by M. S. Parker
He shook his head. “We were having sushi. Mr. Kim, his assistant and the translator, plus another man…fuck…” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I should have had you there because we ended up covering a lot more than I’d planned and now my head is shot. Anyway, the translator had a reaction to something she ate and they had to call an ambulance.”
“A reaction?”
Penelope clearly felt left out. “Dominic, I was wondering if—”
“A few minutes, Penelope.” He flicked a hand in her direction, the tone and gesture clearly dismissive. “My phone’s busted. I dropped it during the commotion and it was smashed. Order me a new one and make sure it’s set up.”
I nodded and turned over my phone, watching as he pulled up the agenda. “Yeah, that’s the place,” he muttered. He fired off the name to Amber. “Find out where the ambulance would have taken the woman who had the allergic reaction.” He bent over and wrote her name down. “Send flowers. And then send a case of scotch to Mr. Kim’s hotel.”
“I’d think she’d need it more,” I muttered as I mentally ran down all the things I'd need to do to get Dominic's phone set up.
He flashed me a grin despite the clear stress lines on his face. “She’s alive because of him. He figured out what was happening, knocked me out of my chair and laid her out flat, bellowed at me to call 911 and then demanded that I find an epi-pen.”
I blinked, trying to imagine the diminutive man I knew to be Mr. Kim barking demands at anybody, much less Dominic. Amber seemed to be picturing the same thing and I saw her fighting the same smile I was.
“She’s going to be fine, though, right?” I asked.
“I hope so.” He blew out a breath and then finally looked over at Penelope, his polite, professional mask back in place. He gestured toward his office. “Why don’t we step inside, Penelope?”
He nodded at me. “Aleena, take care of the phone, please. Oh, if either of you hear from Mr. Kim, set up another meeting whenever it’s convenient for him. A man capable of making decisions like that is definitely a man I want to do business with.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, turning it over to me. “Start researching his company, Aleena. Get some background information.”
I looked down at the card as he closed the door, locking himself and Penelope inside.
The name card made my eyes widen.
“Ah…” Heat flooded my face.
Amber glanced up at me, then reached over and plucked the card out of my hand.
A moment later, we were both giggling like a couple of silly teenagers. Maybe it was some sort of hysterical distraction, but I’d much rather be thinking about quiet, reserved Mr. Kim, who apparently was the head of a massive sex toy operation, than the fact that Dominic was inside his office…with the rich, beautiful Penelope Rittenour.
Chapter 10
Dominic
“You know, if you would like some assistance finding some quality help, I’d be happy to…” Penelope paused and when I looked at her, she smiled. “Well, I have some experience in this area.”
Frowning, I asked, “What area?” What was she talking about?
She gestured back toward the door. “Your new personal assistant doesn’t seem to have much experience, Dominic. She’s certainly attractive, but wherever did you find her?”
“I didn’t.” Folding my arms my chest, I gave her a hard stare. “Fawna did, and I have to say, Aleena already has my life compartmentalized and organized down to the last dotted i and the last crossed t. I’m not sure how you could possibly hope to find anybody who could do any better—especially not if they’re expected get along with me twenty-four seven.” I surprised myself by the extent to which I'd defended her.
Penelope’s eyes widened. “She…” She pursed her lips. “She lives in Fawna’s apartment?”
“Where else?” I shrugged and moved back to my desk, trying to make it seem like thinking about Aleena living just down the hall from me wasn't distracting. It had been an insane day, and the last thing I wanted to do was deal with Penelope, but she was here. Gesturing to the seat across from my desk, I gave her a smile she would have recognized if she knew me at all well. It was the let’s get this over so you can get out smile.
Penelope must have read it as my Please…make a move smile because she came around the desk and leaned a hip against it. “I’ve missed seeing you, Dominic,” she said.
She lifted a hand and, instinctively, I froze.
Most people would recognize when somebody didn't want a physical touch.
Penelope, however, was one of those people who couldn't imagine why somebody wouldn’t want her touch and she continued on her course, stroking her hand through my hair. I tolerated it because I refused to let her see me jerking away and recoiling. That would look too much like weakness.
Penelope was one of the women who fell outside my normal categories for women. I wouldn’t fuck her, but I hadn’t initiated a social relationship, so I hadn't explained my rules for either of those two categories.
My rules were simple in either case. For social events, I made sure the groundwork was set before we went anywhere. This isn’t love. I’m not going to fall in love with you. I’m not interested in a romantic relationship so I’d like to avoid things that go with them. I’ll hold your arm as we go to and from events, but beyond that, let’s keep all physical contact to a minimum.
Penelope seemed to think I might be a catch or some bullshit.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Perhaps it was time to explain that.
But as I rose from the chair, my thoughts wandered, shifted, then slid to Aleena. If she’d reached up and brushed my hair back, I wouldn’t mind. Those little casual touches others engaged in…well, she didn’t do them, but I was starting to wish she would. I was starting to miss the fact that she didn’t.
I was starting to regret things and miss them and want them. And it would only get worse, I knew, because as I’d already admitted to myself, I was coming to need her.
Two seconds from explaining the ugly facts of Dominic Snow to Penelope Rittenour, I stopped.
The phone rang before I could think things through a second time and I moved to answer it. I almost didn’t when I saw my mother’s name flash up on the display, but in the end, I closed my hand around the receiver and lifted it to my ear.
If I didn’t talk to her, eventually, she might try to contact Aleena.
