“Good morning.” Lily stepped out onto the patio. Her eyes locked on to the thumb drive protruding from his earpiece. “Well, well. Would you look at that! I never knew you were a Star Wars fan?”

“Star Wars?” A look of confusion crossed Timur’s face as he tightened his robe around him. “What’s that?”

She pointed. “Your thumb drive. It’s shaped like R2D2.”

“Oh, that.” He removed the earpiece and unplugged the thumb drive from the USB port. “It was a gift.”

After exchanging pleasantries, she launched into her report. She announced the company’s continual rise in stock values, recent mergers, and overall company wealth. As she began to drawl over statistics and charts, Timur found himself drowning out her words as he took in her slender build. Once again he had become distracted by her alluring beauty.

“My, you look stunning this morning.” His mind refused to focus as he stared at her ample bosom.

His gaze switched to her face. Her skin looked flawless. There were no blemishes on her porcelain features, nor lines etched into her cheeks. She looked younger than her twenty-six years.

"Thank you," she said. "Although I must admit I feel a bit overdressed in my business suit today."

He chuckled. "I believe you are dressed appropriately. You should be proud of your body. I don't think many women your age could fit into a size four."

Her eyes narrowed. "You think so?"

"Absolutely." he nodded. "I've been told that I have quite the eye for such things."

She smiled. "You flatter me."

"Not at all. You're perfect." he leaned forward. "In fact, I think you're so beautiful, I'm starting to forget why we're here right now."

She stared at him, stunned. Then she grinned. "I like how you think, sir."

As they continued their conversation, Timur couldn't stop staring at her chest as it rose and fell with each breath. The way it swayed enthralled him, and he fought to keep his eyes focused on hers as she spoke.

Finally, after a few seconds of non-verbal communication, Lily interrupted.

"Did you hear my question, Mr. Demyan?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he lifted his head, realizing he had gotten distracted, “You can call me Timur.”

"Do you happen to have a pen around here?" she asked. "I seem to have left mine behind."

"Ah, yes," he said as he gestured for her to follow him inside his penthouse.

He led her to his study, and procured a pen from his desk. "Here we are."

"Thank you," she said. "I was wondering if you could sign this contract for me?"

"Certainly." he replied. "Would you like a cup of tea first?"

"Yes please," she smiled.

Despite knowing that he was being set up, Timur nodded eagerly. "As you wish."

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Lily handed him a neatly stacked contract, “This is the Jackson-Stanley merger. I need you to read over it for accuracy, and then sign the last page.”

Timur called his butler in and instructed him to bring them both some tea.

He sat down, and turned to the first page. The contract was rather thick, and took some time to scan over. As he read, his eyes kept returning to the woman standing next to him. This was the third time in the past thirty minutes that he had noticed that she was breathing heavily.

Was she nervous?

There was no doubt in his mind. She had been acting strangely ever since she arrived. What could have made her lose her cool this early in the day? Whatever it was, it didn't matter because he was too preoccupied by her beauty to care.

After finishing the contract, Timur glanced up and watched as Lily’s plump pink lips parted slightly as she inhaled deeply. The scent of her perfume mixed with the floral bouquet of her shampoo filled his nostrils. Instinctively, his hand moved up to caress her cheek, causing her to turn toward his touch.

"Did you need something else?" he asked, smiling.

"No," she replied. "I'm fine."

He cupped her chin. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He sighed. "Very well, then."

He grabbed the pen and signed the last page.

"Thank you," Lily said.

He handed her the pen as she slid the contract into an envelope.

"Was there anything else?" he asked.

"No, thank you." she smiled. "That was very kind of you, Mr… er, I mean Timur. I appreciate your willingness to take the time to read over the contract and sign it."

”And thank you for graciously accepting my promotion offer.” he smiled, “I think we will do great work together.”

And once Allan is out of the picture, I’ll woo her with my charm and money.

She paused briefly before continuing. "May I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"Why is the company doing so badly?" she asked. "I heard the news on TV yesterday. People are saying that we're on the brink of going bankrupt."

"We're not." Timur lied. "Our profits have increased by 20% in the past year alone. We're doing just fine."

"Really?" she pressed. "Because our financial reports clearly show otherwise."

"Those reports are misleading," Timur said. "They're trying to paint us in a bad light in order to manipulate the stock market. That's what analysts do these days. They're not trustworthy."

"But wouldn't you want to clear them up if they were wrong?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I suppose I would have to, but I doubt anyone will bother. It's not worth my effort."

"But won't someone eventually notice and start asking questions?" she asked. "You know that's the only reason I came here today. To get you to sign that merger so that the company doesn’t go under, and we can all keep our jobs."

He laughed. "Don't worry about it, Lily. Everything is under control. You don't have to do anything. Leave it to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I will. Thank you for listening."

With that, she turned and headed toward the door. Timur watched as she passed by, admiring her shapely legs. As she reached the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder with a dazzling smile. Timur stared into her eyes, mesmerized by the fire reflected in her irises.

"Have a nice day, Timur!" she called out.

Without replying, he watched her leave, his mind reeling as his heart pounded in his chest.

When she was gone, he walked back toward his desk. As he sat down, his hands trembled uncontrollably. He stared blankly at the stack of documents on his desk as his mind played tricks on him. He saw images of Lily in his mind. He remembered the scent of her hair as he smelled it earlier. He felt the softness of her skin as he touched her cheek. He even imagined that he was kissing her.

Slowly, his trembling subsided as he calmed himself. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He forced himself to focus. He needed to stay calm. It wasn't the time for such distractions.

I need to figure out what to do about Allan.

Killing him was out of the question. The moment the bullet discharged from his gun this morning, Timur envisioned Lily crying into his shoulder seeking consolation. That dream was aborted the instant he saw the silver aura of light enshroud his opponent and protect Allan from the attempt. Timur was troubled by this new development, for he had been under the impression that only he possessed such powers, and that he was the last of the line of Seraphim.

Unless that pathetic old man lied to me.

Tucked away in his personal dungeon was an elderly man who had plagued his efforts his entire life. It was he who had obliterated Timur’s efforts to conquer the world. After dragging Timur away to the other world and trapping him there, the old man had returned to Timur’s empire in Persia and falsified his death. Soon thereafter, Timur’s eldest sons replaced him and corrupted his plans with their laziness and greed. It was many years before Timur managed to escape, and by then all his efforts had gone to waste.

I need answers.

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