Never Judge

"Sir, we're ready for tomorrow." Mae said as she entered Cedric's office to give him an update.

Cedric glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already two in the morning. He suddenly began to worry about his friends that should have already arrived at Kashmere, and about the girls who shouldn't be overworking themselves.

"Thanks, Mae." Cedric said with a nod. "Tell Ian and Dave to go home, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. I'll see you all in the office."

"Sir, Dave, Mien, and I were wondering if we could spend the night here?" Mae asked.

"Of course." Cedric said with a smile, he was glad that his assistants chose to stay. He always worried whenever they left the office or his home late and constantly had the maids keep rooms ready for them.

"We plan to give you an update first thing in the morning, so it would be quite counterproductive for us to go home." Mae told Cedric.

"Would you and Dave want to share a room this time?" Cedric asked as he recalled that the two assistants practically lived together at this point. 

"We'll sleep in separate rooms." Mae said with a smile. "I don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as Dave under your roof with my older brother in the next room. It just feels wrong." She told him with an awkward laugh.

Cedric simply nodded and smiled.

"Same rooms, and join us for breakfast." Cedric told Mae before finally getting up and walking out of the office with her.

He needed to make sure that the women had all left Ayanna's office and were not overworking themselves.

Sadly, he was right. 

When he entered Ayanna's office, she found all three women and Mien with a lot of documents all over the room.

"Your husbands would kill me if they knew all of you were still up." Cedric scolded.

"Have you heard from them by any chance?" Veronica asked Cedric as she shot him an icy glare.

"Chill, no, relax Veronica, I'm not the one you are pissed at." Cedric said as he laughed at his friend. "I'll give them a call to check if they've landed. I'm sure they are just waiting to know more before calling us."

"How hard is it to send a text?" Ayanna grumbled. "All they have to say is, hey darling, we've landed, that's it. That's all we are asking for."

"I'll handle this." Cedric told the women. "For now, can you please call for a maid to help you put things away. All three of you should be resting." 

"I'll go do it." Mien said as he quickly got up, not wanting to be in the middle of whatever argument Cedric and the three women might get into.

"Mien, no." Ayanna said as she stopped the young lawyer.

"What is it now?" Cedric asked with a frown.

"I have trust issues." Ayanna told her brother.

"We both know that my people can be trusted, Ayanna." Cedric said as he glared at her. "I would never let someone that could be bought or bribed near my family."

"We both know that everyone has a price, Cedric." Ayanna reasoned out. "I don't want anyone else touching these documents, so we'll pack them up and hide them."

"Fine." Cedric said in surrender, not wanting to argue with his younger sister. "Clean everything up while I call your husbands."

Cedric walked out of the office and slammed the door behind him, annoyed with his sister and their friends.

He took a few deep breaths before going up to his and Adrianna's floor.

He was extra quiet since the three little boys were fast asleep in Yoyo's bedroom. He knew that if one of them woke up, the other two would follow suit.

On this floor he had another office, one that less people had seen and he often only worked on personal matters here. It resembled a library more than an office, the walls were all practically bookshelves that reached his roof. 

There was also a spiral staircase that led to a rooftop veranda where he liked to read or simply be alone.

He loved the people around him, but sometimes it was too much and he enjoyed some quiet down time. 

It was on the veranda that he decided to call his friends, he didn't want anyone to see his reaction if there was bad news. 

As he opened the door, a cold breeze brushed his cheek making him shiver a little. 

Cedric made sure to close the door behind him before looking out to the view below. 

From this spot he could see the vast expanse of his property and beyond.

Mountain View was called Mountain View for a reason, it was because it was built on the side of a Mountain in the outskirts of the city. From there it had a beautiful view of the capital at night.

He took a deep break and brought out his phone, quickly searching for his brother-in-law's number. 

When he finally found it, he quickly called Ray. 

The phone rang, making Cedric let out a sigh of relief, it meant that they had already landed. He just hoped that they had been there long enough to tell him what the situation was.

"Cedric, I was just about to call." Ray said as he answered the phone.

"It's fine, did you just land?" Cedric asked in a calm tone. Right now, Cedric's priority was everyone's safety. The plan could wait till tomorrow.

"We've been here for about twenty minutes, why?" Ray asked, clueless to the fact that he and Miguel had messed up badly.

"Veronica and Ayanna are not happy." Cedric told his brother-in-law with a sad expression.

"They are still up? It's already two in the morning, they should both be in bed." Ray said as his worry seeped through the call.

"They were waiting for their husbands to tell them that they had safely arrived in Kashmere." Cedric told Ray. "With how things are now, I can't blame them for being worried."

"I'll give Ayanna a call after this, Miguel can't call Veronica, but I'll tell her we landed safely." Ray told Cedric.

"How is Julia?" Cedric asked as he remembered the reason why Ray and Miguel flew out to Kashmere.

"Cedric, it seems serious." Ray said in a grim tone.. "Miguel couldn't give me details yet, but he isn't exactly sure what is wrong with her, just that she's in danger."