His To Save

9) In power

               *****3rd POV*****
The older male presented the file to Annie, his eyes filled with a strange spark that Annie couldn't figure out.

The smile on his face betrayed his greed.

   Mrs Dayton frowned a little. She wasn't fully agreeing to the idea of getting involved with this 'vicious' organization. If it was up to her, she'd cut all ties with them. It'd be safer being distant from the group that would be the core of the coming war.

    
      Annie gave an appreciation nod and Mr Dayton went back to his seat.

  "Mmh! Not bad." Annie murmured going through the agreement.
All the terms were manageable. Nothing was out of place...sow why could she feels that there was still more?

   Upon winding up the reading, she passed on the file to Paul. Almost immediately, the door opened, giving way to Pattie and an employee that was carrying a brown tray.

     "Water for Miss Raynatt-" Annie's eyes flew at her immediately. Pattie gave a delicate chuckle. "Oops! I mean Miss Michaels." She corrected, wearing a mocking grin.

The timid female hurried up on serving the guests before hurrying out of the room.

   "Please, enjoy." Pattie smiled, ushering at the drinks.

Annie clenched her jaw, writing down all the times Pattie was crossing her. She'd settle all the debts some day.

     The tension in the air could be felt by all. Especially when the two females were exchanging low dangerous scowls.

  Mr Dayton suddenly chuckled, trying to ease the atmosphere. It wouldn't favor him if the situation escalated. And all for what? Jealousy?

    "Miss Michaels, please, feel welcomed. We're a family after all."

Family? Annie snorted reaching out for the glass of water.

   At the moment, any able organization was itching to befriend Black Blood for project Beta. They were a bunch of greedy old geezers with no sense of morality.

Annie knew. If the weapons in making did fall in their evil hands, the threat would spread outside the country. It'd affect the entire world.

   But she had to see through that the weapons would be made. The project was her father's legacy. He never managed to see it though due to the untimely demise. But she was here. She'd follow her father's footsteps and establish the most powerful organization in the world.

  The journey ahead was extremely dangerous and tiresome, but the results would be worth all the sacrifices.

      And her dream would start with these local organizations. She'd conquer them one after the other. After all, only the strongest could survive in this dark world.

   Annie put down her glass. It made a slight click as it sat on the glass table.

"What do you really want Mr Dayton?"

Her question took everyone aback. Especially Pattie.

She smacked the table shooting on her feet. "How dare you?" She hissed frowning.

    Annie huffed and leaned back on her chair in the most domineering posture. "You're too noisy Pattie." Annie brushed the fuming female like an annoying bug.

   Pattie could only gasp, shocked at the arrogance Annie was emitting.

      "You!" She cried pointing a finger at Annie.

  When she intended to rush around the table and confront Annie, her father intervened quickly. "Calm down!" He roared.

   "But dad..." Pattie pouted.

Mr Dayton said nothing more to his daughter. One intense glare was enough to knock sense in her brain.

Wearing a deep frown, Pattie threw her butt back on the chair, crossing arms under her breasts. "Hmph!"
    You're lucky this time little bitch.

Lucky?
Annie had worked her ass off for everything she had.

   "I'm deeply sorry about that Miss Michaels. She is yet to understand the basics of-"

  "Then she should leave."

There was a second of deep silence, before the older male chuckled nervously. If this went on, his chances of a contract would vanish.

   He faced his daughter, his face hardening like a rock. "Excuse us Pattie. I'll talk to you later."

   "But da-"

"Go on." Mrs Dayton's firm voice came. Everyone shifted their gaze to the quiet older female. She had observed enough, and was impressed by Annie's composure and arrogance. She might have been younger than her own daughter, but there was something in her brown eyes that spoke of toughness.

   Pattie bit her lip as she got up.
Sending a deathly glare at Annie, she strode out of the room, heels screeching annoyingly.

Thirty seconds whisked by, settling the atmosphere for better conversations.

      "I'm all ears." Annie spoke up, tracing the rim of her glass playfully.

"Um..." Mr Dayton started, feeling nervous. "I'd like to sign a contact with...with you."

   And there it was.

Annie snorted amused.
"And why is that?

   The other three exchanged gazes, and Paul's uncle stepped in.

   "For the sake of peace." Answered Kennedy. His eyes raked over to Paul, as if asking for his intervention.
But Paul ignored him and eyed Annie.
He trusted her. Trusted her judgment and decisions.

    "Peace? Are we at war?"

Kennedy's jaw clenched slightly.
He was aware of her reputation and arrogance, but experiencing it in person did sting.

   "You misunderstand Miss Michaels. Times are changing. You'll need allies to stand by you."

    Annie's eyes flew to her side, on Paul, then back at Kennedy. She restrained herself from the words she was about to utter. He was Paul's family after all. But that didn't mean that he could threaten her. With or without allies, Annie was determined to have the world in the fold of her hand.

    "When the time comes, I'll choose my allies myself."

   A weak frown descended on Mr Dayton's face. But he swept if away when Annie's eyes fell on him.

  "If there's nothing else-" she averted her gaze on Paul, "-let's wind up on the business we came here for."

Paul gave a short nod before fixing his attention on the file. One by one, he signed all the papers, ending his relationship with White Eagle.

--------------------------------

         "Do you think she'll reconsider?" Asked Mrs Dayton as they watched the three identical cars leave the underground parking lot.

  Her husband sighed defeated.
"It's hard to tell. The elders are crooked beings. But the leader is more difficult to deal with. Seems like we can only show our sincerity."

   Mrs Dayton snorted.
"Our daughter isn't helping much. Looks like we need to use the engagement. After all, it is still valid."

Her words brought a satisfied smirk on his lips. The engagement, he had almost forgotten about that.