Chapter 511

Evenson was absolutely taking the leave.

For one thing, Pepper was paying him by the day. If anything delayed his assignment, those were days he wouldn’t be getting paid. Worse, there was always the possibility of being accused of breaching the agreement and having his compensation docked for delaying Tony’s treatment.

More importantly, Claire already knew about the arrangement.

When he eventually handed over his paycheck, she would take one look at the numbers and immediately notice that something was missing.

Why is this several days short?

The consequences of that question were not something Evenson was eager to discover firsthand.

So he had Melinda file the leave request for him, with the official explanation being that he needed to accompany Tony Stark during his recovery from the rather specific condition known as I-Carried-a-Nuclear-Bomb-Into-a-Black-Hole-and-Now-I-Regret-Everything Syndrome.

With that taken care of, Evenson pulled out the suit Malick had given him and spread it across the table.

He poured some water into the large stainless-steel mug he normally used for drinking, then covered the top with his right hand.

The water slowly heated.

A moment later, wisps of steam curled upward.

Evenson picked up the improvised steam iron and carefully pressed the wrinkles from the suit, wrinkles that had appeared because he’d stored it with considerably less care than the garment deserved.

Now this was what it meant to control temperature at will.

As he worked, Evenson couldn’t help feeling a little smug.

Forget ordinary people. Even Tony Stark, one of the richest men on Earth, probably didn’t own an iron that responded directly to his thoughts.

He gave the finished suit a shake.

The burgundy shirt went on first, followed by the black vest and narrow tie. Then came the jacket.

Evenson stood before the mirror and inspected himself from the front, then from the side.

"Hmm."

Still handsome enough to cause problems.

In his old life, he’d never really had the time or money to care much about dressing well. If he had the opportunity now, though, why not take advantage of it?

After all, the people who surrounded Tony Stark were generally the sort who considered themselves members of high society.

Evenson had no intention of showing up looking like a beggar.

Especially if those people were going to look at him like one and then refuse to pay him.

With that, his preparations were complete.

Well, almost.

There was one last thing he had to do.

Say goodbye to Claire.

He had no intention of bringing her along this time.

Claire had made it very clear that she wanted to visit Iron Man and see what Tony Stark’s world was like. Normally, Evenson might have indulged her curiosity.

This time, however, he put his foot down.

He refused. Completely and absolutely.

Even if it meant sleeping on the roof when he got home, he wasn’t changing his mind.

Going to Tony Stark’s place was one thing.

Bringing his wife along was another.

Absolutely not.

Not long afterward, Evenson drove to Stark Industries.

The moment he entered the building, he happened to see Pepper stepping out of an elevator.

She was dressed in a crisp white skirt suit, and employees were constantly approaching her with folders for signatures. Apparently, being the CEO left little time for breathing, let alone sitting down.

Walking beside her was Tony’s large bodyguard.

What was his name again?

Lee... something?

Right.

Happy.

Though it looked like Happy’s position had evolved beyond simple bodyguard duty. He’d apparently been promoted to head of some department, which meant he now had enough authority to offer the CEO his opinions.

"That’s what you had them put in the basement," Happy was saying, talking rapidly beside Pepper. "And you even had them wear little paper hats. These are perfectly usable assets."

"So you’re suggesting I..." Pepper signed another document without looking up. "Replace all the janitors with robots?"

She didn’t outright reject the idea, but the skepticism in her voice was unmistakable.

"That’s not what I mean," Happy insisted. "The weakest link in human resources is the human. We need to solve that problem immediately."

"And in the future..."

Another voice joined the conversation.

"College graduates won’t be able to find jobs, and they won’t even be able to get hired as janitors."

Both Pepper and Happy turned.

Evenson was walking toward them with his hands spread helplessly.

"What a terrifying future."

Pepper stared at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I’m here for work."

"Work?"

Her brow furrowed.

"I thought your job was supposed to be staying with Tony."

"Mhm." Evenson shrugged. "So I take it Tony isn’t here?"

"Of course he isn’t. Tony barely came to the company before I became CEO. Now that I’m running things, he comes even less."

There was a hint of irritation in Pepper’s voice.

Whether it was directed at Tony, her job, or the universe in general, Evenson couldn’t say.

"And considering his current condition, he should be staying at home anyway."

"At home?" Evenson rolled his eyes. "Which home?"

Pepper blinked.

"Tony owns more houses than I can keep track of. You’ve seen how many properties that man has. He probably has enough to play real estate roulette whenever he gets bored."

Then Evenson noticed something else.

Happy had been staring at his chest ever since he’d arrived.

Not discreetly, either.

His gaze kept drifting downward.

Evenson’s expression became increasingly uneasy. He instinctively tightened his collar and took half a step backward.

"Uh... buddy? Why do you keep staring at my chest?"

"Where’s your ID badge?"

Evenson froze.

Pepper covered her forehead with one hand.

Happy pointed solemnly at the blue badge hanging from his own chest.

"Everyone in this building has to wear one."

"Oh."

Understanding finally dawned.

Evenson stared at the badge, then at Happy.

He’d already suspected during their previous encounter that Tony’s bodyguard had a remarkable talent for missing the point.

Apparently, he’d underestimated him.

"Happy was just promoted to head of security," Pepper explained, sounding thoroughly resigned. "He’s become extremely particular about everyone’s badges."

She didn’t mention that employee complaints had increased by three hundred percent since Happy had taken the position.

She didn’t need to.

Her expression said enough.

"Ms. Potts, your appointment has arrived."

A female employee approached Pepper and spoke quietly.

"All right. Thank you."

Pepper nodded, then looked back at Evenson.

"Tony is staying at the place you’ve been to before. The one on the cliff."

"The cliffside mansion?"

"That’s the one."

Evenson nodded.

Perfect.

He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

Something was wrong.

He frowned and slowly looked around the lobby.

There was someone here.

Someone unusual.

Most people wouldn’t have noticed anything. To them, the lobby was simply full of employees and visitors going about their business.

But Evenson could feel it.

There was a considerable amount of energy hidden inside one of the people nearby.

And it felt...

Hot.

Unstable.

Almost as though something inside the man’s body was waiting for the right moment to explode.

Evenson’s gaze settled on him.

The man was slouched across a couch in a badly wrinkled suit, looking utterly bored and completely lacking in energy.

Evenson’s plans to leave disappeared.

Something told him he needed to take a closer look.