𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

Chapter Two

...........

It was pouring hard when Matthew drove to the office the following morning; the sound of the rain pelting on the windshield was irksome to his ears. Usually, he enjoyed it, but it was different this time. He wanted to think about the evening dinner party, the one he didn't want to attend but had to since some government officials would be present. His team was repeatedly advising him to fraternize more with them because he was planning on buying a network and wanted licenses to be issued without much fuss or bringing up last year's incident where the senate summoned him to answer whether his company had been responsible for sharing or selling his user's details to a foreign country resulting in numerous ads bombarding users or raising the fact that he had been a person of interest the same year in regards to a Mexican drug lord.

While he answered the first allegation confidently, the second was a little bit complicated. But he got away with it because even though his jet was seen, it wasn't found in the area the drug lord was said to have been at the time, and therefore no proof. But he had confirmed that he had given it to Romano Bellucci—a New York and Italian businessman, which the authorities had established to be the truth.

But he couldn't concentrate on what mattered because he was thinking about what would happen after the party. His after-party, so to speak. Matthew wanted to see Capri again; maybe she wasn't as captivating as she had been the first time, perhaps the image he had of her was just a mirage his imagination had created, an exaggeration of how alluring she had been.

Matthew drove through his company's gate, parking in his assigned space, his jaguar in the middle of two of his security detail's cars, both black Mercedes-Benz. Before he could open the door, Pete—his main bodyguard, stood holding an umbrella over Matthew's head.

"You know I could scurry to the entrance; it's right there, " Matthew pointed out to Pete, taking the umbrella from his hands.

"You pay me to protect you, sir."

"Not from the rain, I don't." Pete chuckled and said, yes, the rain was part of the package. Without arguing, Matthew harried to the entrancing, turned, and shook the rain off, but before he could fold it, Isaac—his personal assistant, took it from his hands.

"What is wrong with people around here thinking I can't do simple tasks?" Matthew snapped, releasing the umbrella from his hands; Isaac apologized, following him with a notebook in the other hand.

"Good morning, Mr. Ocean, " the reception greeted him, throwing a suggestive smile at him, a pen between two of her fingers; her long nails painted red drew his attention for a second while he waited for his private elevator door to open. As attractive as she was, there was no way in hell Matthew would ever get involved with any of his employees.

Entering the elevator with Isaac beside him, Matthew exhaled softly, gently rubbing the nape of his neck; he had barely slept yesterday, so he was a little tired, his muscles felt stiff and sore "how is my schedule like?" he asked, exciting the elevator to walk into the office, saying hello to his secretary Mrs. Rodrigos. While the whole building housed Ocean corporations, the 22nd floor was his alone. It gave him privacy and the security he needed.

"You have a charity dinner this evening, " Isaac began, flipping his small notebook. Every personal assistant he knew carried a phone and a tablet, even Mrs. Rodrigos had a tablet, yet Isaac was still stuck in the analog world.

"I thought it was a party, " He mumbled, sneezing loudly.

"You don't look well, sir." Mrs. Rodrigos said from the door, carrying some tablets and a glass of water.

"You should take some aspirin, " she placed the glass on the table, holding out her hands to him. Matthew opened up his palm, and she put the two pills on his hand, then stood by watching him like a hawk until he shoved both into his mouth.