by Cynthia Dane
“I’ll certainly think on it, and am interested in learning more.” The craziest thing was knowing she had enough money for the buy-in now. Shortly before marrying, Monroe had created a special bank account for her. Already there was fifty million languishing, waiting for more money from him and some of Alice’s first earnings – whether they came through sales or investments, it didn’t matter. “Thank you for expressing an interest in me.”
“Hm.” Lana extended her hand across the desk again. “The pleasure is all mine… Mrs. Monroe.”
Monica also shook Alice’s hand again. They waited for Lana to go and wait on the other side of the office before conversing again.
“Your husband’s assistant continues to blow up my phone, Mrs. Monroe,” Monica said. She rearranged her stole before standing. Alice stood as well. “The question is, why are you and your husband so interested in contacting me?”
“Er, well…” Alice didn’t feel like blushing now, and yet she seemed to have little choice in the matter. “My husband is of the opinion that you and I should get together and talk… shop.”
“Ah. Wouldn’t happen to be of the non-work variety, would it?”
“I believe it’s quite personal.” Alice pulled a notepad over. The first note she ever wrote with the $20,000 fountain pen engraved with her new married name. “This is the name of my new assistant. She’ll be in contact with you to set things up, if you are okay with that.”
“I’m quite fine with it.” Monica took the note. “I hope to see you around, Mrs. Monroe.”
Alisha awaited the women on the other side of the door. The assistant did not come in to see her boss until both Mrs. Andrews and Mrs. Warren were escorted to the elevator.
“Have you managed to do any of that research for me yet?” Alice asked. She hoped she didn’t sound too desperate. “That luncheon is only getting closer.”
The assistant sighed. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ve been spending the past half hour trying to get my own stuff together. I’ll get on it right away.”
Alice shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”
“Right now?”
“I can’t stand to be around here anymore.” Alice grabbed her purse and tablet. “One thing about being a hostess was that I was always on my feet.” Now I’m on my ass and on my knees every day. “Helps clear my mind.”
Alisha said nothing as she followed her boss out of the office. Dee, however, was quick to quip about all the upheaval going on and how amusing it was. At least someone was having a good time.
Chapter 3
Alice sat at a long, dark table with Alisha. We should come up with a team name. The Alis? Alies? Ugh, I’m dumb. Across from them sat two of the scariest looking Russians to step out of a 1980’s Cold War movie.
Alexey Nabokov was joined by his business partner’s daughter, a young blond woman named Anna Petrova. The only niceties the group exchanged was Anna explaining that her father, the original Petrov, was currently ill with pneumonia and that she would be filling in for him at this meeting. Beyond that, this so-called luncheon was nothing but death glares and sneers. No wonder. They had been expecting Damon Monroe, not his new wife that no one had ever heard of before. They also were not impressed with the day’s topic.
Alice couldn’t blame them.
“What makes you think we sell?” Anna Petrova asked with a thick accent. It wasn’t that Alice couldn’t understand the woman. I simply feel like I’m being attacked every time she speaks to me. Probably because she was being attacked. The Monroes had dropped a wallop of a bomb. “Who are you to ask us to sell?”
“First of all,” Alice said for the hundredth time since the meeting began fifteen minutes ago, “I am Alice Monroe. I don’t know who you were told you would be meeting today, but…”
“We were told that we would be meeting Monroe!” Anna gestured to her father’s business partner. Alexey grunted in agreement. The man didn’t say much, but he was as good at expressing his disapproval as Anna was. “Father, son, doesn’t matter. Where is he?”
“Yes, and you are meeting a Monroe. My husband Damon is currently in another meeting and my father-in-law Russell is in… well, he’s indisposed.” Not that Alice wanted to think about him, but last she heard Russell had flown to DC for some political meeting. The farther he stays away from me, the better. One thing thinking about him did, though, was reorient Alice so she could focus on the plan at hand. “I have been asked to attend this meeting on behalf of my family.”
