Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 52

Yet, she turned her head to look at him. "There are a lot of social events at the end of the year, so take care of yourself."

Zachary gave a low hum, his eyes still closed.

She stood up, walked around to the back of the sofa, and placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging them with just the right amount of pressure. "Look at you, your shoulders are tense as a rock."

Zachary didn't say a word, but his body slowly began to relax.

The fuse Vera had lit with her own hands had completely caught him off guard.

This wasn't an issue he could drag out into the open, but if he didn't handle it perfectly, it was guaranteed to end in mutual destruction.

When that woman went crazy, he was utterly defenseless against her.

Zachary let out a casual sigh. "You're too good to me, darling."

Looking down at the man sunken into the sofa, Audrina suddenly recalled Sebastian Hawthorne's warning—Zachary might be hiding something.

Given Sebastian's professional background, she highly doubted he would throw out baseless accusations to smear someone.

Taking advantage of the fact that Zachary was actually home, she casually brought it up. "Our production team is preparing a new segment for after the holidays. I spent the entire afternoon flipping through files at the station today, and it gave me a headache."

"So, darling." Audrina continued massaging as she spoke. "I want to ask you for a favor."

Relaxed by her touch, Zachary let out a muffled hum of agreement.

"For that new segment after the holidays, we want to do a series of corporate case studies." She circled back to the front of the sofa and sat down next to him, looking perfectly sweet and innocent. "The crisis Monroe Industries faced back then—from the brink of bankruptcy to a miraculous recovery—the entire Kingshire business world still remembers it. Our editor-in-chief thinks it's an incredibly classic case and wants to feature it in the first episode."

Zachary opened his eyes and looked at her, saying nothing.

"I was just thinking," Audrina smiled, her voice softening, "could you let me see Monroe Industries' financial reports from back then? It doesn't have to be anything too detailed, just the general numbers."

"Why do you need to look at those?" Zachary's tone remained flat, but Audrina noticed the fingers resting on his knee twitch slightly.

"For topic references," she tilted her head, acting as if it were the most natural request in the world. "I can't just make things up based on those old online articles. You've managed the company on our behalf for years; whatever you have is definitely more accurate than the rumors out there."

His voice was still raspy, but his tone was much softer than before. "I'll have someone send the financial reports to you."

Audrina turned her head and gave him a bright smile.

"Thank you, darling."

That "darling" was sweet and light, laced with a grateful, affectionate tone that made the tension Zachary had been carrying all day completely evaporate.

He was still holding onto her wrist, refusing to let go.

The dim light cast a soft glow over Audrina's silhouette. He pulled her a fraction closer. "Audrina."

"Yeah?"

"Let's try for a baby."