by Lauren Wood
“I am sure that there is some value to you. How do you know my sister?”
“I don't think that I do. I was at the house, about to do a consultation and I got grabbed from behind.”
It was most likely my sister’s house that she was at, but I didn't mention it. I already had one female mad at me for dragging her into this, and I didn't want to have another.
“So, it was all a big misunderstanding?”
“I guess so. I don't know Anna, and I certainly don't know anyone here in the states. I have never been here before and I don't even know how I'm going to get back home.”
It was not a big leap for her to think that she was going back home. I should have let her go. I didn't know her, and I shouldn't have wanted to keep disturbing her life, but at the end of the day, I didn't want to see her go.
The girl knew too many things that could get me into trouble. I may not be as good of a businessman as I liked to think, but everyone thought of me that way. I was able to delve into the dark side of life on occasion and come out clean because of that persona. I couldn’t lose that, and I couldn’t let anyone know about what I’d just picked up. I couldn’t let her leave for many reasons, but that was the biggest one.
“You aren't going to go back home for a while, Kristin. You have a debt to pay off and until I can figure out how to do it, I think you should stick around.”
“Why do I get a feeling that I don't have a choice?”
“Because you would be right.”
This was the moment that I figured there would be a lot of questions asked. But she didn't really say much. I don't know if it was because she didn't want to or if it was because she knew what sort of situation she was in.
“So, what is it that you want for me? How is it that I'm going to repay you? “
“You are going to become my secretary.”
From the gall that she was showing from before, I thought that it was going to stay the same. That was obviously wrong, because she did get irate next to me and I could tell that she was rather upset. She wasn't upset about being kidnapped, almost being killed, and then being forced to stay halfway across the world from her home, but the idea of being my secretary was somehow too much? Kristin really was quite a specimen.
“I can’t be your secretary! I run a business, a very successful one at that back home. I need to go home and get back to my life. I am not going to stay here and being your secretary.”
“Until I know that I can trust you to go home and keep your mouth shut about what you have seen here, that is exactly what you're going to be. It will keep you close, and I will be able to keep an eye on you, make sure that you don't do anything stupid.”
She promised me that she wouldn’t, but we both knew that I wasn’t going to trust her. I don't know what it was about her, but there were other reasons why I wanted to keep her close. With what I was going to have to do to Goff next, there was a good chance that she was going to still be in danger. My sister was going to be in danger as well, but she knew how to hide. She had learned a long time ago, when she was forced to before.
“I am sorry Kristin, but I don't really know you. In time, we will see where we stand. Until then, you will be my secretary.”
“Do you even actually have a business?”
“I do, and it is rather lucrative. We will be there in a little while, but as you can imagine, we need time for you to change and get the package out of the trunk. We wouldn't want to drive around with that, now would we?”
I was trying to gauge how much she knew about the weapon in the trunk, but it didn't appear like she knew much. She knew that it was there, what it was in general, but she didn't realize that she was riding with something that could wipe us and so many more people off the map. I was going to take that as a blessing in disguise.
“So, what am I supposed to do?”
“For now, you will stay with me and work with me. I don’t want to let you out of my sight. I hate to take these sorts of precautions, but you can see why this is something that has to be done, can’t you?”
She agreed that it she understood, but it was clear to me that Kristin didn’t like the idea of it at all. Her dark eyes were unable to meet mine. I wanted to see her face clearly, to memorize it. I touched her chin and she flinched a little bit.
“I will never hurt you Kristin. I just want to see your face. You do look like my sister from afar, but up close, you look nothing like her.”
She finally met my gaze and there was something about the vulnerability in it that I hadn’t seen in so long. People in my circle didn’t come to be there by being naive, but maybe this was a good thing. Girls like Kristin wouldn’t make it very long here in my world. No matter how loud her bark was. I had a feeling that her bite was non-existent.
“You’re beautiful Kristin.”
She pulled her face away from my grasp and I could tell that she didn’t like the compliment.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“Of course, you do, but that doesn’t change the fact of your beauty.”
I knew why she was telling me that. Because she thought that it would work to keep me from hitting on her. I didn't bother to tell her that it was a waste of time to worry. I didn't want to the idea of us, to leave her mind. I liked the idea of her thinking about it and the images running around in her head, because I had been thinking the same thing for the last few minutes. I always liked to see the good in every situation.
We both went silent as we started driving into downtown New York. I don't know why, but I always calmed down when I hit the city. The rest of the world moved too slow, that is why I liked to live here. No one ever slept and there was always something to do, money to make. It was the sort of place that ran on my time.
“Have you ever been here before?”
“Like I said before, I've never been to the states before. I have seen pictures of this place in books and watched movies that were here, but that’s it.”
“So, what do you think?”
