Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 72: Mysterious box

Chapter 72: Mysterious box

In one of the luxurious hotels in Zen City; Lavish Leaf hotel.

Jason hosted a night social club and invited a few of his military friends and his business partners from his father’s company_who he made sure were standing separately from his military friends. He made sure to also invite a few people from the media as what he was about to do would blow up in the news industry by tommorow if Neil Wayner was to show up. If Mia Harrison was indeed someone he was interested in, Jason was sure Neil’s temper would take over all reason and he would show up tonight to confront him after reading the message he sent him.

"I thought you said you invited Major General?" Asked one of Jason’s military friends as they stood around the pool side smoking with glasses of expensive wines in their hands. They had all been invited by Jason who told them that their Major General had been invited and that there was something important Neil wanted to share with them tonight.

All the soldiers assigned on this mission, were staying with their families before Neil Wayner, their Major General would have any news about the drug syndicate’s location. They had worked with Neil many times on secret missions, but this was the only one taking the longest time to get over with. However, none of them were complaining as they knew their Major General never disappointed when it came to uncovering a criminal.

Most of the soldiers admired Neil and would do anything to be closer to him. When Jason invited them, saying that Neil would be there, they were excited to socialize with their serious-minded Major General. They all knew that Neil believed attending irrelevant gatherings like men’s social clubs was a waste of time. They had never seen him attend any gathering unrelated to his mission. Thus, since Jason had said he was coming today, then it must be something important. However, they had been waiting for over an hour, and Neil still hadn’t shown up. This made them doubt Jason’s words.

Why would General Wayner even come when he wasn’t friends with Jason nor was he fond of the media? They all knew the bad blood between them, so why would he come to a gathering hosted by his rival?

Jason, who noticed the doubt in the soldiers eyes, was slightly upset at the fact that no matter what he did, they would never see him as a hero like they saw Neil Wayner who was an evil villain pretending to be a hero to the world. However, today he planned to end all of his hero facade in front of everyone and the world will know what sort of a person he was!

"You know how General Wayner is, he likes to show up late to get the attention. I’m sure he’s on his way here." Jason said with a tight smile while hiding his displeasure behind the glass of wine he was sipping.

The soldiers who heard him couldn’t help but snicker. Wasn’t it Jason who always showed up late to gain attention? Ha, he should have just invited them without using their General’s name as an excuse to get them all to show up tonight. They were all tired and would have loved to be in bed but because they wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to get on their General’s good side, they had all showed up.

"I hope as hell he shows up because I would hate it that I missed my cozy bed with my lovely wife because of a normal social club with a bunch of camera people flashing around." Said the military second in commander, who was a tall bulky man with thinning blonde hair and blue eyes. He didn’t like Jason nor did he like Neil, but he had come here because he believed Neil was coming here to give them some info about his search in Ivy Grove institute. He was looking forward to getting their mission over with so he could receive the extra bonus from the president, but it seemed their Major General was delaying this time.

"Oren, you take everything too professional, just enjoy the night and don’t worry because I know our General will show up." Jason patted the bulky man’s shoulder as he internally cursed Neil for coming late. From what he’d heard from his sister, Neil had shown interest in this girl not because of their mission but for some personal reasons. Diane Foster was the girl he should be roaming around getting her to give him more details but instead he was always with Mia Harrison. It could only mean one thing; he was neglecting their mission for a woman!

As Jason was beginning to doubt his theory about what he thought about Neil’s relationship with this Mia_who he had gone as far as to spend more than a million on the things he bought her just to irk Neil into confronting him_noticed the devil’s best friend, Liam walked into the poolside of the hotel. What in the name of hell was he wearing?! Jason thought in disbelief as he took in what the young man was wearing into his gathering.

Liam was wearing what looked like a mismatched nightwear. A plain blue shirt with a flashy green trouser along with fluffy snow shoes that looked like something a girl would wear in her room! Was this man high on drugs or what?!

Liam sauntered into the poolside with a nonchalant air around him, he was holding a sleek black box in hand, his unprofessional attire drawing mixed reactions from the crowd. He could feel everyone’s eyes and could hear their whispering, but he remained unfazed. He had purposely dressed like this to show everyone he wasn’t interested in being here. If it wasn’t for Neil calling him and instructing him to pick up some black box at his condo and deliver it to his friend, Jason, Liam would have preferred to be at home, enjoying the company of the two women he had invited over that evening. However, it seemed that every time he attempted to have some fun, Neil always managed to spoil it for him.

