the source of his money is?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. It doesn't seem to be very simple though. We think he has a hidden business- an illegal one." He explained.