Come Monday, Rhys was quite proud of the work that had been put in on what was called the executive floor. The worn carpet had been replaced with black marble tile. The walls had been torn down to make way for thick tempered glass that was guaranteed to be sound proof.
Cassian had tested the soundproofing himself by standing inside of the conference room to insult Amren as she had come through to inspect the changes herself. She hadn't killed him by the time she left though she had confessed to Rhys she had been aware of what he was doing, though she couldn't hear it. The mahogany conference table was replaced by a silver and black sleek table that stretched the length of the room. The chairs were basic black leather with silver accents. There was a counter along one wall that held a fancy single cup coffee brewer and an assortment of coffees along with a mini fridge full of small bottled waters.
In the sitting area the wood chairs had been replaced by white couches. Feyre's desk sat in front of his office with a computer and her phone. The desk itself was surrounded by a rug of black and white whorls. The water cooler had been replaced by another coffee bar with a mini fridge of water.
Behind Feyre's desk was a half wall of glass. He had originally asked for the full glass walls so Feyre would never feel closed in if she came into his office, but Mor had talked him out of it. The half wall would allow him to see out and for Feyre to easily see in, but would give him a small semblance of privacy apparently owed to him as a CEO. His traditional furnishings were replaced with sleek black, silver, and glass. It opened his office up and made it far less stuffy, but also made it look more cold and formal. Even with the openness he hoped it would display to Feyre, he knew it would lend to the mask he portrayed.
All of it had taken only a few calls, his impressive expense account, and his name to get it all done immediately. He had even had time to send Mor out to meet with Feyre at one of the more expensive clothing stores in Prythian over the weekend. Mor had assured him, along with the extensive bill, that Feyre was well attired for her normal day to day work. If she was to attend any events with him or on behalf of the company, it would require additional shopping trips.
Feyre arrived with Mor at 9am in the waiting area looking exceptionally well in a deep purple blouse and light gray slacks. Her hair was again braided back and Rhys had the feeling it was a normal look for her. While he took her in, Feyre took one long look around at the changes and raised an eyebrow at Rhys when he came out to greet her. He simply gave her a smirk in response. Let her guess as to why things had been changed.
"Alright, this desk is yours," Mor waved off Rhys before he could speak and walked Feyre to her desk. "Your computer, your phone," she waved at the desk. "One of your most important jobs is serving as a last defense in undesirable people getting up here. That elevator is the only one to come up here. You need a specially coded badge like mine and yours to just come right up. Everyone else needs your permission. If they have a meeting, they will check in with reception downstairs and reception will call up to you to confirm. You should have an exact list of people and names of who will be attending each meeting, reception should confirm with IDs. Then they get escorted to the elevator. There's a camera in the elevator. It's very well hidden so only very suspicious people begin looking for it."
There had been a few, too, who had gone looking for his hidden camera. Autumn Financial Services had tried several times to sneak people in. When they were denied access in the elevator, they had instantly started looking around. No one had found it yet. Azriel had installed it himself. Even Cassian, despite seeing the feed from the camera, couldn't locate the tiny, yet powerful device.
"You will be able to see who is coming up and if they aren't who they say they are or there are more than expected, you hit this big red button right here. It stops the elevator and quietly alerts Cassian." Mor brought up the display for the live feed from the elevator. "If everything looks good, you click this button right here. The elevator won't move without it even if the doors close."
"You'll be alerted whenever someone gets in the elevator even if they use an ID," Rhys cut in as well. He wasn't about to let his cousin do all of the talking. "So if someone steals an ID or hacks the system, which should be nearly impossible, you'll be able to press the emergency stop."
"Please do it at least once to Cassian," Mor begged. "His ego is getting a little big and we like to prank him."
"Really?" Feyre asked looking between Mor and Rhys.
"Really," Rhys promised. "He pranks everyone so I'm sure he will get you first and you'll be far more tempted to do it to him."
"Wonderful," she murmured with an eyeroll. "If there's a fire or emergency where we can't use the elevator?" She asked after a moment.
"The fire exit is down that hall, along with the restrooms and the executive lounge. That's where we basically eat our lunches and where we get our coffee," Mor waved to a hallway that stretched back from the main area. He had not had them replace more than the flooring and the furniture in those areas. The closed walls were for privacy for those allowed up on the floor for their breaks and, of course, for anyone in need of a restroom while on the floor.
