Chapter 319: The Second-in-command, Theo

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Nat was handling some paperwork. Well, more like sitting and throwing darts at a wall while his second-in-command was sitting at his desk, filling out the paperwork for him.

His second-in-command, Theo, was used to taking care of paperwork, but he wasn’t used to having his boss sulking like he had been rejected and left out in the rain. Nat had been like that ever since he returned last night.

Just who is it that has the Golden Dragon himself sulking, unable to have what he wants?

Then Theo thought back to the woman Nat had been talking about for the past month. He kept talking about her like she was all that—amazing, the only one who could get his boss talking so much, smiling and acting like a teenager in love.

Right, she was the one the boss had kidnapped while he was overseas taking care of some business. So many things had changed since then. Theo had heard from the boys who were present during the kidnapping that she had some sort of magical power, could take things out from nowhere, and could predict market stocks.

She was a fortune teller and the boss even opened a stall for her in the black market, asking nothing in return, put her so-called miracle water in the underground auction as well, and once again, took not a single capital from her.

From the moment the boss had met her, he had been doing strange things—like selling off properties, and then there was this shelter creation that they were rushing to build. It was massive, very massive, and the boss was also stocking provisions and resources, like the world was about to end or something, buying even more weapons, not caring about the security bureau being fed up. Of course, the Golden Dragon feared nothing, but just what was this woman doing to his boss?

"Theo," Nat suddenly called, and he lifted his head.

"Yes, boss?"

"Do you also believe I come on too strong?" he asked, which caught Theo completely off guard.

"What?"

Theo nearly dropped his pen, staring at his boss in utter disbelief. He blinked twice, his mind scrambling to reconcile the terrifying, ruthless leader of the Golden Dragon with the man currently slouched on the leather sofa, twirling a steel dart between his fingers like a brooding teenager.

"Boss..." Theo began cautiously, adjusting his posture at the desk. "Are you asking if you’re too aggressive? You’re the head of the most feared syndicate in the whole country. Aggressive is literally your job description."

"I’m not talking about business, you idiot," Nat snapped, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark growl. He hurled the dart with blind precision, the steel tip embedding itself deep into the center of the wooden target across the room.

He leaned back, resting his arm over his eyes as he let out a heavy, frustrated exhale. "I’m talking about... women."

Theo choked on his own breath, quickly covering his mouth with a cough to hide the sudden smirk threatening to break across his face. So it really was about her—the mysterious woman Nat had kidnapped a month ago, the one who had completely turned their entire operation upside down.

He still couldn’t understand why his boss was pouring astronomical amounts of untraceable capital into building a massive, subterranean shelter, and hoarding military-grade munitions like an apocalyptic storm was rolling in tomorrow.

The Security Bureau was practically having collective heart attacks over their sudden supply runs, but Nat hadn’t cared. He had been completely consumed, driven by some unshakeable obsession with a woman.

The terrifying man who had killed without blinking, threw traitors into meat grinders and took whatever he wanted, no matter who owned it, was now sitting in a dim office, sulking because he thought he might have come on too strong... to a woman.

Just what in the world was this woman?

"Well, boss," Theo said, choosing his words with extreme care as he tapped his pen against the desk, "considering you literally kidnapped her the first time you met, ’too strong’ might be an understatement. Most women don’t exactly appreciate being hauled off in an armored SUV or tied to a chair."

"She didn’t care about the kidnapping," Nat grunted, pulling his arm down to glare at the ceiling, his dark eyes brooding and restless. "She was completely unbothered. She looked at me like I was a minor inconvenience."

"Right..." Theo murmured, mentally noting that this woman was clearly insane—or far more dangerous than any of them realized. "Then what happened last night?"

Nat went quiet, his jaw clenching hard. He recalled the way April had looked at him in the elevator, her breath shallow, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes wide with that helpless, overwhelming heat.

She had been trembling in his arms, her body practically melting against his—and yet, when he pushed for more, she had put her small hands against his chest and told him to stop.

"Did I come on too strong? Maybe... you don’t like me being aggressive."

The memory of asking her that made his ego burn all over again. He had practically begged for her validation, looking like a desperate fool right in front of Xavier Reed’s smug face.

"She told me ’maybe another time,’" Nat rasped out, his voice laced with a bitter, dangerous edge. "She looked exhausted. Frustrated."

Theo leaned back in his chair, folding his arms as he analyzed the situation. "Boss, if a woman who usually tolerates your wild behavior suddenly pulls back and looks frustrated, it usually means one of two things. Either she’s genuinely terrified of you..." Theo paused, catching the lethal glare Nat shot him, before quickly adding, "...or there’s a practical reason she can’t give you what you want right now, and your relentless pressure is just driving her crazy."

Nat stilled, his eyes narrowing slightly as Theo’s words sank in.

A practical reason.

He thought back to her period, and the undeniable arousal that had been pulsing off her skin in that cramped elevator cab. And then the realization hit him. She hadn’t been disgusted by him. She hadn’t been fed up of his aggression at all. She was just too turned on, but trapped by her own limits, completely unable to find the relief she actually wanted.

The thought bloomed in Nat’s chest, followed immediately by the return of his arrogant smirk.

He hadn’t come on too strong. He had simply pushed her right to the absolute edge of her sanity while her hands were tied.

"Theo," Nat drawled, his mood instantly shifting as he stood up from the sofa, smoothing down the front of his dark shirt.

"Yes, boss?"

"Cancel my afternoon arrangements," Nat said, a crooked, dangerous grin spreading across his face as he grabbed his jacket. "And have the boys prepare the car for the culinary arena. It seems I have a very impatient woman to collect by this evening."