Yinka's POV

"Thank you so much Gowon" she said to him when he brought the car to a halt right in front of the entrance to the her building, he didn't stop at his usual parking spot, it was still drizzling.

He is such a gentleman.................Or he is just doing his job!

"You're welcome" He nodded

She was already reaching for the door when he said, "So what are you going to do about your car?"

"I am going to get a solar charging system," She said.

He nodded again then said "Do you have a good installer?"

"I got a couple of numbers online but I am still asking around because I need good hands, the Tesla charger is very sensitive and a slight wiring or installation error could ruin the charger or even degrade the car battery"

"I know" He agreed then said he was going to ask a guy in Lekki that drives a Tesla to recommend some installers.

"Thanks" She smiled again.

Okay definitely a gentleman!

Things had gotten a little bit weird since they left the Café. He had gotten.....colder. Not like he was cold, he just wasn't as warm and playful as he was with her when they were in the Café.

He was still smiling at her but that flirty vibe was gone. She assumed it was because they were back in her building with the multiple cameras watching plus his men were present.

Oke opened the door for her and gave her a 'You almost gave me a heart attack' look.

She smiled remorsefully and mouthed a silent 'sorry' to him then looked back at Gowon as she alighted to remind him not to scold them. She heard him on the phone scolding the poor guy earlier on the drive to the Café.

Oke got into the front seat as she walked into the building. They were in the car talking for about 15 minutes before she heard the gates opening and saw him driving out.

**

10pm

She couldn't stop thinking about the whole ordeal and how embarrassing it is that she got caught up in the rain. She felt mortified to her bones when she remembered the look of shock on his face the moment he saw her. He probably thinks she is nuts.

However, he was sweet the whole time she didn't even expect him to wait with her for the journalist. When he asked her to tell him about herself, she almost got carried away because his eyes looked like he meant it.

Ironically, she is in fact tired of hearing that question from all her failed dates but when he asked her the way he did, she almost fell for it and she wanted to go all in, tell him her deepest secrets, her fears and her favorite colors lol because she wanted to ask him the same question.

She is dying to know everything about this mysterious man. She heard from MJ that he is a Muslim and a northerner. She has been chatting with the female operative a lot these days, she knows about her daughter and she has seen pictures they are buddies now. But she has failed to get more tea about Gowon, all of them are very tight lipped about him.

She suspects he has a girlfriend or is married. When they were leaving the Café, he swiftly opened the rear door for her when she tried to join him in the front seat. He didn't want her to sit in front with him.

He doesn't wear a ring but the thing is, Muslim northerners don't wear wedding rings so it is quite tricky.

***

Many weeks later.

Friday

8:15am

Yinka woke up excited because she had a tree-planting event. She has been planting trees on her own for years on a small scale but she has not planted any, in person for the past 3 years.

Now that she has an actual organization, she decided to take to the next level by collaborating with a Lecturer and some Student volunteers from the forestry department of University of Ibadan.

She has been so busy with preparations for the event that she has not had even had the time to think about Gowon's marital status.

She hired a small Ibadan-based event planner to do the planning but she still encountered some issues with the photographers. Luckily, her Intern Jude sorted it out yesterday.

She decided to work out first that morning in order to boost her energy and prepare her body for the 25 trees she had to plant herself. She bought about 2000 Mahogany seedlings from the University but they are only planting 200 today. She has at least 15 people to work with.

When she finished working out she branched her security detail apartment give Oke her itinerary for the day. She has not seen them for 2 days now because she has been holed up in her apartment in the past three days preparing for today's event.

"What's up" Oke beamed when he saw her.

"I'm alright, so I just wanna inform you guys that we are going to Ibadan today," She said casually.

"What?" Oke looked like she had just punched him with that statement.

"What?" She looked at him weirdly.

"Why are you just telling me this today, you are travelling OUT of Lagos? Yinka you are supposed to give us at least a week's notice for interstate travel" He started freaking out.

"But we are not sleeping over, how is this going to be different from going to Ikorodu?" She asked him.

Okay yes, Ibadan is outside Lagos but the other day they went with her to Ikorodu (Which is in Lagos State) for soil testing (On a forest reserve she wants to acquire) and it took them 3 hours to get there because of traffic. This tree-planting event is 3 hours tops and Ibadan is just 2hours away from Lagos why is he overreacting?

He picked up his phone and dialed Gowon's number.

"Who are the guys on duty today?" she looked around. She wanted it to be MJ because she has been bonding with the female operative on their short trips around Lagos, a long ride to Ibadan will give her enough opportunity to learn more about a certain handsome, sexy, gentleman 😈.

She has been riding in their cars now because her car is still grounded.

Gowon sent an expert to her for the installation but they are still waiting for the components to arrive from the UK.

"Just me" Oke said

"Where is Isa and MJ"

"They are on another job!" He sighed.

"What do you mean another job!" She bawled.

He was already talking on the phone so he couldn't answer that.

"Here" Oke passed the phone to her and she felt her heart stop for a second because it was...HIM! He didn't come for his visit last week, he sent some other guy because he was out of town. MJ said he was in Port Harcourt.

She subconsciously took a deep breath first then said "Hi Gowon"

"Why didn't you inform us about this sooner?" There was a little bit of frustration in his tone but the grogginess of his voice masked it.

Is he still in bed by this time? He seemed like the early rising type.

Is he back in Lagos? Is he alone? Is he with a woman? Her imaginations were running wild because his morning voice was sexy AF! she was dazed.

"Did you just decide to go today?" He shot another question since she was quiet.

"No! I am not sleeping over there it's just a 3 hour event and-"

"Can you fly there?" He cut her off with another question.