"The stairs are locked on the other side. We can go out but they can't come up unless there's an actual fire," Rhys explained.
"You're a very protected man," Feyre pointed out.
"I have a lot of enemies and certainly not a lot of friends in the press," he shot back. "Everyone is always looking for information on how to bring me down or dirt on who to hurt to get at me." He went to wave Mor off. He could handle things from this point. "What did you know of me before you came here?"
"Honestly, all I ever heard came from Tamlin. He said you were an arrogant, half-breed, bastard who took pleasure in stealing contracts, gutting other companies, and hurting good people," she blushed as she spoke.
"The media portrays me much the same way. It's an image I try and maintain," he rested his backside on her desk to face her.
"Why maintain such a horrid image?" She demanded.
"Because it's easier to do business that way," Rhys shrugged. "People are too afraid to come after me if they think I'll turn my eye towards them." He looked to see Mor was still standing and watching. It seemed she had no intention of being shooed away. "And then they are partially right. I do take pleasure in stealing contracts and gutting other companies, but not in the way you think."
"Have you ever heard of Velaris Incorportated?" Mor asked softly.
"Yes. Tamlin used to complain about it, but I don't know why," she looked to Rhys and he gave her a gentle smile.
"He would complain because he backs a lot of chain stores and Velaris only supports local businesses. It's a company that buys up local businesses that are about to be bought out by chain stores and keeps them open and running," Rhys explained.
"Protecting them," Feyre clarified.
"Yes, and helping them strategize to stay in business when that chain store eventually finds another location," Rhys looked to Mor again who nodded. Feyre had signed the confidentiality waiver already. Likely had spent the last hour with Amren going over the legalities involved in signing it as well. It would bring the number of people completely in on the secret up to six.
"Nox Industries is a big bad company that doesn't always do the best by the way of the people, so we have tried to compensate by doing our best to protect them through Velaris Incorporated," Mor supplied. "You could say we are two companies. One that everyone sees and knows about and one very few people have any real knowledge of."
"As for stealing contracts and gutting other companies, I normally only approve those courses of actions if it's beneficial to the people in the long run. For example, I don't get in the way of Dawn Medical. Thesan runs a tight ship and he doesn't overcharge for anything. Even if you can't afford care, he offers all sorts of pro-bono work and grants to be applied for. And I usually stay out of the way of Summer Hospitality. Previous CEO's haven't given a crap about the native peoples living in whatever areas they build their resorts in, but this newest one, Tarquin, is a decent sort. But I will always steal contracts from Spring Corp." He found his hands balled into fists at the thought of Tamlin once more. With a quick breath, he relaxed his grip until his hands sat limp on the desk once more.
"Why do you two hate each other so much?" Feyre asked.
"There's a long history," Mor cut in. He sensed she was trying to save him from the question. Even after eight years, it was still hard. Not so much the loss of his too busy and very judgmental father, but the loss of his loving mother and his ever-happy, brilliant little sister.
"A very long one," Rhys agreed. "But, currently, he has some shoddy business practices that I can't abide. He doesn't look out for his own people and he certainly doesn't care about who he might be affecting with any of his decisions."
Rhys stopped himself from a longer rant. There were plenty of reasons to hate Tamlin. The current top of the list being his treatment of Feyre, but if he got into any of that he'd want to go straight over to Spring Corp clear on the other side of the city and drag Tamlin out into the street to be hit by a car. Instead, he turned his smirk back on Feyre.
"But perhaps we should discuss the job at hand. Mor, thank you for your help. I can take things from here," he shooed his cousin away once more only to have her stick her tongue out at him. With a sigh, Rhys heaved himself up off of the desk and gently took Mor's arm to lead her towards the elevator. Once at the elevator he pushed her inside and hit the button for her floor. She cackled at him the whole time and then turned to yell at Feyre through the closing doors.
"I'll be back up to take you out to lunch in three hours. Don't let him boss you around too much. And don't stroke his already inflated ego!"
"Now that she's gone," he purred at Feyre. "Let's start going over the basics." He went and got his office chair and dragged it out to her desk so they could sit side by side.
"Don't you have better things to do than teach me?" She asked when he showed her how to open her email. She seemed both genuinely interested in what he might say but also mortified by his personal attention. He wasn't so sure it was just because of how much attention Tamlin had paid to her either. His instincts told him she felt inadequate when it came to her learning to do anything. She was likely someone who muddled along on her own and didn't want anyone staring over her shoulder, especially not someone who might have power over her or have the ability to insult her in some way.