While Neil had somehow mastered the art of controlling his manly desires, Liam was quite the opposite. In fact, he had a strong sexual appetite that he couldn’t go a day without satisfying with one of his mistresses. But just whenever he was about to get down to business, his phone would ring, and it would turn out to be his party pooper of a friend calling to get him to do something!

Liam didn’t know of the contents of the box or why Neil had asked him to deliver it to Jason. Nevertheless, he had agreed to carry out the task, along with passing on Neil’s message, purely to witness Jason’s reaction. Liam couldn’t help but think that Jason must be out of his mind to expect Neil to attend such a gathering.

Liam took his time in walking towards Jason, his devil-may-care attitude evident in the way he whistled a carefree tune.

All eyes turned to him, and the soldiers in the gathering, familiar with Neil’s best friend, craned their necks to see if they had come together. However, Liam had came alone without their General.

Jason, frowning deeply at Neil’s absence behind his crazy friend, couldn’t hide his frustration. Still, he plastered on a smile as Liam approached despite the fact that he disliked him almost as much as Neil.

"Where’s your friend?" Jason inquired, attempting to conceal his disdain.

Liam, with a crooked grin and a twinkle in his black eyes, replied, "Oh, he sends his regards, but he’s got more pressing matters to attend to than to be at this... What is the purpose of this gathering again?" He asked while casting a curious gaze at the media people around the poolside. He hadn’t noticed them earlier because they were standing in the shadows of the area. Was Jason trying to reveal Neil’s identity to the world?

"Do I have to have any purpose for wanting to have fun with my friends?" Jason frowned.

Liam shrugged while casually saying, "The last time I checked Neil isn’t your friend, unless you’re still living in one of your delulu worlds you’ve created in your head."

Jason ignored Liam’s sarcastic remark and took in his mismatched attire again, and because he couldn’t resist mocking him, Jason said, "Did you mistake this for a pajama party? Or did you come to the wrong place?"

Liam chuckled in amusement as he wasn’t one bit affected by Jason’s jab before he replied with a crooked grin, "Ah, Jason, don’t you know the saying of Comfort over style?" He asked. But Liam didn’t allow him reply, he handed the black box to Jason, who eyed it warily.

"Consider it a token of apology from the Major General, my dear Jason. My friend is tied up, but he thought I should drop this off to you," Liam said, his voice dripping with a twisted sense of humor.

Though to those who don’t know Liam that well, they would see him as a charming handsome man, with an easy going personality, but the soldiers around knew him well enough not to take him lightly. They knew how crooked his head was when it came to torturing the enemy, he would kill someone with a harmless smile on his face. And seeing the box he was handing over to Jason, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to them if they found someone’s limb laying inside it.

It was no wonder he was a close friend of their bad tempered Major General, who they were all disappointed about the fact that he didn’t show up. However, their curiousity to see what was inside the black box took over their disappointment of his absence.

Jason, swallowing his pride, managed to forced a smile as he accepted the black box. "Tell him we missed him," he muttered through gritted teeth as he was fuming in rage for his well planned scheme going to waste. What was in the box and why would Neil ever bother to send a gift as an apology because he was unable to show up? What if it was something that would kill all of his guests if he opened it?

He wouldn’t underestimate someone who had killed innocent people just to quench his temper. And knowing what he had sent to Neil this afternoon on text, he was hesitant to even hold the box properly. It could be an explosive or even something more harmful. But then knowing that Neil wasn’t stupid enough to destroy his own hero image in the eyes of the media, Jason was sure he wouldn’t send something harmful.

Liam, instead of making a swift exit as he planned, urged Jason with a twisted grin on his handsome face as he couldn’t help but be curious on what was inside the box, "Come on Jason, don’t keep us in suspense. Open the box. Neil put a lot of thought into this, you know."

Jason shot him a glare but, sensing the growing curiosity around him, he reluctantly started to open the mysterious black box. As he peeled back the lid with a slightly trembling finger, something unexpected happened.