CHAPTER 163: I LIKE YOU

Jamal stared at Ryan in disbelief, wondering if Ryan was messing with him or if this was a trap of some sort.

As much as the offer made him want to dance for joy, he knew better than to jump at a deal from the devil.

"I beg your pardon?" Jamal asked, and Ryan smiled, rising from his seat.

He had thought long and hard about it. Planting cameras and bugs were useless. Apart from the fact that he didn’t have the time to sit down to monitor and watch what she was doing, he didn’t want to assign just anyone to do it.

He wasn’t sure how much Abigail knew yet, and he didn’t want just anyone to find out what she was doing, and by extension the secrets of the past which he had carefully buried.

Jamal on the other hand was smart and loyal, and he seemed to have very easily won over the trust of his daughters. Especially Abigail.

In all these years apart from the silly golddigging boys that had approached Abigail, he had not met anyone who was effortlessly close to Abigail like Jamal, and he figured he could use it to his advantage.

If Abigail fell in love and married Jamal, then Abigail would easily confide in Jamal about all she knew and all her plans since Jamal was her husband, and Jamal in turn would tell him everything.

With Jamal on his side and as Abigail’s husband, Jamal would be able to keep Abigail in check and stop whatever plans she had. And not only that, he would easily find out who Josh’s real father was and whether or not Abigail was still in close contact with him.

Together they would cut him off and make sure he never showed up anywhere near Abigail or tries to claim Josh.

"I understand your surprise," he said with a sly smile as he walked around the table to take the seat next to Jamal.

"I don’t understand why you would want someone like me to marry your daughter," Jamal said with a slight frown.

"You are smart, and Abigail trusts you. That’s why," Ryan said simply, holding Jamal’s gaze.

"I’m sure there are lots of smart men out there, and I can’t entirely say she trusts me yet," Jamal counted as he wondered what Ryan was thinking.

Ryan smiled. "Not many smart men can get close to her so easily as you have done. If I try to connect her with someone else she’d be wary of them. And I doubt she’d easily let anyone into her life. But you on the other hand, I know you’ve established some sort of rapport with her since you know her secret and she has come to let her guard down around you. It will be easier for you to seduce her than a total stranger."

"I still don’t understand," Jamal lied.

Ryan cleared his throat, "I want you to marry her and keep your eyes on her at all times. I know you must be wondering why I’m going so far and why the relationship between me and my daughter is so complicated that I’d need you to seduce and marry her. I can’t tell you all about it right now. But I want you to know that you will be rewarded handsomely if you are able to get her to fall for you and marry you. Like I told you before, I plan to hand over all I have to her and Josh. If you are able to get her to marry you, you will never be poor again," Ryan said, and Jamal frowned.

"What’s the catch?" Jamal asked with narrowed eyes.

Ryan laughed. "I like you. I really do. And there is no catch. I will only expect you to move into the mansion. You both will always have to live here. And you will keep reporting all her activities to me. I want to know everything she is thinking and doing," Ryan said, and Jamal sighed.

"What if she has a boyfriend or someone she is interested in?" Jamal asked curiously.

"She most likely does. I have no intention of approving anyone she chooses. It will be your duty to turn her heart away from whoever it is," Ryan said, and then he decided to share a little secret with Jamal.

"This might be a good time to let you in on a little family secret. Abigail is Josh’s biological mother," he said, and Jamal’s eyes widened with false surprise.

"Josh?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes. I couldn’t let my daughter be a single mother, so I adopted him and claimed him as mine."

"What about his biological father? Why didn’t he marry her after impregnating her?" Jamal asked with a slight frown.

"I don’t know who he is yet. She never told me who he is. And even if she did, I wouldn’t let him marry her. I’m hoping you will find out who he is as you get closer to her," Ryan said and Jamal nodded thoughtfully.

"You think he might still be in the picture? What happens if he shows up?" Jamal asked, and Ryan smiled.

"We will make sure he doesn’t cause any problems for Abigail or Josh in the future. I’m pretty sure he is a gold-digger who approached her because of her background and is lurking around and waiting for the right time to reveal his true intentions," Ryan said confidently.

Jamal was silent for a while and then he sighed softly. "Asking me to seduce her means I will have to spend more time with her," Jamal said thoughtfully and Ryan nodded.

"Yes."

"But what if she gets suspicious? I mean I will have to take her out on dates and all," Jamal pointed out.

"That’s where you have to be creative. Act like you’re both sneaking around and I’m not aware of it. I think she’d like that and trust you more that way," Ryan suggested.

"That would be difficult," Jamal said with a slight frown even though his heart was already racing with excitement as he thought about all the fun he could have with Abigail.

"And while you are at it, I will like you to find out what is going on between her and Genevieve. They never used to get along but all of a sudden they seem very friendly. I want to know what they are up to. Can you find out?"

Jamal’s brows pulled together as though he was thinking about it, "Can I think about all this? I need to weigh the pros and cons."

"You disappoint me, Pete. You don’t sound very ambitious right now," Ryan said, watching him closely.

"You’d be more disappointed if I jumped at your offer without careful consideration. I don’t think you’d want someone that thoughtless to serve you," Jamal said, and Ryan chuckled.

"True. But I’d also want someone who is loyal and obeys me without thinking twice about it," Ryan pointed out.

"Maybe loyalty means different things to us. If you want a yes man, then maybe you should give this offer to someone else because I won’t be a yes man. I can assure you that I will be loyal to you, but at the same time I’d prefer to think things through and make sure we do not make a mistake. That’s the only way I can serve you. I won’t let my brain sit idle in my head because I want to prove my loyalty to you," Jamal bluffed, hoping that Ryan wouldn’t withdraw the offer but would instead trust him more.

Ryan stared at him for a moment with an unreadable expression. Ryan was used to having yes men. People who did his bidding without a second thought, but this was the first time someone was outrightly speaking to him this way. For some reason it didn’t upset him as he would have imagined. If anything, it reassured him and made him believe he could trust Pete to always do the right things for them.

Jamal held Ryan’s gaze as he stared at him, and to Jamal’s confusion, Ryan smiled, and then his smile shifted into a chuckle and then he was laughing.

Jamal maintained a straight face until Ryan’s laughter faded. He hoped that Ryan was laughing because he was happy with his response.

"We are going to do great things together, Pete. I can tell," Ryan said, slapping Jamal’s back.

"Thank you sir," Jamal said with a polite bow.

"When should I expect a response?" Ryan asked with a wide smile.

"Tomorrow. I will let you know tomorrow. Also, if I have to do this, I might have to get a bit closer to win Josh’s heart. Do you mind? I think Ms Abigail might like me more if she sees I get along with him," Jamal said, and Ryan thought about it for a moment.

"We will figure out a way to get you to spend time with him without it being suspicious. Perhaps you can teach him sports or something. We will figure it out after you’ve made up your mind," Ryan said, and Jamal nodded.

"I will think about it all and come up with a plan by tomorrow," Jamal promised before leaving the office.