A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss novel Chapter 185

Chapter 185
Madison
Alexander started walking, and I followed, my curiosity overcoming my apprehension. The four of us moved through the warehouse, our footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.
Leo pushed open the door to reveal a small office. In the center sat Tyler Phillips, the bartender from the event where Alexander had been drugged. He was tied to a chair, his mouth covered with duct tape. His eyes widened when he saw Alexander.
I gasped involuntarily. This was not what I had expected when Alexander said we were meeting Leo. Kidnapping seemed a bit extreme, even for Alexander Knight.
“You tied him up?” I whispered, unable to hide my shock.
Leo shrugged. “Had to make sure he’d stick around for the conversation.”
I looked at Tyler more closely. Despite being bound to a chair, he appeared physically unharmed. No bruises, no cuts, just a terrified expression above the silver tape.
Alexander circled Tyler slowly, like a predator sizing up its prey. “Did he talk?” he asked Leo.
“Sang like a canary,” Leo confirmed. “Everything he told us before checks out. He met her at the café, she paid him to slip something in your drink, and he never saw her again.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened. “Then how did you find out who ‘S’ is?”
Leo shifted his weight, glancing at Tyler, who was still tied to the chair. “He didn’t tell us her name directly. But we got creative.”
I stood there awkwardly, feeling completely out of place in this dingy warehouse. The whole scene felt like something out of a mob movie.
“What do you mean by ‘creative’?” Alexander asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Well,” Leo explained, “Tyler here wasn’t exactly forthcoming with a name. Just kept repeating that she only went by ‘S’ in their conversations.”
Anthony stepped forward. “So we tried a different approach. We compiled photos of women you’ve been connected with business associates, ex-girlfriends, that sort of thing.”
“We showed him pictures of your exes, hookups, anyone who might have a grudge,” Leo continued. ” Nothing. He didn’t recognize any of them.”
I couldn’t help but wonder just how extensive that list had been. The thought of Alexander’s romantic history being laid out in a series of photographs made something twist uncomfortably in
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my stomach.
“Then we had an idea,” Anthony said. “What if this wasn’t someone directly connected to you? What if we needed to look further back?”
Alexander crossed his arms. “Meaning?”
“High school,” Leo stated flatly. “We searched through social media for profiles of people you went to school with.”
“You what?” Alexander’s voice was dangerously quiet.
“We had to be thorough,” Leo shrugged, unapologetic. “And it paid off. Tyler here-” he gestured to the bound bartender, “-recognized someone.”
Anthony pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, then turned the screen toward Alexander. “Selena Johnson.”
Alexander stared at the phone, his brow furrowed in concentration.
I caught a glimpse of a woman with dark hair and striking features. She appeared to be in her early thirties, with a confident smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Alexander’s expression remained blank. “I don’t remember her.”
“You don’t?” Leo seemed surprised.
Alexander shook his head, studying the photo more carefully. “Not at all. Should I?”
“You went to high school with her,” Leo explained.
Alexander handed the phone back to Anthony, his face revealing nothing. “I went to school with hundreds of people. Can’t remember them all.”
“That’s fair,” Anthony nodded, taking the phone back. “I didn’t recognize her either until Leo pointed it out.”
Leo scrolled through more photos on his own phone. “She wasn’t particularly notable back then, not in any clubs or sports teams with us. Just another face in the yearbook.”
“But you’re sure this is the woman who paid Tyler?” Alexander asked, glancing at the bound bartender.
“Tyler confirmed it,” Leo said. “Showed him her photos among several others. His reaction was immediate.”
I shifted my weight, uncomfortable with this whole situation. “So what now?” I asked, my voice
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sounding small in the large space.
Three pairs of eyes turned to me, as if suddenly remembering I was there.
“Now we find out where she is,” Alexander said, his voice controlled but with an undercurrent of steel. “And why she’s targeting me.”
Anthony checked his watch. “We should wrap this up. We’ve been gone
Leo nodded toward Tyler. “What about him?”
too long.”
“Let him go,” Alexander said after a moment. “He’s given us what we needed.”
Leo moved to untie Tyler while Alexander turned to me. “Let’s go.”
We stepped outside into the cool air. The warehouse district was deserted, and the silence amplified the sound of our footsteps, giving our little group an eerie sense of isolation.
“We need to find her soon,” Alexander said, his voice tight with controlled anger. “I need to know why she did this. Are we sure Tyler’s information is reliable? He could have picked a random face to get us off his back.”
Leo shook his head. “His reaction was genuine. And if Tyler gave us wrong information, he’ll be arrested for attempted murder. The drug in your system could have killed you if the dosage had been higher.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to process everything. Someone had deliberately drugged Alexander, someone from his past, whom he didn’t even remember.
Anthony leaned against his car, his expression thoughtful. “There’s another angle we should consider. What if her intention was to drug you and then have sex with you while you were under the influence? She could later claim pregnancy, rape allegations, or something similar to extort money.”
Alexander ran a hand through his hair, considering this. “That’s certainly possible. But we can’t be sure that was the plan. There are many potential motives. The stock crash this week, for example- someone could have paid to have me drugged, then expose me as an addict to force my removal as CEO or from the board entirely.”
He turned to face us, his expression deadly serious. “There are countless ways this could have played out, and we need to find her as soon as possible to determine the real motive.”
Leo nodded firmly. “We’ll track her down.”
“Good,” Alexander said, then turned to me. “Ready?”
I nodded, following him to his car.