“No offense, but we don’t know who you are.”
Dee shifted her weight by the door behind Alice. The assistant folded her hands on her notebook and attempted to not shake her head in disbelief. First day for both of us. Alice had to get control of this pony before it ran for the fields. “I am Alice Monroe. I am married to Damon Monroe. I am as qualified to hold this meeting as he is.” If she said that enough times, she might start believing it.
“We…”
“Besides.” Alice sat up as straight as she could, both her wedding ring and emerald ring sparkling on her hand. Anna looked right at them. The color of jealousy claimed her angular face. Aha. Pneumonia Alice’s ass. Anna had probably begged her father to come to this meeting in the hopes of meeting Damon Monroe, one of the most eligible bachelors… until a few days ago. “This is about helping you as much as it is about helping us. I’ve taken a close look at your publicly disclosed financial records.”
“So what!” Anna crowed. “We’re doing fine! We don’t need to sell!”
“I’ve also taken a close look at the undisclosed records.”
The other side of the table was eerily silent. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch or hit a button on a remote, Anna spun toward Alexey and began rattling off in angry, frustrated Russian. While Alice didn’t know a lick of Russian outside of do svidaninya, she had a feeling someone was getting their ass handed to him. That someone was Alexey Nabokov, the man who could be paid enough to share some of his company’s financials with close confidants. Turned out that Russell Monroe was a close confidant. It had been risky for Damon to approach the man, seemingly on behalf of Russell, but it had been effective. All Alice had to theoretically do was come and collect.
“We are floundering!” Alexey finally cried in English. “We can buy it back later! Sell it!”
With a huff, Anna slapped her hand on the table in front of Alice and said, “Get your fucking husband here so we can do this, then. I want to be back in St. Petersburg before my next period. That’s tomorrow, by the way.”
It’s like that, huh? Alice could play the bitchy Russian PMS game too. She slapped on a fake as fuck smile and asked her assistant for the fountain pen. “There is no need to bring my husband here. You’ll be selling your shares to me.”
“To you.”
“Yes. To. Me.”
Alisha pushed a piece of paper and the pen across the table. Both Anna Petrova and Alexey Nabokov stared at it before exchanging wary looks.
“What’s going on here?” Alexey asked. His accent wasn’t as thick as Anna’s, but he was still capable of inserting bites to his words. “You’re not the only person I know who has been asked to sell their shares.”
“Cleaning house a bit. Don’t worry. In the meantime, your business will have some much needed cash on hand. I’m prepared to cut the check right now.”
“Sign the damn contract, Anna.”
“Pa is not going to like this.”
“Your Pa is the reason we’re in this mess!”
Anna snatched the fountain pen and signed her name on the dotted line. Whatever she muttered was probably not nice.
Both representatives signed the contract. Alice, in turn, signed a check and handed it to Alexey. The older gentleman whistled to see the millions of dollars Alice dumped from her new bank account. Five million dollars poorer. Already it didn’t feel like much.
“This can’t be legal,” Anna muttered.
As it happened, Alice had been w
ondering about that for a while now. However, she would believe her husband when he constantly assured her it would be fine. Sometimes she wondered about that man’s bluster. Then he charms me back into believing every word he says.
“Not our problem,” Alexey responded, grabbing his things. “This is Monroe’s problem.”
Alice bade her adieus to them before collapsing back into her chair. Dee let out a low whistle while Alisha filled out a spreadsheet on her tablet. “I really hope it’s not my problem like that,” Alice said.
Nobody responded. She had forgotten how alone she was in this matter.
“Well,” Alisha attempted to say cheerily, “you now own this many more shares of Monroe Industries.” She showed her boss a sizable number. It wasn’t enough, of course, but it was a start.
Either way, Alice was going to need more money. And a stiff drink.
