A looked of anger crossed Mr. Davis's face and within a split second, he forgot who presence he was in.
“What!” Mr. Davis shouted before getting a grip on his tongue.
Pulling his brows into a frown, Rome gave him an icy stare without uttering a word.
The was a long paused. Then Mr. Davis suppressed his anger and mumbled, “Of course. Anything you say, I will not object. You can keep the photos until you feel ready to give them to me.”
After taking a moment to fight his urge to tighten his fist, he pitifully gazed at Rome, bent his back lower, resting his palms against his kneecaps, and pleaded, “I beg you not to send them to my wife. It will ruin my family and my image. I will do anything you say!”
“Good, because I still have use for you,” Rome mumbled, dropping his phone on the couch.
Even though he felt hesitant to ask, Mr. Davis swallowed hard and mumbled, “What is it?”
“I'm not going to say what it is now. But I will inform you when I have a use for you.”
After keeping silent for a while, Mr. Davis nodded and said, “Okay. I will await your command.”
Then he stood up straight. But when he turned around to leave, Rome said, “One word to the Barlows about my identity, and these photos will make headlines along with the news about the sudden decline in your company process. Clear?”
“Crystal,” Mr. Davis said before walking out of the room.
It became silent for a while. Then Mr. Ford cleared his throat and said, “That went well.”
“Yeah,” Rome mumbled, staring away from the door.
Then he gazed at his father as Mr. Ford opened a bottle of wine and pulled some in two separate glasses.
Afterward, he handed Rome one of the glasses, and the moment his son took a sip of the wine, Mr. Ford slyly smiled and asked, “Did I tell you that one of my friends is having a cruise party?”
Frowning, Rome set the glass down and said, “No, you did not.”
“Well, he's having his fifty-five birthday celebration on a ship, and he invited me. Then he gave me another invitation to bring a plus one.”
“Breakfast was a trap, wasn't it?”
With an innocent expression on his face, Mr. Ford chuckled and softly intoned, “Why would I feed you, just to trap you. I'm just letting you know that I have a separate invitation if you want to tag along with your lonely old man.”
“See, you are doing it again!” Rome said in disbelief.
“Doing what?”
“Trying to manipulate me!”
“I'm not!”
Smirking, Rome gave his father a side-eye and said, “That's good to hear because I'm not accompanying you.”
“Fine, I'm going to go alone. If I get drunk or ill, and someone asks if I have my family with me, I can tell them that I lost the love of my life, and my son doesn't care about me.” Mr. Ford lashed out as he stood to his feet.
Smiling at his father, Rome thought, ‘What a sly fox?’
Then he sighed and said, “Fine. When is this party?”
“Next week Saturday,” Mr. Ford said with a sudden smile on his lips.
“I will be there.”
The corners of Mr. Ford's eyes crinkled as he smiled and said, “Great, I will call Jerry and get him working on your suit.”
“Okay,” Rome said.
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