342 Katherine's Wicked Smile

Deciding to attend the art auction was a no brainer for Katherine. Essentially, she had to show her attendance to the Board and make herself known to the influential people that she might have to use for connections in the future. A lot of the members of The Platinum Club were true upper classes in society. They were usually the old-money families who held the greatest political influence in the country.

These people weren't just nouveau riche. They were members of society, distinguished to have immense wealth accumulated and passed down through generations, whose roots could be traced to people of nobility. Although Damien gave a recommendation to Katherine which granted her acceptance from the board, her identity as the heiress of Young Corporation also held a big weight. So Katherine earned her membership in the exclusive club and she had to make an appearance to show the other members who she was—but not because she wanted to be accepted, rather, she wanted her identity to be known.

Katherine's gut told her that this was her ticket to bringing Shadow down. So now that she had the opportunity to make connections with the people from the top, her team had to plan how they would make use of those connections to their full potential.

It had been an hour since Katherine texted Markus and she still hadn't received Damien's account number. Her eyes darted towards Styles and she was tempted to ask him to hack into Damien's files to get his account number. However, she didn't want to resort to that. She couldn't ask Damien directly because she knew he would make up excuses and wouldn't allow her to repay him for the exorbitant amount of fees he paid for her membership. 

"What's got you thinking so seriously?" Amelia passed by Katherine on the way to the kitchen, her hands were full of grocery bags.

"Nothing." Katherine got up from the sofa and followed Amelia. "What are you making?"

"Just some sandwiches, the guys must be hungry." Amelia bobbed her head towards the Alpha Team who had been standing on guard since Damien left a few hours ago.

"I'll help." Katherine washed her hands and started on toasting the sliced bread pieces on the pan while Amelia prepared the ham, cheese, tomato, and lettuce.

Meanwhile, Felix and one other member of the Alpha Team named Noah, were having a cigarette break out in the closed alley. Felix went out on the alley to smoke his cigarette where Noah was assigned to stay on guard and the latter joined the former.

"Who's this chick, anyway? Why the hell did Boss leave us here and took the B Team instead?" Noah scoffed, disdain written all over his face as he thought about guarding the female that he only knew about this week. He wasn't part of the original five-member Alpha Team. It was only very recently that Damien added one more member to the Alpha Team.

The men in Damien's security detail didn't gossip and so he had only seen Katherine that week. Suddenly knowing about this woman's existence and now having made to babysit her instead of guarding their Boss didn't sit well with him. He shook his head at the thought.

"Careful with your words. You don't want the Boss to hear you say that. Ms. Young holds a great value in his life and she could make or break you if she so wishes." Felix was in his mid-thirties, making Noah almost ten years his junior. He had somewhat gotten used to the kid's cockiness and he could let it slide but since he had known Katherine for months now, he knew what type of person she was and he respected her.

Noah clicked his tongue, unable to understand what Felix was trying to say. "Didn't he just meet her? How could he possibly regard her like that? Also, B Team could do this shît instead. It's not like there's anything important that's happening here anyway. Don't you think the Boss was just honey-trapped?"

"Pfft." A loud snort from behind them caused their heads to turn only to find Styles with cans of beverages in hand.

Styles had his brows furrowed as he glared at the man who just spoke ill of Katherine. He hated men who thought they were superior to women especially when it came to his Queen. He was so protective of her that he wouldn't let anyone insult her. Pushing the bridge of his eyeglass in place, his big mouth blurted, "I bet you a hundred bucks that she can kick your ass."

Noah arched a brow, his eyes judging the sly look on Styles's face as he so confidently made a bet. He threw his head back with a mocking laugh. "What did you just say? A hundred bucks? Do you even know what you're talking about?"

Styles hid one of his hands that's holding a can to his back and conspicuously shook it. "Of course. What? Are you afraid that she will win against you? You're so full of yourself and even mocked her. I can't wait to see you getting your ass kicked."

Noah was enraged as Styles challenged him. 'Who does this nerd think he is?' he thought. He didn't believe that Katherine was capable of anything. After all, she was just an unknown daughter of a rich family. What could she possibly do? Moreover, Noah was extremely confident about his hand-to-hand combat skills. So for him, this was nothing but a spineless taunting and a child's play. "Yeah, right."

Styles expected his response and this only annoyed him even more. "How naive. You just wait and see."

"See what?"

The three heads of the men in the alley turned to the voice that came from the door and saw Katherine balance two plates of sandwiches on her palms. She studied their faces, noting Style's irritated expression and the smug look on Noah's.

"This prick over here doesn't respect you, Queen. He didn't believe it when I told him you can kick his ass." Styles held his chin up, seemingly more confident now that his favorite woman just came to prove the annoying man's idiotic thoughts.

Katherine met Noah's stare and she knew right away that Styles was talking about him. She looked at Felix but he only shrugged as if he didn't want anything to do with what's happening.

Pulling a beautiful smile on her face, she walked over to them and offered the sandwiches she and Amelia made, placing the plates on top of a tall crate. "Ah, it's okay. Don't worry about it, Styles. Here, you've been working hard since earlier. You should take a break."

Noah saw the attractive smile on her face and he couldn't deny that she was indeed beautiful but that didn't change his opinion about her. He watched as Katherine left the plate of sandwiches and turned around to head back before he spoke, "Yeah. Besides, women belong in the kitchen. Their hands are so delicate—they shouldn't be filled with bruises."

Katherine's hand had just hovered over the doorknob when she heard the man's remark. A soft chuckle escaped her pretty lips as she took in the insult to her and all women. 

Turning around to look at Noah in the eye, she crossed her arms and a wicked smile broke her face as she muttered, "Say that again in front of my face."