***
“You did wonderful,” Monroe said in the limo that evening. Alice leaned against the seat, eyes closing and claiming the first real bit of rest all day. Shit, neither she nor her husband got out of the office on time. It was already a quarter to six. “You bought the shares as quickly as I could have. What did you say to them?”
Alice searched for his hand on the middle seat between them. The limo ride was always smooth, but tonight she swore she felt every undulation of the vehicle as it went up against rush hour traffic downtown. “I told them they have no fucking money and need mine. The man seemed to agree.”
“I don’t mean to diminish your accomplishments this afternoon when I say this,” Monroe began, squeezing his wife’s hand, “but I had a feeling he would be eager to sell after I talked to him a few days ago. His business partner has been bleeding their funds dry with his addiction to his new wife.”
That got Alice to open her eyes again. “Hope that isn’t foresight on your part. I mean, be addicted to me all you want, but don’t bleed the funds dry.”
“For one thing, I have a lot more money than the Petrovs.” Monroe slid closer to her, his mouth instantly diving for her shoulder. “For another, I’m a lot more discerning with my addictions. Take you, for example. You’re the only addiction I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Now that I can’t believe.”
He pulled down the sleeve of her sweater, gracing her skin with light kisses. “Let’s not talk about work tonight, my love. I have a special night planned for us.” Monroe intercepted her lips and bestowed his charged kisses upon her mouth. I hate you sometimes. Alice held her palm against his face, always delighting in how grand that stubble felt against her skin. “Tonight we’re only talking about us and our future.”
Alice supposed that she should feel lucky that her husband wanted to talk about their future so readily. In fact, he wanted to speak about it a bit more than she did. Can’t help it. Makes me nervous. She couldn’t think about tonight like that. Tonight? Things were happening tonight. Exciting, frightening things that would be hard to walk away from if they took hold.
“I don’t want to talk about anything,” Alice said. “Not unless it’s how good you feel.”
Good thing the privacy partition was already up. Alice and Damon may have been quite public with their relationship so far, but that didn’t mean she was game for having the driver and bodyguard watching them make out and indulge in heavy petting in the backseat.
It probably would have taken a more erotic turn if it weren’t for the limo coming to a complete stop and the driver hopping out of the front seat. Not that such a thing stopped Monroe once he got started with his wife. The whole world now knew that he fooled around with this woman. Wouldn’t the press think it romantic if they were caught heading for second base in the backseat of a limo? Or at least Alice assumed that was his thought process as he continued to tongue her throat even after the door on his side opened. The scent of open water took over his cologne for a hot second.
“Da… Damon,” Alice giggled at the scene he was creating with her, “I think we’re here.”
“Fine.” He was off her, sending the driver the most irate look her could muster. “Later, my love. We’ll finish later.”
Monroe held her hand as they passed through a brightly lit building adorned with posters advertising summer festivals and things to do on the water. Alice hadn’t been paying attention to where they were driving, but now she beamed to find her and her husband on a date down by the marina. They weren’t anywhere near the yachts, however. Certainly nowhere near the yacht she and her husband made love in not so long ago.
“I have a lot of surprises to share with you tonight, precious.” Monroe kept his arm around her while they waited for a woman in a pantsuit to unlock their final destination. The woman opened a sliding door to reveal a wooden dock jutting out into the river. A small round table was set up alongside a glass wall. The wall prevented the breeze from knocking over rose scented candles and from mussing Alice’s hair. It did not prevent the couple from enjoying the view of the sunset or the boats heading up and down the river. “This is the first of many surprises.”
Alice was still smiling as she accepted a small menu from a handsome young waiter. Monroe had already ordered their wine ahead of time. He poured it for the both of them now. I was going to do that… Alice had been so distracted by this destination date that she forgot the simple pleasures she loved to share with her husband.
He was more than that, wasn’t he?
“Cheers,” Monroe said, clinking his wineglass against his wife’s. Alice hurried to hold up her glass so they could properly toast. The waiter silently awaited their orders. “To us, my love. I’m sorry I can’t give you a proper wedding and honeymoon yet. This will have to do for now.”
