Chapter 13

"So, how was your date with the stud muffin?" Monique inquired a few days later, sipping her coffee with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, you know, nothing major. Just climbed a mountain, stayed the night on top of it, had sex, and left in the morning." Vallea managed to say all of that with a straight face while Monique nearly choked on her coffee.

"You…you went on a date by climbing a mountain?" What was WRONG with these people? "Christ, at least tell me you two were safe…"

"Do you see me sitting in front of you alive and well?"

"Yeah…"

"Then we both made it back unscathed." Vallea frowned when her phone buzzed and held her hand up in a one-moment gesture to answer it. 'Office, ' she mouthed, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Vallea, it's Margaret. Listen, I know you're not gonna like hearing this, but…Ryan has asked for you again." Ryan Stand was a douchebag, to put it mildly, and he'd had several arguments with Vallea over the years whenever she did work for him. "I'm sorry, but there's nobody else and he's specifically asked for you…"

Shutting her eyes, Vallea let out a groan of frustration, not bothering to hide it, and knew exactly why Ryan wanted her services. "Do I have a choice?"

"Unfortunately no, he said he'll leave and go elsewhere if he doesn't acquire your services for his upcoming trip to Stamford, Connecticut. Apparently, he's meeting with the head honcho over there named Vince McMahon." Margaret explained, not having any other information than that. "Something about an investment deal and he needs a PA to keep him organized."

"Christ…" Vallea frowned, not liking the sound of this, but what other choice did she have? "How long?"

"Unknown."

Fuck, Vallea thought, chewing her bottom lip, and could tell Monique looked a little concerned. "All right fine, tell him I'll do it." Monique was shaking her head vehemently, knowing what kind of asshole Ryan was, but Vallea ignored her. "When does he need me to start?"

"Tomorrow. You two have a flight to catch in the morning to head straight to Stamford."

When Vallea got off the phone, Monique gave her a sympathetic look. "You should have turned it down." She knew what an asshat Ryan could be. "It's not like you don't make money with your other clients." Her, for example. She made the company quite a bit of money because of her house-flipping business; she was just on a break at the moment while she scouted a few properties. "Where're you heading, did they say?"

"Stamford, Connecticut. Ryan has business there and he needs a PA to keep organized. She didn't say anything else though, you know how that asshole is. He doesn't give a lot of information on his endeavors." Rubbing her temples, Vallea didn't have much time to pack her things, but she would finish her coffee date with Monique first. "You better tell me the second you need me to work for you again, just to get me away from that dick. Promise?"

"I'm sure I can find something, I've had some promising leads in Ohio, of all places. Apparently, there's a housing crisis for middle-class people." Monique took a slow sip of her coffee, her eyes sparkling almost wickedly. "You know what's based out of Stamford?" She asked, a hint of a teasing tone in her voice. "The headquarters of the WWE, where Jonny boy works." Seeing the flush spread across Vallea's face was worth the look she got. "Just thought you'd appreciate that little tidbit is all."

"Wait a minute…are you telling me Ryan is going into business with the owner of the WWE, the same company Jon works for?" Fate did work in mysterious, uncanny ways. "That's very interesting. I wonder what he would want to do with the WWE in the first place."

"Hell, he's an investor and it could be a number of things. The WWE has its toes dipped in almost every available pool out there. They're global."

Vallea caught the part about Ohio and reverted back to that. "Why do you want to invest in Ohio? Not that they DON'T need help because I'm sure they do, but…what part of Ohio, exactly?"

"Cincinnati, Akron, and Columbus," Monique answered, studying her nails. "The housing markets there are saturated with low-income housing and then the upper-class shit nobody in between can afford. I've got some connections eyeballing specific areas that may be a good investment." She liked making money and providing something valuable or necessary in return also made her feel like she had done a good deed thing. Win-win for her. "Why? You look pale, Vallea."

