The Royal Contract

"Get me a meeting with Ethan today." He ordered his secretary as he started checking his schedule for the day. "Thanks, Alona."

He could see that his plate was fully packed today with meetings with investors and projects updates, among other things. But he needed to squeeze in seeing Ethan regarding an urgent matter.

He could not wait until tonight because he wanted an answer at the earliest possible time. He suddenly remembered what he said to Dani. He could not disappoint her.

"I'll get to it right away," Alona answered him but remained standing in front of his desk. "Someone is here to see you. He is insisting, but he has no appointment." 

She usually did not allow visitors who had no business in their office, especially without a relevant reason. But instinct had taught her that this one might have something that her boss might need.

She had been an assistant for a long time. When her former boss sold this company to Alex, she thought she would be out on the street. But Alex agreed to keep her because of her skills and knowledge of this job. 

"Who is it?" He asked, skimming through the files piled up on his table. He had a lot of workloads until the weekend, and then there was the charity ball. His parents were also arriving soon.

"He said his name was Ms. Stockholm. You don't know him yet, but his business is urgent." Alona explained as she looked at his boss. "He said that it had something to do with Nickolas Travis."

Now, she knew she had captured her boss' attention when he finally looked up from his papers. She had been privy to the things happening around the office. 

She handled some of the communications between her boss and Marcus. But she signed a confidentiality agreement, so she knew she could not tell anyone about the companies or her boss' secret.

Not that she planned to betray his trust in her since he genuinely liked Alex. He was a great boss and a good person. He reminded her of her former boss that helped her family a lot during her time of need.

Hearing Nick's name certainly sparked his interest in this man. But how sure was he that he could rely on his information? "Do you have any background about him?"

He was sure that Alona had already dug up some details about their visitor. Basic information that could help him assessed the intention of this man. Whether he should accept whatever he had to offer him.

"Yes, of course. Mr. Stockholm had a legitimate business here in the city. It is small but thriving. He had no prior criminal records or suspected of any crimes on record." She started giving him details of what she found on the internet and through their sources.

"So, he is clean," Alex mumbled as he contemplated on what he just learned. "But he may be just good at hiding his dirty works. Anyway, send him in."

He wanted to get the meeting over with since he was also curious about what made him come to his office. He had not heard his name before, but it did not mean that this man could not be dangerous. He still needed to proceed with caution.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your busy day, but my business is crucial, and I must discuss it with you immediately." The man who introduced himself as Mr. Stockholm said.

"Please take a seat." He offered, studying the man under his gaze. 

A man, maybe in his late thirty came in with a friendly smile on his face. He still looked young and seemed like an authentic businessman who could blend with ease in a crowd.

But he was not easily fooled by men like him. He could sense that something was different in his stance. The way he scrutinized his office with his subtle gaze indicated that he was also studying him.

He was not just a small-time player, wanting to get his attention for a business proposal pitch. He was a cunning man in disguise. Now, his interest only increased more as he pondered on what he came here to do.

"Thanks." He took the seat offered to him and made himself comfortable. "I guess you are wondering what I am doing here, probably thinking I am a spy sent by your enemies."

On the other hand, Alex just sat straight in his chair and stared at him, waiting for him to continue. He was not going to respond to him until he figured out what else he had to say.

"Well, I won't discount that. Better be cautious than sorry." Mr. Stockholm continued. "But you can call me Lord. I know. But what can I do when my mom thought it was a great name." He slightly chuckled at his joke.

But when Alex failed to see it as funny, he continued. "Anyway, I had been working for Mr. Hamilton for a long time. But since he is a bit indisposed at the moment, I thought that you might be interested in some facts."

He had a legitimate business as his front, but he liked his other work more because of the thrill it gave him, and the return was quite rewarding too.

"Can we cut to the chase? As you can see, I still have other priorities in line for today." Alex had no time to chitchat with this man. If he had something for him, better present it now, or else, his door was open, and he could leave.

He still had to verify, with Ethan, the identity of this man and if his work was reliable. He had his investigators, but if he proved to be good at his job, then maybe he could also use his help.

"I understand. So, I would cut to the chase. I am here to offer my services. I am good at what I do, and I guarantee you the quality of my information." He started explaining his initial business.

He was in the business of knowing what was happening around him. That included the past, the latest events, and the secrets behind it. He could only make predictions on what might happen in the future, depending on his collected data.

"By the way, I don't do referrals. I prefer to find my clients that I can work with." He added, knowing that Mr. Princeton must be thinking why Ethan never recommended him to his business.

He usually had no use of the things he discovered in his search, but it did not mean that it was not valuable information. He just needed to find someone who had more use to it.

It was a matter of connecting point A to point B, redirecting the information to the one who had more use to the data. But of course, he sold his hard work at a price.

But he never did like working on both sides of the fence. It was just messy, and sometimes the conflict of interest could ruin his credibility.

"This is my resume. I hope you will find my services relevant to your business." He handed Alex a brown envelop. "My contact is inside." He excused himself, not wanting to take much of Alex's time.

He already did what he came to do. Identifying that Alex had a close tie with Ethan, he felt Alex could be a potential client.