“Keep it up and we might not need to do any of that.” Alice was still all smiles as she inhaled the wine’s fragrance and took a sip. Ooh. Is this Australian? Shiraz or Merlot? I’m so bad at this. Alice was content to simply enjoy the taste for now.
Monroe took a bigger swig than she did. The man had no restraint when it came to dinner alcohols. “I would like to do that, eventually. At the very least we should have a wedding we can show off to the world. It’s not fair to keep my beautiful bride from looking like a beautiful bride.”
“You’re such a romantic, and you probably don’t even know it.”
“I never had a reason to act romantic until I met you, Alice.”
She could barely order her dinner, the poor dear kept giggling like this was their first real date. Actually, it’s our what… fifth? Good Lord!
“Anyway, I can’t contain myself.” Like a young intern at his first real presentation – only wearing a custom Valentino suit, the stud – Monroe plucked his large leather briefcase off the hardwood floor and pulled something out of it. “I’ve got so much I want to show you. You and my side projects are all that have kept me happy throughout the shit.”
That was a compliment, right? “You have time for side projects?”
“One as important as this?” He put his briefcase back down. “Absolutely. Take a look.”
The man showed her three floorplans for small two-bedroom luxury apartments downtown. Another piece of property? Is he kidding me? They had bought a sprawling penthouse! One thing all the properties Alice looked at now had in common was the proximity of the two rooms to the other. While they were luxury, there was nothing particularly interesting about them. Until Monroe explained what he had in mind, anyway.
“I want to buy us a small apartment to be our home away from home, so to speak. It will be absolutely ours. Someone will come in to clean, and we’ll have our bodyguards on standby,” oh, of course, couldn’t forget the little people, “but otherwise only you and I will go there when we need to unwind. When we have children, it will be off limits to them.”
“I see.” Alice pretended he didn’t say that last part. “What’s wrong with the place we have now?” Their spacious master suite basically acted as this already. Alice’s first night in their master bedroom was so quiet and comforta
ble that she almost forgot a whole apartment existed beyond it. Let alone one with a live-in servant and more than one bodyguard milling about.
“The place we have now can’t have a, ah…”
For once in his life, the man was speechless! Was he avoiding eye contact? Oh, this was too good. Alice leaned over, catching her husband’s amber eyes. “Can’t have a what, Damon?”
Whatever anxiety he felt disappeared the moment he saw her face. Ah, there he was. The man who first walked into a VIP room and asked to fuck her. “We can’t have a playroom in our family home.”
“Oh. Oh.” Alice sat back up. Nobody had heard him say that, right? Alice only vaguely knew what he was talking about, anyway. She had a feeling he didn’t mean a playroom for the kids. Why would he when he said they weren’t even invited to this place? “I suppose not. You’ve been thinking about this, huh?”
“Alice, every time I gaze at you while you’re on your knees or bending over for me, I think about how much I wish I had a proper dungeon to play with you in.”
She needed more to drink.
“So you want to buy an apartment and remodel one of the rooms into a… dungeon?”
“Yes, of course.”
Oh, of course!
That certainly broke the ice. Within fifteen minutes – and lots of wine – they had their appetizers and enough silly topics to keep them preoccupied while the sun began to go down behind the horizon of skyscrapers. Shadows cast across the river and their table. Birds swept low, searching for their last meals of the day. A chorus of boats coming into the marina for the evening played in the background of the Monroes’ dinner date.
What did they talk about, beyond remodeling some small apartment into their personal playpen? What they wanted to change about the penthouse. Where they wanted to go on their future honeymoon, and what they wanted to do for their real wedding. They spoke of Alice’s family coming to visit that weekend. That is going to be so awkward. The Culvers didn’t find out about Alice’s marriage until the day after it happened. Candice was still on another planet after Alice moved out of their shared hotel room and into one with her new husband.
