A DEAL WITH A PRICE

CHAPTER FOUR

The morning at Draven Enterprises was already busy when Romen arrived at the office. Employees were moving from one department to another, phones were ringing, and people were discussing reports and meetings, but none of it seemed to reach him today.

He walked into the main conference room with Oliver beside him, his usual calm expression in place, but there was something different in his eyes. He looked tired, as if he had barely slept.

Romen took his seat at the head of the long glass table while the other people settled around him. A presentation was already waiting on the large screen behind them, and several files had been placed neatly in front of him. He opened the first file and looked at the numbers, but his eyes stayed there only for a few seconds before his mind went somewhere else again.

Last night.

He could still remember it too clearly.

Elara standing in that room, looking frightened and confused. The anger he had felt when he saw that man trying to force himself on her. The way he had lost control and hit him without thinking twice. Romen slowly rubbed his thumb against the edge of the file, his jaw tightening as another memory came back to him.

The car.

He remembered Elara sitting beside him, barely able to keep her eyes open because of the alcohol. He remembered her voice, the way she had looked at him, and then that unexpected moment that had left him completely confused.

Her lips against his.

Romen's fingers stopped moving.

He looked down at the table as if the answer to everything was hidden somewhere between the papers.

Why did she do that?

He tried to convince himself that she had been drunk and probably didn't even know what she was doing. That should have made things simple. It should have ended the matter right there.

But it didn't.

For some reason, his mind kept going back to that moment.

He leaned back in his chair and quietly breathed out, running one hand through his hair. His eyes moved toward the large windows for a few seconds. The city looked normal from there, but his thoughts were anything but normal. He had handled difficult business deals, family problems and situations far worse than this without losing his focus, yet one girl had managed to occupy his mind since the moment he woke up.

And that girl was Elara.

The same Elara he had spent years avoiding.

The same girl whose family name was connected to everything his father hated.

Romen lowered his eyes again.

"Sir?"

The voice pulled him back.

He looked up slowly and realized that one of the executives had been speaking to him.

"Sorry?"

The executive looked slightly uncomfortable. "I was asking about the European expansion proposal. Do you want us to move forward with the current terms?"

Romen stared at him for a moment, but his mind was still somewhere else. He looked at the file in front of him and turned one page without really reading it.

"Repeat that."

The executive hesitated before repeating the question. Romen nodded as if he had understood, but when the man finished speaking, Romen still didn't answer. A few people around the table exchanged confused looks.

Oliver noticed immediately.

He had known Romen for years, and he had never seen him this distracted during a business meeting.

"Sir?"

The executive tried again, this time a little louder.

Romen blinked and finally looked directly at him.

"Yes. Go ahead with the proposal."

The man nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."

The meeting continued, but Romen's attention kept slipping away. He tried to focus on the presentation, even picked up his pen and made a few notes, but after writing only two words, he stopped. His eyes remained on the page while his thoughts wandered again.

She probably doesn't even remember.

The thought should have made him feel relieved.

Instead, something strange moved through his chest.

He didn't know whether he wanted her to remember or forget.

That irritated him even more.

By the time the meeting finally ended, almost an hour had passed. Everyone began closing their files and gathering their documents while Romen remained seated. He stared at the papers in front of him, pretending to read them until the room slowly emptied.

Oliver waited near the door.

Once the last employee left, he quietly walked back toward the table.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Romen didn't look up.

"I'm fine."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You have said that three times today."

Romen finally looked at him.

"Then maybe you should stop asking."

Oliver almost smiled but quickly controlled it. "Yes, sir."

He turned to leave, but Romen stopped him.

"Oliver."

"Yes, sir?"

Romen hesitated. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something important. His fingers tapped once against the table before he finally asked,

"Did you notice anything unusual about me last night?"

Oliver stared at him.

"Unusual?"

Romen immediately regretted asking.

"Forget it."

Oliver's lips twitched. "I didn't say anything."

"Exactly. Keep it that way."

Oliver nodded, trying not to laugh.

"Of course, sir."

As he walked away, Romen leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He really needed to stop thinking about her.

But he already knew that wasn't going to be easy.

THE UNKNOWN CALL

Several miles away, inside a quiet hotel room, an unknown person stood near the large window with a photograph in one hand.