"No Gowon, I don't fly unnecessarily the carbon emission from aircrafts is crazy and the tree planting venue is far from the airport...outside Ibadan and urrrm...closer to Lagos, so it -" She couldn't organize her words properly, her sentences were not coming out the way she planned it in her head. She wanted to say the location for the event was not in (Ibadan) town and flying there would be pointless.

"Yinka...please, you have to fly there, the insecurity is very high, I can't put you on a highway with everything going on in the country plus the guys are not available for interstate travel today" He continued making a case for flying but In her mind she had already agreed to fly there, his seductive baritone was commanding.

"Wait, what do you mean they are not available?" She frowned as she gained a little bit of control of her mind because she was about to say 'Yes sir' to the flying.

"We have an emergency at work and we are kind of...do you have to go to Ibadan TODAY? Can you please postpone this?" He asked her.

"No I cannot! It is a Green cabal event and everyone is going to be there we've been planning this for months!"

He paused for about 3 seconds. "Who is everyone? Who else knows you are coming to Ibadan today?"

"Everyone.. my Staff, my collaboration Partner, Volunteers from UI and-" She paused when realized she had violated a major security protocol. According to his handbook, she is not supposed to inform people of her travel plans, she is not even supposed to share social media posts of herself in a particular place until she has left the place, she cannot even share pictures of the places she frequents.

Lol she has published the tree-planting event with full details on the Green cabal website and social media pages.

Oke stood up, threw his hands on his head and walked to the other side of the room when he heard this part, Gowon was just quiet on the other end of the phone. She knew she had fucked up.

"You know there is NO WAY you are going by road right?" He said firmly breaking the silence, his morning voice was already clearing up at this point. Her bombshell revelation had cleared his eyes.

"Fine I'll fly! But you people will handle the logistics, because I'm broke" She said and he scoffed in disbelief.

She is not kidding though, she is close to broke, they should pay for everything and bill her father. She has already used all her cash to bankroll the event because the donations she received (Of which 90% came from Dare and her Grandfather) did not cover the costs. She is not spending any extra money on this event because of his paranoia.

"Oh and I am going with my Intern Jude, I'll send his details to you" She added. (She was supposed to pick Jude up on her way somewhere after 3rd mainland bridge.)

Gowon told her to give him an hour to find the flights for them and she ended the call.

"Where are MY guys? So I am alone" She looked around the empty apartment that was beginning to look like a military control room, thanks to Oke's surveillance setup. No wonder there was only one car in the parking lot.

"What do you mean you are aLoNe, I am here" Oke stretched in his chair and grinned ear to ear.

She eyeballed him because, no offence to Oke she knows he is a super tech bro and is good at what he does but if shit ever gets real she is the one that will have to protect him from bad guys lol.

"They are on another job, we had an emergency our Boss had to withdraw all the men in Lagos, they'll be back tonight, seriously you should have informed me earlier, you need like 6 men to go with you, it is not safe Yinka! WTF!" He went on and about how risky it is especially for her, and tried to discourage her from going with some scary tales of kidnappings and accidents along the Lagos-Ibadan express but she was not moved by his antics. People ply that route on a daily basis she is not an idiot.

In addition, she was not concentrating on his gist because she felt a little bit disappointed that they withdrew her Men and left her alone with Oke.

Is Gowon aware she is alone?

Like, she understands why they would borrow her men, she hardly goes out she can be indoors for a whole week but still! She feels much safer with them she is not daft she knows how crazy the insecurity is in the country plus Dare talked some sense into her and made her see how she is literally a target because of how bad things are in the country.

She went back to her Apartment and started preparing then she called Jude to inform him of the change in their plans. She told him to meet her in the Airport but he was like "Don't worry I'll find my way there"

She raised concerns about his safety but he dismissed the fears, he said he 'A lot people ply that route on a daily basis to work in Lagos'

Exactly! Gowon is just overreacting

"Moreover, someone needs to be on ground to ensure everything is going smoothly" He added.

Honestly, Jude is the most reliable and sweetest employee she has. He is so hardworking, intelligent, and passionate about their cause. She is definitely going to make him her first full time Staff.

10:35am

Gowon called her back more than one hour later "I can't get you guys on a direct flight to Ibadan, you have to fly to Abuja and back to Ibadan"

"No, no I'm not doing that," she protested. Is this a joke?

Then he said they were going to put them on a chartered flight and she said no to that as well.

"You know that's worse Gowon" She told him earlier that she doesn't fly private, how can a whole plane burn so much fuel just to transport 2 or 3 people. She cannot even be caught flying private she is an advocate for a ban on private jets; they are one of the biggest unnecessary polluters.

"Yinka...., it's not safe, you know this," He appealed again when she insisted on going by road, she almost caved-in at this point because you see ehhn there's a way he pronounces her name... it's funny but cute at the same time. Sometimes he silences the Y, other times it sounds like he is replacing the K with a G lol, So he gets her full attention every time he says her name.

"Look just send MJ and Isa, we will be fine" She said. His sexy morning voice was totally gone it was just his regular voice, still sexy but at least it didn't disrupt her thoughts like his morning voice.

He cannot coerce her into flying again, not especially now that she knows Jude is going on his own by road, via public transport.

She is not going to put someone's child on the road and fly there like a coward. The students coming to help are all people's children too and they are going there on their own, though they are based in Ibadan but still! She is not going to be this kind of leader.

He sighed then said "Get ready to leave in 30 minutes,"

"Thanks!" She smiled.

"Your men are in Abuja so I am going with you," He added.

"Okay," She said then froze as her brain processed the second part of what he just said.

"What?" She whispered but he had already hung up.

A naughty smile formed on her face as she placed her phone down gently.

Chapter 7 Tomorrow same time!

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