"If he thinks that he can get away from trouble solely based on his good looks then he is wrong. I mean god may have been drunk or really distracted while creating him because it's literally not fair that he got all the good looks."

"You are never going to let this go are you?" I groan into the phone.

"No." I can hear his smirk through the phone.

"Well if I'm not wrong the next few lines were about some pretty creative insults I had written about you." I state.

"Yeah but it all ends with someone so hot shouldn't have such a shitty personality."

"That is not a compliment."

"Well I'd like to take it as one." He says,"I mean till now every page is about my good looks and how angry you get when girls throw themselves at me."

"You're an asshole, you know that right?" I say exasperated.

"Oh please I'm adorable."

"You're annoying."

"I'm adorably annoying."

I'm about to reply but just then the lady in front of me drops her phone making a racket.

"Where are you?" Jake asks.

"Running errands." I say the lie rolling of my tongue easily.

I still hadn't told Jake about the entire Michella incident yet. I am going tell him eventually but for now I was going to keep my mouth shut.

"Okay I'll call you later." He says.

"Bye."

I switch the phone off and sigh in relief.

"Clara Wilson?"

I look up at the assistant who regards me distastefully.

"Mr Henderson will see you now."

I stand up smiling. I had made sure to wear a pair of faded jeans and a loose cardigan, just about as casual as I could get.

I had no respect for this man and I certainly wanted to make sure he knew it.

"Wipe the scowl off your face sweetheart." I say in a sickly sweet voice to the assistant,"Or invest in better quality Botox."

With that I open the door and quietly shut it behind me leaving her dazed.

"Ash Miss Wilson, what a pleasant surprise."

I glance at the striking man in front of me. This was the third time I had properly seen him. During the Christmas dinner whilst sitting down and talking politely he almost seemed normal but in his Wall Street office he seemed more intimidating as well subtly threatening.

He looks at the door behind and raises an eyebrow slightly,"I take that my son doesn't know about your visit."

"He doesn't need to know." I say calmly clenching my fist behind my back.

"Please sit." He gestures to the seats in his office and I take my place in one of them and he sits across me. I can't help but admire the similarities between them. The same black hair and stature and the same hard green eyes that Jake has. But the difference is also startling. Whilst Jake's eyes are hard they are never cold or completely opaque like his fathers is.

"So I suppose you are here to discuss the deal I had put forth last time." He asks,"What's your price?"

"I don't make deals with the devil Mr Henderson." I say giving him a slight smile,"And I certainly won't make any sort of deal proposed by you."

He raises an eyebrow looking pleasantly amused.

"So then may I ask you the purpose of your visit," his tone is clearly amused.

"I want to strike a deal with you."

He laughs,"oh is that why? Let's hear it."

I grit my teeth and force myself to keep calm and not go all Jackie Chan on him, yet.

"You need to leave Jake alone."I say.

He leans forward his eyes glittering.

"And Miss Wilson please enlighten me as to why I listen to you."

I gulp slightly but I know that the small movement has not gone unnoticed by him.

"Because he is your son." I say my voice shakier than I wanted,"And if you care about him you will get off his back."

His look is calculating as he scans me intently.

"Miss Wilson you happen to be the daughter of one of my closest colleagues which has stopped me from treating you like very other whore my son has interacted with" he says calmly,"But I assure you that if this conversation fails to interest me which it currently is that treatment is going to come to a stop."

I'm quiet for some time before answering.

"You see Mister Henderson, I'm not sure what or who you think I am." I say softly,"But you know next to nothing about me."

"I know enough about you." He says,"You study in Seaview High and are a straight A student. Your closest friends are Samantha Adams and Rebecca Reynolds. Your best friend used to be Natalie Anderson who is the daughter of Daniel Anderson, freshman year you stopped being friends with her which must have something to do with the fact that she started dating your long time crush Alec, need I go on."

I look at him with a blank expression.

"By all means." I reply challenging him.

"You are not an impulsive person and neither are you a violent person but then again your recent fights with Miss Anderson suggest otherwise. You are the textbook model child good grades with not a single strike on your record, until my son came into your life. He has the tendency to ruin everything with his touch."

I shake my head laughing.

