Victor looked away immediately. "I am supposed to protect you and not attack you."
Claire giggled, held his hand, and placed it on her thigh. "You're no longer my bodyguard. If you don't want to attack me, I will go to battle with you…"
While Victor was distracted by his hand resting on Claire's thigh, she leaned in, reached up, and bit him on the neck, leaving a dark mark.
Victor pulled back in surprise. "What was that?"
The billionaire goddess grinned from ear to ear as if she had won the battle. "It's called a love bite or a hickey," she said drowsily. "It's a mark that warns any other woman interested in you that you are already taken."
Victor sighed and shook his head in amusement. "You are not in your right mind today. Are you sure you can attend this meeting?"
Claire giggled again and rested her head on his shoulder, smelling his masculine odor. "Don't move. I want to stay like this forever."
However, as they heard footsteps approaching, Victor shoved her head away. "Behave yourself, Miss Holt. People may think there's something immoral brewing between us."
"That's exactly what I want people to think," she replied in an adolescent voice, straightening herself reluctantly. "And something immoral is precisely what I want happening between us!"
The receptionist walked in with a plastic smile. "Mr. Crane will see you now, Miss Holt. Please follow me."
As the duo walked into a luxurious renovated suite, they saw a handsome man in an expensive tuxedo leaning on his majestic table.
A dozen attractive models buzzed around him, flirting incessantly. They wore revealing clothes, including a bikini, which were inappropriate for a Mayor's office. Wine and finger foods were delicately served on round tables. Party music played in the background. The room looked not like a Mayor's office but an immoral club.
"Mr. Crane…" the secretary said. "Miss Holt is here to see you."
"Along with her bodyguard," she added, making an acidic face.
Elias took a break from his coquettish harem and looked up. He dismissed the secretary with a lordly wave of his hand.
"Ah, Claire! Please take a seat," the Mayor said, gesturing to a large antique desk in the middle of the room. Elias disbanded the partying beauties, smacking their butts playfully. They giggled and rushed out like squirrels. The music was silenced, and the hotel staff immediately cleaned up.
As Elias approached Claire, his attention went to Victor, and he narrowed his eyes. "Whoa. This is unexpected. Look what the cat dragged in… If it isn't the one and only Victor Damone…"
"Elias Crane…" Victor replied with a clenched jaw. "It seems you haven't changed much."
Claire watched the friction between the two anxiously. It appeared as if electricity sparked between the eyes of the two titans. They had been rivals in school, college, and even in romance. Worlds were colliding, and the room's temperature seemed to have risen.
Elias regained his composure and spoke up. "Take a seat, Victor. If you are Claire's employee, you are welcome in my office."
Victor seated himself beside Claire without another word. His eyes were trained on Elias with smoldering intensity. What was the young Crane planning? What was his endgame?
"So!" Elias began. "Claire… Let's talk about the Springfield Rapids Project. What an amazing idea put into brilliant execution. I must congratulate you and the Triumvirate for your spirit. You guys are really turning the city around!"
The unexpected praise from the new Mayor surprised Victor and Claire. "Thank you, I guess," Claire replied. "May I ask what this meeting is about?"
Elias smirked with dazzling charm and picked up a Cuban cigar from his desk. He sliced it with a cigar cutter and lit the other end gracefully. The man spoke up after a few puffs.
"The Springfield Rapids Project is slated to bring billions of profits to the Triumvirate and their partners. I am fine with that. However, what do I have to gain from the charade? Why should I approve the licenses? Make me an offer I can’t refuse."
Chapter 78 Indecent Proposal
Claire furrowed her brows. Was the Mayor demanding a bribe to approve her license applications?
"What are you talking about, Elias? It's your job as Mayor-in-charge to approve the licenses, regardless of whether they profit you. You should be concerned about the city's well-being, not yours!"
Elias scoffed and took another puff of his cigar. He made intricate circles with the smoke and smirked.
"Are you new to Springfield, Claire? Did Mayor Gunderson approve projects without bribes?"
His words silenced the billionaire goddess. She had to pay the Gunderson family and the mafia plenty of bribes to get her projects approved. Springfield had always been a corrupt swamp with an extortionate bureaucracy.
"But the Gundersons are dead," Victor said grimly. "Never to return. With their disappearance, corruption was eliminated from the city. I wonder what dangers await the family which intends to bring it back?"
Elias winced at Victor, and his expression changed to one of resentment. He had been respectful before, but his subsequent words reflected hate.
"Who asked you, wastrel?" he barked. "Why are you even here? Are you a businessman? The name Victor Damone used to be a big dog in school and college. Things have changed now. The tables have turned. With the onset of adulthood, haven't your delusions been spirited away? Hasn't poverty broken your spirit yet?"
"I'm here to stop you from committing a fatal mistake," Victor replied calmly.
Elias scoffed and took a puff of his expensive cigar. "What can you do? What are you now, a bodyguard? Look at me! I am the deputy governor of the state and Mayor-in-charge of this city. I have estates worth billions of dollars around the country. You are a mere insect compared to me! And you dare speak in this meeting? What gives the audacity to your voice, loser!"
Victor clenched his jaw. "I take it all your frustration is because Carol chose me over you."
Victor's words infuriated Elias, and he dropped his expensive cigar in a glass of water. As the butt sizzled out, he rose from his seat.
"Carol made a mistake! She was supposed to marry me! But now I hear she has corrected her fault by divorcing you! And tell you what, I am going to propose to her today. What do you have to say about that?"