“I never thought that I would see New York like this.”
“Is it everything that you hoped to be?”
She looked out the window and didn't meet my gaze again.
“Nothing is ever how you hope it is going to be, is it?”
I had to silently agree, wondering what the future was going to hold. That was it something that I did do very much, wonder. Most days I did everything ran by a script, thought out ahead of time to make sure that everything worked out the way it was supposed to. This was not one of those times. Kristin had come out of nowhere and I was still trying to figure out how she was going to fit in to the master plan.
Kristin
We pulled into one of the many tall buildings that we came across. I had never seen a city that was so tall, and so full of people and life. That was a lot to say because I was from London. There was hustle and bustle there, but nothing like this. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this.
I got out of the car with him and I looked around. There was a moment that I thought about just running. Like the man had said before, I had seen too much, and I didn't want to be around him. I didn't want to be around any one that did the things that Red and Goff did.
“You're not thinking of running, are you?”
He was right behind me and I could feel the heat from his words on my neck. It made me shiver internally, but I didn't want to show how disturbed I was by it. I was disturbed by the very idea of him being so close to me, so close that I could feel the heat coming off of his body.
“No, I was just enjoying the view. I have never been here before, remember?”
“Ah yes, the tourist. Well Kristin, take a moment to look around, but then we have to go. I have a tight schedule and if you are going to take a shower and change before we have to go, you need to do so now. It will be hard to say that you work for me, when you look like this.”
I looked down at the dirt on my clothes and the rip of the bottom of my dress. I couldn’t help
how I looked of course, but that didn’t seem to matter to Red. This was a man that was worried about appearances, far more than he was worried about how I felt about any of this. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it all, but I did want a shower and a change of clothes.
We started to walk into the building and Red stopped to say something to the doorman. The short, bald guy smiled at me and welcomed me. I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to be someone that I could go to for help. Did everyone around us work for Red?
The elevator only had one button and I was confused because it was obviously several stories high, like everything else around it.
“Where are we going?”
“To get you dressed. What size are you, a four?”
“A six, sometimes an eight.”
“Your curves are deceiving.”
I had a feeling that he was upset that he was wrong. It was a good guess, flattering, but I hadn’t seen a four since I was a teenager.
“Why do you want to know what size I wear?”
“So you will have something to wear that is appropriate when we go out. I told you that you can’t go around with me, looking like that.”
He was making me feel like I was wearing a bag. I wasn’t even going to ask him how he expected to have something for me to wear in under thirty minutes, but I didn’t even ask. Nothing was as it seemed and the sooner I accepted that, the better it was going to be.
“Well thank you Sir. I would be obliged.”
“Don’t call me Sir. It is too informal.”
“I am your secretary. What else should I call you?”
“My name will suffice. I am not a Sir. Never will be.”
He was adamant, and I just let it go. There was a lot to learn about Red and I was hopeful that he would let me go quickly. I didn’t like this kind of fast-paced life and I was already missing home.
He showed me around, pointing out the bathroom. I went into it, the first few moments that I’d had to myself for what seemed like days and I looked back at the reflection in the mirror. I looked horrible, ragged and I could see now why he insisted that I clean up. I looked like I had been sleeping in the woods for a month. Being kidnapped was hard on a person and especially hard on their clothes.
I turned the shower on and was quickly underneath the blasting hot water. It felt good and I stood under it for several minutes, letting it drip onto me. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to have to figure something out. I was standing in a luxury apartment in the middle of New York City and I had no idea how to get back to my life.
Not sure how long I was in the shower, I thought I heard something in the bathroom, but I didn't see anybody there. I did see a pile of clothes though, and I had to think that Red had been in there. It made me feel a certain kind of way knowing that he was in the room with me while I was naked, just a few minutes before. I don't know why, but the problem I had with Red was so much more than knowing too much. In a way, it had to do with me feeling too much as well. I was attracted to him and I know that I shouldn't be.
I got out and dry it off, wrapping my hair in a towel and then going through the clothes that were stacked neatly on the sink. They still have their tags on them and I wondered how Red got them here so quickly. Most likely he had sent somebody to get them. It really did feel like everyone in the city worked for him, or at least everyone that I’d came in contact with so far. The man had money and in a place like this, that was all that he needed.
When I got out of the bathroom, there was a man outside of the door. I hadn't noticed him before and I had a feeling that he was there to make sure that I didn't go anywhere. Red said I was going to be his secretary, but I think that was more just to keep me in arm’s length. He had basically said so much, not too long ago.
“I am supposed to take you to the car when you are done. Do you need to do your hair or makeup?”
I told him that I had neither and he directed me to a room where he said there would be everything that I needed. Like the clothes, Red had made some quick purchases and had done very well with it. I was sure that Red hadn't done it himself, but I made a point to remind myself later to thank him or whoever he had gotten to get it for me. They had done a very good job and I had everything that I would need.