Monique had no idea where Vallea was from or her background and it wasn't exactly the best story to tell either. "I'm from Ohio, originally. Akron, actually. And Jon…well, I'm sure you know he's from Cincinnati with your Wikipedia research…" This was a little close to home and Vallea didn't feel up to visiting the past any time soon, but she also wouldn't let Monique down either. "Let me know when you decide to do this and I'm onboard. I'll tell Ryan to stick it up his ass." They finished their coffee date and Vallea went home to pack up for her trip to Stamford in the morning, contemplating telling Jon. She decided against it, not wanting to bother him while he was working.

Monique, on the other hand, had no issues whatsoever in telling Joe who would then tell Jon. If by chance Vallea was going to be working with the WWE, in any capacity, there might be some wiggle room there for her and Jon. Not that she would tell Vallea what she had done. Sometimes, surprises were awesome and Val needed a surprise after agreeing to work with that asshole Ryan.

"Vince couldn't see me today, so we're going to the arena to meet with him tonight for their show. It's called Raw. Be on your best behavior." Ryan instructed, dressed to the nines in a three-piece designer suit that probably cost more than his current mortgage. It was important to look the part and he was a rather powerful businessman throughout Vegas. This wasn't the first time he'd done business with Vince and it wouldn't be the last. "Do you have my schedule for tomorrow done?"

"Yes."

Vallea was momentarily shocked at the fact they would be venturing to an arena, an actual show, and she still hadn't told Jon about her new temporary job. WWE was emanating from Stamford, Connecticut tonight? What were the odds of that happening? Should she call Jon to give him a heads-up or surprise him? Hell, maybe he wouldn't even see her since they would go straight to Vince McMahon's office, more than likely.

"Here it is."

"Thanks. Stop daydreaming and get on the ball."

Vallea had to bite her tongue to keep from lashing out at this cockblock.

Jon already knew and, thanks to Monique's gossipy, scandalous backside, he also knew that Ryan was a grade-A douchebag. Being the guy that he was, he had paid some security to keep an eyeball out for a man and a gorgeous woman, office people. Sure enough, he got word almost as soon as Vallea and the douchebag were spotted.

"'Scuse me, coming through!" He was loud enough to be heard, but too close for Ryan to do jack other than get plowed as he and Joe hauled ass by. He made sure to give Vallea a pat on the backside and tossed a wink over his shoulder.

"What the hell?!"

Luckily, Ryan missed that backside pat completely and narrowed his eyes down at his personal assistant scathingly, seeing she was trying hard not to laugh. Did she know them? Not possible. There was no way she was a wrestling fan, not with all the traveling she did and the way she carried herself. He would've never thought in a million years she would rock climb and probably would've stroked out if he knew that information.

"Imbeciles!"

"I don't think it's wise to call Vince McMahon's employees that, Ryan." Vallea chastised with a serene smile, making a mental note to beat Monique's ass the next time they saw each other, and shook her head, unable to stop smiling.

"Make a mental note, Vallea, you're here to work and not offer your opinion," Ryan growled scathingly, shooting her a dark look. "You would be the best in your field if not for that mouth of yours." And there were so many better ways for her to use it besides her idiotic opinions.

"Then perhaps you should've chosen someone more QUALIFIED to your stature, Mr. Stand." Vallea kept the serene smile on her face while his slowly turned red and checked her phone. "Oh look, it's my break time. Excuse me, SIR."

Bowing mockingly at him, Vallea turned on her heel and walked off down the hallway, needing some fresh Ryan-free air. She didn't care if she had a crappy attitude! When Ryan decided to start treating her like a decent human being instead of a doormat, she would be more inclined to show him some respect.

She had absolutely no respect for herself and Ryan knew that because Vallea kept taking him and his jobs on, which meant she was probably one of those women who got off on abuse. That or she was hoping he'd eventually bend her pert backside over and plow her.