Rhys considered her for a long moment, carding through all of the possible answers he could give to her. He could lie and say he wasn't busy, but he was sure she wouldn't buy that or she would question his need for an assistant. He could start listing out all of the things he actually had to do in a day, something he would need to do eventually so she could learn his schedule, but he knew that would make her feel rushed and more guilty for his personal attention. Instead he settled for a compromise.
"I'm incredibly busy. Most of the time I'm so busy I wish for something to come along and wipe out the rest of existence so I can get a moment of quiet," he turned to face her fully. "But I will always make time to help you, Feyre."
She flushed red but dutifully applied herself to his training after that. He walked her through using the email system they had, the calendar system they used, his daily schedule, and the basics of answering the phone. By the time all of that had been done, Mor had returned to take Feyre out to lunch and Rhys returned to his desk to do some of the things he had neglected while Feyre had held his attention.
When she returned well after an hour and a half with a giggling Mor, he walked her through the full executive floor including a number of empty offices and the far too large lounge.
"Why all of the empty offices and the lounge for thirty when only six people can come up here without being brought up?" Feyre asked when they looked in the last empty office.
"Each CEO does things a little differently. I keep my group of confidants and executives small. Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren are all welcome to an office up here but they like where they have theirs now. It also keeps limited access up here without them bringing up their meetings as well." He led her back to her desk and waited for her to sit down. "My three times great grandfather started this company. He built it up until his son built this tower at the same time other companies were building up theirs. I think, at that time, they did have their Boards of Directors up with them and all of their high-ranking mangers." He sat. "That was the height of the industrial revolution for Prythian where the wealthy kept themselves away from the low-class workers. I can't say my ancestors were any better."
"But they started Velaris Incorporated so they must have been somewhat better," Feyre cut in. "Mor started telling me about all the places you support."
"Velaris Incorporated was started by my grandmother when she wanted to balance out what evil and greed was turning Prythian into. She wanted to save places for artists, musicians, and local businesses. My grandfather let her and then it was passed down to my mother when my father took over. Tradition would state it should have gone to my wife when I took over but I wasn't married and I wasn't interested in getting married when I took over at twenty-two." Rhys shrugged. "So we run it between us and since we started that, it's expanded greatly."
There was silence for a moment as Rhys considered how much he and his family had grown Velaris. Everyone always had an eye or ear out in different areas. Amren was a lover of fine arts and kept her eyes on small galleries and thus in the artists' circles in the city. Cassian was a lover of plays. Azriel of music. And Mor loved fashion which had her watching every small boutique in the city. He, himself, kept an eye on the small businesses in the area, always aware of what was being discussed for acquiring them in other business circles.
"Can I ask a question?" Feyre broke through his thoughts.
"You may always ask questions," he reminded her. He had reminded her often throughout their training that she should ask any questions that she needed to understand her job.
"You make yourself out to look like some sort of monster, but you aren't. You said earlier you try and keep that image going, but why? Why do that at all? Why rely on fear to protect your business?" She frowned down at her desk rather than look at him.
He started to answer and then stopped. Why? Why did he continue to portray this image? He wasn't even sure. His father had been like that to the outside world so much he had become it. His grandfather had died of a heart attack long before Rhys had been born but all of the stories he had been told were similar. They had been good men but vicious in the business world.
"It's safe, I think," Rhys finally landed on an answer. "Like an armor you coat yourself or a mask you hide behind. It protects you when this type of work would rip a good man apart. I've seen good men fall hard because they come in with the best of intentions and get ground up. Those who survive do so because they thrive in this world either by pretending to be like this," he waved at himself, "or by already being it."
"It's a shame," Feyre murmured. She rose from her desk and went to stare out the window. Nox Industries had the best view in the city, the executive floor looking out and down over the rest of the city.
"What is?" Rhys asked as he went to join her.
She turned her head just ever so slightly to glance at him, the sunlight reflected in her blue-gray eyes, making them sparkle just a little. "Think of how much life would be different if that didn't have to be true."
In that moment, Rhys knew he was utterly and completely screwed. This beautiful creature in front of him was a dreamer. A dreamer like he was, like his family all were. He had been correct on his instincts to bring her in to his confidence. And Cauldron bless him, he was already hooked on her.
"Maybe one day," he found himself replying. "Maybe we can make that happen, together."