It felt strange to be putting a face on, but it at the same time I was going to have to fake a smile as well. I had never met someone like Red before and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to look, but I did my best to be presentable. I tried to look professional, even though a part of me wanted to be a little sexy as well. It was all done subconsciously, and I didn't even really think about it until I was looking at myself in the small vanity, asking myself what the hell I was doing.
“There you are.”
I heard his voice as soon as I got out of the room and he asked me if it was what all I needed.
“It is, thank you. I think that room is bigger than my whole apartment in London.”
“Yes, London has some ridiculous housing prices, don't they?”
I agreed, and it felt surreal to be talking to him about this now. We were pretending that I hadn't met him because I was kidnapped, and he had paid some criminal off to get me free. I don't know why but pretending that none of it was happening, was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
“So, where we going?”
“We have to go get some and meet with a client.”
I had no idea who this client was that he was talking about, but I had to hope that it was no one like the one I had met before. Goff was the sort of man that I wanted to stay away from, and I knew that Red was the same. While he might look good on the outside, I was sure that he was just as cold and cruel as Goff was on the inside. People like them stuck together. The only difference was that Red was handsome and it was easier to forget for a time.
Instead of saying anything that was on my mind, I just nodded my head and smiled at him. It was always hard for me to hold my tongue, but in this situation, it was the best thing that I could do. I didn't want Red to know how I really was, and if he thought I was a little blonde, that would be okay too. I just had to go along with it long enough to figure out a way out of this, so I could get back home.
We got back into the car that we had gotten out of not even an hour before and we were off towards the middle of the city. I tried to keep up with where we were and how to get back, but at the same time it was just a little overwhelming. I'd always wanted to come to New York, but I never thought that I would come here like this. I certainly wasn't a tourist.
“You're very quiet.”
“Just trying to take it all in Red, that's it.”
“And?”
“It's a lot.”
He chuckled and agreed but told me that the city would grow on me. He was already talking about it like I was going to be here for a long time and that made me nervous. I wanted to think that this would end soon and I would be on my way home, but by the way he was talking, I didn't think that he was of the same thought.
“I am sure I will get used to it.”
“You will Kristin, just give it time.”
I turned away and worried a little more. Time was something that I didn't have.
Red
“So, who is the new girl? She’s very nice.”
“New secretary.”
“You tapping that yet?”
He said it like it was a guarantee and I smiled back at John. “Not yet, but soon. You know I like to play with my food first.”
John grinned, and I tried my best not to let it get to me. I talked like this about all my girls, but she was different. She wasn’t here to give me pleasure and while I told her that she owed me, it was never to be in that way. It was me trying to use her sense of good against her to get my way. I wanted her to stay close, but I should have thought about men like John. I worked with a lot of men like him, and they wouldn’t ask first. Maybe bringing her in as my secretary was going to be harder than I expected.
Kristin
came back to the table from the bathroom and I had been on edge since she was gone. John thankfully shut up and we talked about a business that we were coming together to acquisition. We had enough stock between us to make some changes and we were supposed to be here talking about that. I was instead far more worried about how much attention he was giving Kristin and how I was supposed to deal with it. Last thing that I wanted to do was watch him drool over Kristin.
Because of this very reason, I made sure to make it quick and get us back to the apartment sooner than later. Most of the time I would've stayed out most of the night with John and gotten some drinks. Most likely it would have ended up in some bar somewhere, or even a strip club. I certainly wouldn't be at home by ten o'clock like I was now. She was already changing the way I did business, and she hadn't even been in my car for less than twelve hours. Something told me that everything was going to change because of Kristin.
“So, you really are a businessman?”
We were settled down in the front room and I agree that I was.
“What do you do?”
“I sell businesses. I get enough stock to take them over, sell them off bit by bit to the highest bidder and they dissolve.”
“So, you destroy businesses?”
I didn't like the way she said it, it made it seem like I was doing something wrong, but and in her eyes, I suppose I was. I had met many people in my life, but no one had said it quite like that before. I certainly didn't build anything, I didn't make jobs, I just made money.
“I guess in a way you could see it that way. Most of the companies that I buy are on their way out anyways. They aren't worth the equipment they are using, that is why it is so lucrative. I can buy a cheap, and then sell it all off for a fight profit.”
Kristin didn't seem to like the idea of that very much. She almost acted like she would rather me be a criminal, then what I really was.
“So, you design interiors?”
She smiled at me and waved me off. “When I said that my business was doing good, I didn't realize that you were this wealthy. I know that you gave that man a lot of money today, but I guess it didn't hit me until a little while ago when I first got here. You must think me silly now.”