The room was expensive, beautifully decorated and completely silent, but the person didn't seem interested in any of it. Their attention was fixed on the photograph. After looking at it for a long moment, they placed it on the table, picked up their phone and dialed a number.

The call connected after a few rings.

"Hello?"

The unknown person remained silent for a second before speaking.

"I need an update."

There was a pause on the other side.

"Sir, we're still looking."

The person's expression hardened.

"Still looking?"

"Yes, sir. We checked the people connected to Isabelle, but we haven't found anything that can lead us to the person who received the power."

The unknown person slowly picked up the photograph again.

"I didn't ask you to tell me what you checked. I asked you to find the person."

"Sir, I understand, but we need more time."

"How much?"

The man on the other side hesitated.

"I can't give you an exact time, sir."

The unknown person's fingers tightened around the photograph.

"Then let me make it easy for you."

There was silence.

"You have one week."

The man's voice became nervous.

"One week? Sir, that's not enough. We don't even know who Isabelle gave the power to."

"Then find out."

"Sir, please. Give me a little more time. We may need to look outside the city."

"Look wherever you want."

The unknown person walked slowly toward the table and placed the photograph down.

"But I want a name."

"Yes, sir."

"And if I don't have that name in seven days..."

The unknown person paused, their eyes turning cold.

"You won't have to worry about working for me again."

The man on the other side went silent.

"Sir..."

"You know what happens when I lose my patience."

"Yes, sir."

The call ended.

The unknown person remained standing beside the table for several seconds. Then they looked down at the photograph again.

There was a small, almost amused smile on their face.

"Let's see who Isabelle trusted enough to leave everything with."

They picked up the photograph and slowly walked back toward the window.

"Seven days."

At almost the same time, Elara was sitting in the back seat of her car on her way to the office. The city moved past the window as she rested her head against the seat, quietly looking outside. She had tried not to think about the previous night, but every now and then, the same memory came back.

Romen.

She still couldn't understand why she was thinking about him.

Her father's words from that morning had made her feelings even more confusing. She knew what she was supposed to feel about Romen. She knew what she had been taught about his family. Yet she couldn't forget that when she had needed help, he had been the one who had protected her.

Her phone suddenly rang.

Elara looked down.

Ava.

She answered.

"Good morning, Ava."

"Good morning, ma'am. Where are you?"

"On my way to the office. Why?"

Ava sounded slightly hurried. "There's someone who wants to meet you urgently."

Elara straightened a little.

"Who?"

"He's a business partner. He contacted the office this morning. He wants to discuss a possible deal with you personally."

Elara frowned slightly.

"Did he tell you what kind of deal?"

"Not in full detail. He only said it's something big and he doesn't want to discuss it with anyone else."

Elara thought for a moment before looking out of the window again.

"Okay. I'll be there soon. Prepare everything you can. I don't want to walk into a meeting without knowing what I'm dealing with."

"Already done, ma'am."

"Good."

She ended the call and placed her phone beside her.

A few seconds later, she picked it up again.

"Ava?"

"Yes?"

Elara hesitated before asking, "About last night..."

There was a small silence.

"What happened after I left the party?"

Ava took a breath. "You don't remember?"

"Not really."

Ava sounded surprised. "You probably drank more than you thought. You weren't in a condition to drive, and Mr. Romen took you home."

Elara's eyebrows lifted.

"Romen?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you anything?"

"No. I only know that he brought you home safely."

Elara looked down at her hands. For some reason, her heart gave a small uncomfortable beat when she heard his name.

"Okay."

She ended the call.

The car continued toward the office, but Elara remained quiet for the rest of the journey.

By the time she reached her office, Ava was waiting for her outside the main entrance. She quickly walked beside Elara as they headed toward the private meeting room.

"The guest is already here," Ava explained. "Everything is ready."

Elara nodded.

"Good."

They continued walking, and after a moment Elara looked at Ava.

"So you're really sure I just drank too much last night?"

Ava smiled slightly.

"From what I saw, yes."

"And Romen brought me home?"

"Yes."

Elara didn't say anything. Ava looked at her and smiled.

"Why? Are you embarrassed?"

Elara immediately looked at her.