"You see Mr Henderson it doesn't bother me that you have done a background check on me."I say,"But I am a little insulted that you didn't think that I would have come prepared for your dirty little trick. I'm sure my IQ is somewhere there in your research. And while you say all of this it doesn't faze me at all after all Mr Henderson unlike you I do have better things to do than spy on teenage girls"

He looks at me slightly shocked not expecting my reply. I mentally high five my self for making him sound like a creep in the most diplomatic way as possible.

"I may have misjudged you Miss Wilson after all the last time I saw you, you were cowering behind my sons back whilst he tried to act like some foolish knight in shining armour."

"You see the last time I was in this office I was a different person." I say calmly not feeling intimidated anymore,"Now I'm here on my terms and with a reason"

"To tell me to stay away from my son?" He says raising an eyebrow,"Judging by the fact that he is my son I have more right on him than you do."

"See, don't take this as offensive actually I'll be damned if you do but I think you're a bastard." I say it so coolly that i can't believe that it's coming out from my mouth,"And your son is anything but. Heaven knows what the hell he did to get stuck with you. So my request is simple Mr Henderson that you stop pulling all the shit you are doing right now and leave Jake be because all you are doing right now is pushing him away and making him angrier."

A brief speck of anger travels through his eyes as he fixes them on me. That's when I realise that they have nothing in common. They don't even look alike because them in front of me had not even a bit of warmth and as much Jake tried not to, he wore his heart on his sleeve and just put on a tough act.

"Clara you told me not to underestimate you and I ask you to do the same." He says,"And as far as I know that you are not his keeper and you should certainly make beware that I'm the least of his threats."

"I don't intend to save him from you." I say,"I'm trying to save him from himself. From the part of him he hates because of you. See he hates himself because he is your son and he is conflicted with the fact wether he should just be your son or prove to himself that he is nothing like you and I'm worried that because of you he is going to do something that he won't be able to live with. Because you drove him too."

"Are you talking about his plan to kill me, Miss Wilson?"

That takes me by surprise and for a minute I'm so shocked and confused that I can't form a sentence. It takes me a while yo process what he has said and I try to wrap my head around his words.

"You know?" I sputter out finally.

He smirks and that expression on him makes me want to throw up on his expensive shoes.

"See the problem with you kids is that think you know everything." He says his smirk conveying the act that he is very well aware of the fact that he had the upper hand now,"See Miss Wilson what you fail to understand is that Jake is my son but unlike me he lacks conviction."

"Being a man with my power and riches does come with a fair share of enemies and I have learnt to be careful. Unfortunately my foolish son happens to be the chink in the armour and it's always been a habit of mine to track his movements."

I interrupt him before he can go on,"Must be a sad life when you can't even trust your own son."

He chooses to ignore me and continues,"My spies are everywhere and when one of them told me that Jake had approached one of the gang leaders son regarding this I realised that I could play this to my advantage."

"See Miss Wilson this was the perfect way to harden him and make up for his lack of conviction and focus. His hatred for me had made him focused and determined and I made sure to push all the right buttons that made his anger grew. "

"The plan was simple enough. I knew that although Jake had changed a lot he would never be able to actually go through with it. So there would be a fake assassination attempt on me which I would escape easily enough and the guilt would make him think that he owed me and then I would have him by my side, my chink in my armour as my strongest weapon."

I sit in silence for some time looking at the monster in front of me.

"The plan would have gone perfectly had his mother not made him move there." He says his green eyes boring holes into mine,"It would have gone perfectly had he not met you."

I look at him unmoving and silently not betraying even one emotion. His amused smile clearly indicated that he was enjoying the conversation.

"He had briefly helped your sister in the matter of her expulsion," He continues."And I had always approved of her to a certain extent after all she was smart and the perfect diplomat and Jeanine also approved of her. Jake didn't like her enough so I never had to be worried of her being a distraction. With her I would be rest assured that Jake would always put this company first."

"But then you came into the picture. The younger sister who no one knows about. You Miss Wilson are a chess piece I did not foresee and you underestimate his affections for

you. You are a distraction he can't afford and frankly is unnecessary. In the past three months you have managed to undo everything I have done in the past three years. You-"

"I did not do anything." I say,"I mean what sort of monster are you? You control your sons life as if it's a bloody game. You treat him like crap just so that your stupid useless crap of a company remains intact along with your pride. Your son is one of the nicest people I have met. He has learnt to act and push people away because of you. You are a monster."