Jon grinned when Vallea turned the corner and nearly screamed at the sight of him looming there. "Hey babe." He snatched her up and kissed her passionately, not caring who the hell was gawking.

Instantly, her bad mood vanished at the feeling of being in Jon's arms again and his lips against hers. "Hi." She greeted back, breathing a little heavily, and felt his hands settle on her hips. "I'm going to assume Monique ratted me out and told you what was going on." He nodded and she hoped he wasn't angry with her. "I didn't want to bother you while you're working. That and I'm dealing with a not-nice person right now, so you may want to steer clear of me because of the jackass."

"Momo already told me what an asshat he is, except she used a lot more colorful words," Jon smirked, though his eyes were glittering almost dangerously. Monique had a great, extensive vocabulary when it came to people she did not like or who messed with her friends. Ryan struck out on both of those. "Want me to fuck him up?" She knew for a fact he could and would; she had seen him unleash his temper once already.

"Don't tempt me to take you up on that offer." Vallea was highly tempted to unleash Jon all over Ryan and she knew what the man's problem was.

She had turned him down several times when he asked her out, making it clear she did not mix business with pleasure. Then once she finished working for him, she refused him again and told her the truth. She wasn't interested. He didn't take too kindly to that and demanded her services whenever he needed a PA from that day forward, just to make her life miserable. The man did not take kindly to being denied or told the word no.

"Monique hates him. And since when do you call her Momo?" That was new.

"Since she told me about Sleazeball and then gave him some info that I'm not allowed to discuss." Apparently, Vallea had a bucket list of stuff she wanted to do or places she wanted to go. Jon liked adventuring, she liked adventuring, and they could start checking that list off together. "She's good people, I like her. That and if she and Joe are gonna be serious, we gotta be friends or shit gets awkward quick."

"Did she tell you what she's planning on doing for her next venture into the house-flipping world?" Since they were such good friends, him and Monique, Vallea would enlighten him on just how big of a heart the woman had. "She's going to start looking in Ohio and rebuild or fix up the low-income housing in Akron, Cincinnati, and one other place, but I can't remember the name of it. Anyway, she had no idea I'm from Ohio until I told her and she told me as soon as she gets that underway, she'll get me away from asshole. I told her just let me know when, so I don't know how long I'll be working for him or connected to this place."

"Actually, she said middle-class housing because there's too much low-income housing." Jon's smile tightened into a grim line.

Monique hadn't been wrong and he had said something to her about maybe investing in said low-income housing. Apparently, that came with a slew of government regulations and Monique wasn't wading into that cesspool, not that he blamed her. That's how slum lords were created.

"You're going to Ohio." Gross, he was pretty sure his feelings on that were written across his face.

"Believe me, I don't like it any more than you do and it won't be right away," Vallea assured him, knowing he wasn't a fan of Ohio and neither was she, but it was a noble thing Monique was doing. "It's gonna take a couple months for her to get things organized and settled before she needs my help again. I don't know how involved Ryan will be with WWE, but however long it lasts, at least I'm here and we can hang out and spend time together when we're not working. I'm on break right now since he's getting ready to go into his meeting with Vince and I'm not allowed in."

"If he's invested in stock or media, maybe that's why he's here. Want me to go in?" Jon smirked at the look on her face. "I can waltz right in and Vince won't bat an eyelash, he's used to me being a dick." Probably one of the reasons he still had a job actually, he was successful in the ring because that was who he was outside of it and that seemed to work. "I'll smack him for you too, babe."

"Jon." Her voice held warning, a serious expression coming over her face. "Ryan is not someone you want to trifle with. Please, don't do anything to him. I can handle him." Vallea couldn't jeopardize her job and placed a hand on his chest over his heart, her hazel eyes pleading with him to do things her way. "I promise, if he crosses any line with me, I'll let you beat him to a pulp. But not now. Just stay with me, keep me company for a bit until he's finished, and then you can go off to do whatever it is you do to get ready for the show." He still had a few hours before showtime.