Chapter 6 - The Offer Mason Refused
Victor entered the café without resistance.
Elias watched him closely.
Mason remained between Victor and Maya.
Victor noticed.
“Still playing hero?”
“No,” Mason said.
Maya stepped beside him.
“Stop standing in front of me.”
Mason glanced at her.
“I mean it.”
Reluctantly, he moved half a step.
Victor smiled.
“You two are adorable.”
“What do you want?” Maya asked.
Victor placed the folder on a table.
“To end this.”
Maya didn’t touch it.
“What’s inside?”
“A settlement.”
Mason laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
Victor looked at Thomas Bennett’s daughter.
“Your father transfers his interest. I pay him ten million dollars. Everyone walks away.”
Maya stared.
“You tried to get him to sign it away for almost nothing.”
“That was business.”
“No. That was fraud.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“You’ve been spending too much time with Reed.”
“Maybe.”
Victor looked at Mason.
“Walk away from Northline and this disappears.”
“No.”
“You’re willing to risk her family?”
Mason’s jaw tightened.
Maya answered first.
“My family makes its own decisions.”
Victor looked at her.
That was the moment his strategy failed.
He had expected fear.
Instead, Maya took out her phone.
“My father’s attorney has every document.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Investigators have copies,” Mason added.
Elias stepped closer.
“And your former subcontractor is cooperating.”
For the first time, Victor looked uncertain.
Maya realized something.
Powerful men looked enormous when everyone around them was afraid.
Remove the fear, and sometimes they became surprisingly ordinary.
Victor picked up the folder.
“You think this ends because you collected paperwork?”
“No,” Mason said. “I think it ends because you no longer control the room.”
Victor stared at him.
Then at Maya.
Then left.
No shouting.
No violence.
Just a door closing.
Maya exhaled.
“Was that it?”
Mason watched Victor disappear.
“For today.”
It wasn’t a satisfying answer.
But reality rarely wrapped itself up neatly.
Over the following weeks, Victor’s problems multiplied.
Investigators examined his companies.
Former partners began cooperating.
Financial institutions froze disputed transactions.
Thomas Bennett formally rejected Victor’s offer.
The Northline project moved forward under independent legal supervision.
And Maya returned to ordinary life.
Mostly.
One afternoon, she placed Mason’s espresso on his table.
He looked up.
“You didn’t order this.”
“You always order it.”
“That’s presumptuous.”
“You volunteered to impersonate my boyfriend after eavesdropping on a private phone call.”
“Fair.”
She sat opposite him.
The café was quiet.
Rain traced the windows.
Seattle had returned to being Seattle.
Maya rested her hands on the table.
“Our twenty-four hours expired weeks ago.”
“I’m aware.”
“You still come here.”
“I came here before.”
“Four times this week.”
“The espresso is excellent.”
“It’s mediocre.”
Mason looked offended.
“It is.”
“Then perhaps I come for something else.”
Her heartbeat quickened.
“Maybe.”
Mason studied her.
“Maya.”
“Yes?”
“Can I take you to dinner?”
She smiled.
“We already went to a wedding together.”
“As ourselves.”
“We were ourselves.”
“Not entirely.”
He had a point.
“No security convoy.”
“One car.”
“No private dining room.”
“Public restaurant.”
“No buying the restaurant.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You paused.”
“I enjoy acquisitions.”
She laughed.
“Friday.”
“Seven?”
“Seven.”
He stood.
Then hesitated.
“Maya?”
“Yes?”
“May I kiss you?”
She stared at him.
The intimidating billionaire who could command rooms with a glance was asking permission like a nervous teenager.
Her smile softened.
“Not yet.”
He nodded.
“Friday?”
“Maybe.”
Mason smiled.
Friday became dinner.
Dinner became another.
Then another.
There were no fake stories anymore.
No invented Daniel.
No need to impress Aunt Judith.
Mason met Maya’s parents again without three SUVs.
Thomas liked him.
Linda adored him.
Judith interrogated him relentlessly.
He survived.
Three months later, Maya stood outside a vacant storefront in Queen Anne.
A FOR LEASE sign hung in the window.
Mason stood beside her.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s perfect.”
“Then take it.”
She looked suspiciously at him.
“Did you buy this building?”
“No.”
“Mason.”
“I swear.”
“Did one of your companies buy it?”
“No.”
“Did Elias?”
“No.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Fine.”
Maya signed the lease herself.
She used her savings.
Her father invested a small amount.
A bank provided the rest.
Mason contributed nothing except advice when asked.
It was exactly what Maya wanted.
Six months later, BLUEBIRD CAFÉ opened.
On opening morning, Mason arrived first.
He stood outside staring at the sign.
Maya unlocked the door.
“You’re early.”
“I wanted the first coffee.”
“You’ll have to pay.”
“I expected nothing less.”
She made him a double espresso.
He took one sip.
“Better than Bellmont.”
“Obviously.”
He placed twenty dollars on the counter.
“That’s too much.”
“Tip.”
“Mason.”
“Fine.”
He took back fifteen.
Maya laughed.
Then she walked around the counter.
They stood facing each other.
“You asked me something months ago.”
“What?”
“If you could kiss me.”
His eyes softened.
“I remember.”
“I never answered properly.”
“You said not yet.”
“Exactly.”
She stepped closer.
Mason didn’t move.
“Yet is over.”
This time, she kissed him.
Softly.
Briefly.
When she pulled away, Mason looked stunned.
Maya smiled.
“That expression alone was worth waiting six months.”
“I wasn’t prepared.”
“You have a security company.”
“It doesn’t prepare me for you.”
She laughed.
But outside the window, Elias appeared.
One look at his face made Mason’s smile disappear.
Maya noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
Elias entered.
“Mason.”
“What?”
“We received confirmation.”
Mason became still.
“Victor?”
Elias nodded.
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“What confirmation?”
Mason looked at her.
The past they had been trying to leave behind had just returned.
And this time, Victor Hale wasn’t coming after a piece of property.
May you like
He was preparing to destroy Mason Reed himself.
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