My entire sense of diplomacy has vanished.

"I fail to understand how anyone can sink so low. Did you really let your son purposely find about your love affair so that you can-"

"ENOUGH!"

His voice is loud and out of control and for the first time I have cracked his calm aura.

I keep quiet but I don't loose my ground. I stare back at him calmly and coolly. He clenches his fist desperately trying to regain his control but he was failing.

"Jake told you?" His voice is a mixture of anger and shock.

"Yes." I say,"He did. He told me about her. Do you know why he hates you so much?"

"Because he refuses to believe that what I want for him is the be-"

"Don't delude yourself." I interject,"The reason he started everything was because he wanted to redeem himself for being your son. He thinks that you killed her Mr Henderson."

And the for the first time he looks like the rug from underneath his feet has been swept off and he has no idea what the hell is going on.

"What?"

His voice is shaky and unsure for once.

"Did you kill her Mr Henderson?" My voice is cold and so unlike mine that for a second I can't believe that it came out of my mouth.

"Would you believe me if I said no?" His calm sura has returned back but there is a certain sadness about it.

I stare at him for a few minutes and finally ask the question I had been thinking about ever since I decided to come and meet him.

"Alec is your son isn't he?"

His gaze doesn't even falter one bit as he stares at me.

"Does Jake know?"

I find his question extremely out of character but I shake my head in a quiet no.

"But I think he deserves too."

"And how did you find out Miss Wilson?" His voice is silent almost a whisper but lined with steel.

"It was a guess."

His eyes narrow.

"A guess?"

"Jake told me her name." I say slowly,"At first I thought it was a coincidence but then I thought as to why you are so close to Alec. It's because you feel guilty. That's why you asked his father to become the head of marketing so that he came here."

He stays silent.

"You're the reason Mr. Evans met your ex wife." I say,"Jake told me they met during a merger in your company. Which you invited Mr Evans too."

The silence is almost demanding waiting for one of us to break it.

"They deserve to know Mr. Henderson." I say slowly.

He looks at me intently.

"I may have underestimated you Miss Wilson but I believe you don't know who you are messing with."

"He is your son! Jake has a brother and you have another heir, I don't see how this a problem."

"You should know your limits. I don't need to explain anything to you."

It's true I know that I have overstepped my limits way more than I should have but now there was no turning around.

"But they deserve to know-"

"And you are in no place to tell them."

I look at him not breaking eye contact. It's true and I have nothing to say to him after that.

"Miss Wilson for someone so smart you are surprising foolish." He says softly,"You very well know that one wrong move and I can ruin you and your family."

"Is that a threat?"

"More like a promise."

I know I should have stayed out of this. I had no rights to interfere in between Jake and his father but now it was too late. But Jake concerned me.

"You may risk losing your son. Maybe both of them."

He raises an eyebrow and slowly raises his hands and claps.

"Well played Miss Wilson. It's a pity we aren't allies."

"I said I don't accept proposals made by assholes." I say,"Oops was that bastards oh wait no I got it, I meant devil."

"Well then I'll agree to your deal." He says,"I promise to lay off Jake as you wish if you keep your big mouth shut. But I would be careful if I were you"

Not surprised at his lack of diplomacy I look at him and give him the biggest smile ever,"And you need to get laid Mr Henderson."

He looks at me as if he is amused.

"For a person who goes to such great lengths to protect people close to her you are certainly very reckless about your own safety."

"I'd like to hope that my safety concerns Jake and Alec. And while your empire is huge it still needs someone to continue it."

"Rest assured I'll be sure to keep my end of the deal." He is clearly amused with me.

"Just one more thing" I say standing up and taking a step towards him.

"Yes?" His tone is mocking it's like he is challenging me to say something next.

Instead I sucker punch him straight in the jaw.

See watching Jackie Chan movie marathons did teach me something.

"That was for Jake and everything you have done to him and it's also a promise." I throw his word back at him,"It's a promise that Jake may have not had it in him to kill you but if you do anything to hurt either of your sons both of whom I care about, I will kill you."

And before I can see his expression I turn on my heels and exit.

I should have just stayed away from him like I promised Jake.