416 The revised deal

Wednesday

Max ended his meeting and headed to his office. He was in a good mood, knowing that Liz is waiting for him so that they can have lunch together.

He was worried that Liz will be bored coming to work with him, but she seems to be holding up well.

During yesterday's checkup, Dr. told Liz that her recuperation is going well and on Monday she will resume her work and start seeing her patients.

Instead of pesky stiff bandages, Liz got a shoulder brace that allows her to move her right arm a bit. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. The brace is easily removable, which is convenient when she takes a shower. Also, the dose of painkillers she is taking went down and that means she is not so drowsy anymore.

All those are good news and Max is happy that Liz got to hold onto him last night.

With Liz resuming her work, she will not spend so much time in Max's office, because she will be at the Franciscan Medical Center in the mornings (not every day) and meet with Max for lunch after which she will spend the afternoon at the Alpha group. The variety of activities will help her pass the time until the shoulder brace is completely off, and Liz gets back to her bubbly self.

Max found Liz on the sofa with her laptop.

"Ready for lunch?", Max asked.

"Come here. I want to show you something first."

Max saw that Liz is excited and he sat next to her that Liz has an article opened on her screen. It's from Dr. Thomas, about her stay in the lab in South America. There are no specifics about her research or location, but she is mentioning that she was imprisoned and rescued by four brave youngsters.

"There, you are famous.", Max said half-jokingly.

"WE are famous.", Liz corrected him. "It's good that our names are not mentioned, and she published it under an alias so that no one knows it's her. I guess she wanted her story to be heard even if people don't know that it's her."

"How did you find out about the article?"

"She emailed me the link.", Liz responded and kept her laptop on the side before turning to Max. "How was your meeting?"

"It was fine. Let's talk about it during lunch."

"Sounds like a plan…", Liz responded in a singing voice and went to get her purse.

She does not mind spending her days in Max's office. She got to learn about his work, and she does not feel that she is obstructing him. It's like she got a secret glimpse into his life, and she is glad that he let her in.

Max watched Liz with a lingering smile on his face.

Max never thought about settling down and having kids, but with Liz in the picture, those things seem natural.

"Max?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked you… are we going?"

"Yes, yes…", Max responded clumsily, unaware that he spaced out.

Liz giggled at Max who said 'yes' but he is still sitting on the sofa. "What's going on with you, Mr. Anderson?"

Max pulled Liz to sit on his lap and pecked her lips. "You happened, Miss Williams…", he said in a low voice, and then he kissed her again.

…

While Max and Liz enjoyed their time together, Irene was in a restaurant and not happy.

She called the man who convinced her to come to the Alpha group in order to sabotage it, and she wanted to start the plan, but then she hesitated.

It's not that she cares for the Alpha group, but she fears for her reputation and career. As for Max, she is aware of how what she is feeling toward him is not love. Did she ever love him? Irene is not sure. But she knows that his constant rejection and the fact that he moved on, hurts her pride. And every time she sees Liz or hears office gossip about how CEO's girlfriend is around is making Irene's blood boil

She went back and forth between going with the man's plan or not, until she decided.

"I will not do anything unless I see you face to face.", she told him sternly.

"Miss Brooks, you are not in a position to have demands.", the man said in a low voice.

"And you are not in a position to ask me to take risks while you sit in the dark and I have no idea who is pulling my strings. If you expect me to be a brainless puppet, you better find someone else."

Eventually, the man relented and here she is… in a restaurant… waiting for the man to arrive and he is late.

"Miss Brooks…", an older man greeted her. "I hope you are not waiting for long."

Irene looked at the man in a sharp business suit. "Are you the…?", her voice trailed off.

"Bolton. Stanley Bolton.", the man introduced himself before taking a seat opposite Irene at the table for two. He was pleased that they are in the back of a dimly lit restaurant.

The waiter came to take their order, and the man asked only for a glass of water while Irene ordered lunch.

