I'm Afraid I Won't Be Able to Leave

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Wine? Water? Drink Up.

Back home, Leah Sinclair suddenly remembered the Romanee Conti they had mentioned in the private room and asked Asher Keating, ”Asher, is that wine very expensive?”

”It depends on the vintage. The cheaper bottles are in the tens of thousands, the expensive ones in the hundreds of thousands. If you want to try some, we can go back to Silverwood one day. We have a few bottles there.”

”No, no, no, I don’t want any.”

Leah Sinclair was stunned. She considered herself to have had her fair share of good wine since getting together with Asher Keating, but a bottle that cost tens of thousands... the very thought was insane.

She figured she probably just didn’t have a refined palate. To her, expensive wine was merely a bit smoother on the palate, and you weren’t guaranteed a headache the next day. Beyond that... she really couldn’t taste the difference.

As she was lost in thought, Asher Keating suddenly came over, lifted her up, and set her on the table. His voice was deep as he kissed her and said, ”Actually... playing with a little wine when we do things... isn’t a bad idea.”

”What kind of... play?”

”For example... pouring some on you, right here.”

Asher Keating kissed her collarbone. Leah’s collarbones were slender and delicate, with deep, defined hollows. On the left one sat a small, red mole, as vivid as a drop of cinnabar.

Asher kissed that very spot, his tongue lightly tracing over the mole, sending a shiver through her. ”Want to try?”

”I...”

”I want to try.”

The pad of Asher’s finger gently brushed over her lips, his low, husky voice laced with a hint of seduction.

”Then... let’s try.”

Leah felt a flush of shyness and buried her face in the crook of Asher’s neck.

Asher chuckled lightly and casually grabbed a bottle from the cabinet. Leah glanced up and saw it looked like a 30-year-old Macallan. She opened her mouth to stop him. ’Isn’t opening a bottle that expensive just to mess around a bit extravagant?’

Asher simply picked her up and headed for the bedroom. ”If you say no, I have other games we can try.”

Leah immediately shut her mouth. ’Wine, water... it’s all meant to be consumed, right?’

Later, as they were lost in their lovemaking, Asher gently nibbled on Leah’s earlobe. ”When you left, why did you only take my shirt?”

Leah’s mind went blank, and it took her a few seconds to process the question. Her body trembled lightly. ”I... when you weren’t here... I couldn’t sleep. I missed you... Asher, I missed you.”

Although he already knew why, hearing the woman beneath him say it aloud still made Asher’s heart ache with a bittersweet warmth.

He kissed the corner of Leah’s eye, which was slightly red and dewy from her intense climax moments before.

Her hands clung tightly to Asher’s shoulders. He held her waist with one hand while pulling one of hers down, lacing their fingers together.

”I missed you, too.”

They spent the entire night tangled in a passionate embrace. It wasn’t the first time they had made love all night, but it was the first time it had been so intense.

Leah didn’t even remember when she finally fell asleep. She only had a hazy memory of hearing Asher mutter, ”If you run away again, I’ll break your legs.”

She wanted to tell him she wouldn’t run away again. ’As long as you don’t abandon me, I won’t run.’ But she had no strength left to answer.

Asher gazed at the woman sleeping soundly in his arms and gently kissed the corner of her mouth. Her lips were slightly red and swollen from their kisses, and she pouted unconsciously in her sleep.

Asher’s heart melted. He whispered softly, ”Leah Sinclair, I really, really like you.”

On the first day back after the New Year’s Day holiday, the old Mr. Keating announced that Asher Keating would be in charge of the Southwood project. Asher immediately followed up by declaring that Aevon Group’s Project Department One would be responsible for it.

Less than half an hour passed between the old Mr. Keating’s announcement and Asher notifying Chester Hughes and Mr. Langdon.

When Mr. Langdon informed his department, everyone was stunned for a moment. The first instinct of several people was to glance at Leah Sinclair.

Mr. Langdon knocked on the table. ”Don’t look at Leah. President Keating decided to give this project to us long ago; he informed me well in advance. In terms of timing, personnel, and experience, our department is the best fit. What’s with those looks? Do you not have confidence in yourselves?”

”Of course we do!”

The deputy manager quickly chimed in, ”It’s just so sudden. We were just a bit surprised.”

Once the news sank in, everyone began to cheer. They had all heard whispers about the Southwood project even before Asher Keating’s arrival. It was a massive undertaking, much larger than the Xincheng project.

They had privately discussed how wonderful it would be if their department could land this project. Now that it had actually fallen into their laps, they felt a moment of disbelief, followed by sheer, unadulterated joy.

Meanwhile, Aaron Keating had just woken up. When his assistant delivered the news, he didn’t even have time to process it. Once he did, he slammed his phone down. ”Damn it! I knew it. The old man decided this long ago.”

The future development of Riverfall was set to gradually shift toward Southwood. The government intended to transform Southwood into the city’s new landmark district, and the plot of land Asher had secured was meant to become its largest financial and business hub.

The entire Southwood redevelopment was not a project that could be completed in a few years; the relationships and interests involved were far too numerous and complex. However, this initial project was the touchstone for Asher—his key to unlocking the entire redevelopment.

The Keating Group was involved in many industries, but construction was its cornerstone. Until now, a large part of that division had been in Aaron Keating’s hands.

Aaron had originally intended to use the Southwood project to crush Asher and knock him back to where he started. Asher’s rise over the past two years had been too rapid, filling Aaron with a growing sense of panic.

If Asher succeeded with the Southwood project, the old Mr. Keating might entrust the entire construction division to him in the future. Aaron would not allow that to happen.

He had asked Morgan Sterling to make some trouble for Asher, but he’d forgotten that the Sterling Group had only ventured into construction in the last couple of years. Morgan knew his family couldn’t go head-to-head with the Keating Family in that sector.

So, Morgan hadn’t invested much effort. Compared to helping Aaron suppress Asher, he far preferred watching the Keatings fight amongst themselves.

As the saying goes, ”When the snipe and the clam grapple, it is the fisherman who profits.” He wanted to be that fisherman.

So, while he did make a few small moves to hinder Asher’s progress, it was just as Asher himself had surmised: purely to be a nuisance.

Thomas Sterling had analyzed the situation for him: Aaron Keating was no match for Asher Keating. If Asher truly wanted to take control of the Keating Group, it likely wasn’t impossible; it all just depended on whether he wanted to or not.

The old Mr. Keating had always subscribed to the principle of letting the most capable lead. In the past, Theodore Keating himself had been unwilling to contend too fiercely with his elder brother, Timothy Keating.

Therefore, around the time he married Ruth Hughes, Theodore had been satisfied with whatever he was given. As for Aaron and Alan Keating, they had spent too long living in the comfort zone of the family’s main branch.

The project was just kicking off, requiring extensive preparation in its initial stages. The entire Project Department One was thrown into a flurry of activity. Then, just twenty days before the Lunar New Year, Leah Sinclair received news that Grandma Sinclair was critically ill.