A New Life (Modern Sasuke Uchiha Love Story)

A New Life (Modern Sasuke Uchiha Love Story) Ch. 45

"Do you have everything?" he asks quietly, looking me over quickly.

I give myself a quick pat down to search for my phone, which I either keep in my bra or in my pocket, before realizing that I have it in my purse instead.

God, I hate purses. They're so annoying.

"Phone, wallet, keys," I double check the black bag quickly, thumbing through the items as I listed them. "I think so."

"You don't need your keys. I have mine," he says, holding them up.

"I was going to take them just in case," I say, though I pick them up by the purple charm and palm them.

"I'd rather leave them here that way we don't lose them," he remarks, and I catch his gaze before shrugging and dropping them on the counter.

"Do I look all right?" I ask, adjusting the seam of my dress slightly so it's flush with my side.

"Beautiful, as always," he says, and I purse my lips as he offers me a small smile.

"Really. Do I look well put together? Or should I change?" I ask him, doubts creeping in on me. Maybe this wasn't formal enough for this kind of meeting...

"You look gorgeous. Now we need to get going or else we'll be late," he states, taking my hand to give it a tiny squeeze.

"I just... I'm so not ready for this," I shiver and he squeezes my hand again reassuringly.

"It's a formality. The merge is already done," he tilts my chin up with his free hand so I'll look at him, and he looks cool and collected. "It's just a small party."

I sigh and nod, and he gives my nose a soft tap before releasing my face.

"Now we need to get going. It's almost an hour and a half's drive there," he reminds me, and I swallow and nod again.

I lead the way out the door, and he locks it behind us. As I drop into the passenger seat of his car, I check my god-awful purse one more time for everything I need. I can't help but feel like something is wrong, like I'm forgetting something.

"Relax, babe," he says as his engine roars to life. "You're fidgety."

"I've just never really had a big part in my dad's business," I admit, and he gives me a quick glance before backing out and pulling into the road. "I'm nervous."

"Well, you'll have to start taking part since you agreed to this merge," he enters the highway and checks his mirror before shifting over a lane. "They expect your company to pull its fair share. That means you need to be onto those who work for you more and know what's going on. You can't just leave it be and take the income."

"I was under a lot of pressure to accept the merge. Everyone seemed to benefit from it," I murmur, looking down to my hands.

"I know, and I'm proud of you that you did," he says, looking over to me. I can see the honesty in his gaze, and it warms my heart. "Not many people can let another company practically take theirs over. You're very selfless."

"They're not taking over," I mutter, looking to the occasional passing tree. "We're merging."

"When two big companies merge, Akemi, there's usually the bigger company and a smaller one. The bigger company pretty much swallows the smaller one and takes over," he explains patiently, shifting over another lane to pass a slow red sedan.

"The way he explained it was like we'd be co-owners," I frown. Had this guy pulled some quick one on me that I had totally missed?

"You will be. Which is why I find it extremely odd that he wants to merge with you. Why would he give up half of his power and money just for more people?" he asks, glancing up to me shortly.