"You are not going to eat?", Irene asked when the waiter walked away.

"I didn't come here to socialize, Miss Brooks. You wanted to see me, and I am here. You have five minutes to ask me questions before I leave."

"Why are you attacking the Alpha group?"

"That is not yours to know.", Mr. Bolton responded curtly.

"What is the point of me asking questions if you will not answer them?"

"I said that you can ask. It is up to me if I will answer.", Mr. Bolton said and took a sip of water from his glass.

There is no way that he will say that since his daughter McKenzie caused a scene at the Fourth of July party at the Anderson villa, he hit an endless string of bad luck. His partners are not returning his calls, his business went bankrupt, he was forced to sell their home and move to a smaller one in suburbs. His reputation is tarnished, his dignity is non-existent, and it's all because of Andersons.

Sure, Nathan said that he didn't do anything, but even if Nathan said the truth, everyone knew that McKenzie tried to drug not only Max but everyone at that party. And police found cocaine in her possession while McKenzie tried to blame it on Max's girlfriend. After that, no one wanted to have anything to do with the Bolton family. They are ruined.

The only thing that is holding him from falling apart is that he was approached by a group of people who have something in common: hatred toward the Anderson family.

In that group, Mr. Bolton finally found someone who can understand his problems, and they are supporting each other while thinking about how to get back at the Andersons.

Unfortunately, none of them can get close to the Alpha group, so they needed an outsider to get in. And that is how they found Irene. Of course, they approached several attractive young women, knowing that Max has a weakness toward such creatures, but Irene had the most impressive portfolio and she accepted.

Now he only needs to make Irene do their bidding from the inside, and the Alpha group will tumble like a house of cards while they enjoy seeing Nathan and everyone else from the Anderson family suffer. That will be a glorious day.

"No more questions, Miss Brooks?", Mr. Bolton asked, seeing that Irene is silent.

"I have a feeling that you will not answer anything that is useful to me. So instead of asking you, I will tell you my conditions.", Irene said sternly. "You want me to get classified information, and that is out of the question. Everything is protected and monitored and unless I can shapeshift in one of the handful of people who have access to the restricted area, it will not work."

Mr. Bolton pursed his lips. "The word is that Max's girlfriend has full access to everything. Why don't you put a wig on and pretend to be her?"

Irene rolled her eyes. "Yes, she has access, but she will never go to that area. The moment I step in there, even if my fingerprints match hers, they will know that is not her."

Mr. Bolton was not happy to hear this. "So, what can you do for me then, Miss Brooks?"

"I am the director of marketing and I have access to many things. They are not top-secret, but they are things that others don't know. It's about the direction of the company and the upcoming deals. With the information I give you, you can create a counter-campaign or tip off the competition in order to ruin the deals before the Alpha group gets to them."

Mr. Bolton rubbed his chin and looked at Irene with his eyes narrowed. "Keep on talking…"

Irene liked that Mr. Bolton is interested. In this way, she can leak information without putting herself in direct danger. Sure, eventually they might connect the dots and figure out that is her, but she will make sure that nothing points directly at her.

"I have a condition of my own.", Irene said. "You want the Alpha group to crumble, and I don't have any feelings toward that."

"What do you want?", Mr. Bolton asked.

"I will help you take down the Alpha group, and you help me to deal with one small issue."

"If it's a small issue, why don't you handle it yourself?"

Irene smiled. "It's about the motive. You don't have it and I... might."

Mr. Bolton understood where this is going. "You want me to deal with Max's girlfriend."

Irene smiled. "It's just one woman, I want her out of the picture and I'm sure you can think of something. In return, I will give you all the information needed to take down the Alpha group. Do we have a deal?"

Mr. Bolton gave a small nod. Since the Fourth of July party, his anger is directed toward Andersons and Liz because they were all involved in the demise of his family. 

"I will wait for you to deliver something first before I make my move.", Mr. Bolton said.

"That is not a problem. You can expect something by end of this week." 

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