I wouldn’t subject Aleena to that.
“Hello, Mom.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Penelope move into the seat behind my desk. I set my jaw and gave her a hard look. She smiled innocently at me and crossed her legs.
Damn, she was annoying. Sucking in a breath through my teeth, I turned my back.
“Darling. How are you?”
“I’m well enough.” I didn’t bother to ask how she was.
“I…” After a moment, she tried haltingly to break the silence. “I assume you’re…”
“Aleena still works for me if that’s what you’re fumbling around to ask, Mom. Nothing has changed. If you’re disappointed…” I let the words trail off. I wouldn’t lie and offer a false apology. And there was no way in hell I was going to tell her the one thing that had changed.
“You’re still angry with me.” She sounded almost amused.
“What clued you in?”
“Really, Dominic,” she said, her voice chiding. “There’s no reason for you to be so rude.”
“Of course.” I nodded and gazed outside. “That’s your domain, isn’t it, Mom?”
Her harsh intake of breath was audible. “Dominic, I am sorry if I upset you.”
“And her?” I asked, gazing restlessly out over the city skyline.
“I…whatever do you mean?”
“I wasn’t the one you insulted, Mom.”
“Well. Of course. Listen, Dominic. I think this would be best if we discussed it in person. Can we…can we talk? Please?”
&nbs
p; Closing my eyes, I blocked out the entreating tone of her voice. I knew better.
“Dominic, I feel terrible about Friday. I made several missteps and I’d like to…well, make amends. Can you please come? It’s been so long since the two of us have even had any real time together.”
I mentally snorted. She made missteps, yeah. I almost pointed out that her missteps had mostly been with Aleena and both of us had screwed up there. But one thing was certain. My mother needed to understand that she would never make those missteps with Aleena again. And as much as I hated her machinations, Jacqueline St. James-Snow was my mother. She’d been the one to stand by me, to make sure I got help, care…everything. After.
I didn’t like having a wall between us even if our relationship was stilted at best.
“Fine, Mom,” I said softly. “When?”
“Tomorrow night?” The hesitant tone in her voice was unlike her.
Maybe she was trying.
“Okay.” I realized I was nodding to myself. A few moments later, I turned and stared at Penelope. She was still in my chair.
“That’s my desk,” I pointed out.
“Oh.” She gave me a wide, startled look. “I’m sorry…I just…well. I was trying to give you some privacy, Dominic.”
I glanced pointedly at the big doors that opened to the outer offices and then back at her. She colored slightly, but said nothing.
“What can I do for you, Penelope?” I asked, fighting the urge to sigh.
Penelope beamed at me.
“I think I want to try the service out.”
***
There are some things a rich bastard can do and not worry about.
There are some things a rich bastard can do and the shit will hit the fan and he can shrug it off.
The one thing a rich bastard can’t do it is tell a client—no, potential client—like Penelope Rittenour that I’d love to have her and then pass her off to one of his associates.
Especially as she’d made it clear that she’d come here specifically looking for me. I’d tried to be diplomatic and explain that in order to give her the best service, I’d really need to give her to my best people, but she hadn’t gone for it. I was one hell of a businessman and I knew it. I could sell shit to some of the savviest people out there and make them think they were buying diamonds, but Penelope hadn’t gone for it and in the end, I’d agreed to work with her. The last thing I needed was for her to go out there and start muttering to her friends that the company wasn’t delivering what I’d promised. Her friends were the clientele I needed in here, which meant I needed her happy.
Which meant I might have already screwed myself.
She wasn’t looking for a match through the company, though, and I knew it.
She was looking for a match with me.
After I’d escorted her to the elevator, I locked myself in my office, not speaking to either Amber or Aleena.
Hands behind my back, I stared outside, but I didn’t see the skyline of the city where I’d lived all my life and I couldn’t admire the view I’d chosen to make my own when I’d set up my offices.
No, mentally, I was seeing two women.
Two beautiful women.
The one I’d just escorted from my office and the one who was only a few feet away, in my outer office.
One, I couldn’t stand. I could barely tolerate Penelope’s presence. She was shallow and vapid and vain and could hardly hold a conversation that didn’t revolve around fashion and society, which was pathetic, because I knew she had excelled in college, but she’d focused all that brainpower on things she felt mattered. Clothing and the charities she felt were worthy of attention…I think right now it had something to do with a rare orchid I’d never heard of. Last year, it was knitting sweaters for penguins. When I’d asked her about the penguins, she’d stared at me as if I’d lost my mind.
The next time I asked her about the orchids, I had no doubt it would be the same.
She’d asked once if her family and mine could work together on a charitable cause and I’d said I’d consider it, then I mentioned I was looking into partnering with a group I’d heard of in Africa. I’d showed her some of the information I’d had. Her face had tightened.
Starving children with bloated bellies was too unseemly for Penelope Rittenour. She’d asked if perhaps I’d be interested in arctic foxes.
No. I hadn't been interested in arctic foxes.
Penelope Rittenour was beautiful and from one of the most powerful families in the northeast. The Rittenour’s could trace their roots back for centuries, and she was happy to tell you that.
She’d make the perfect society wife.
A faint laugh echoed from the outer office and I closed my eyes. Bracing my forearm against the window, I rested my brow against it and let my thoughts wander to the other beautiful woman…the one I couldn’t stop thinking about. The one just a few feet away. The one I was coming to crave like a drug. The one I wanted to see bent over before me, stretched out beneath me, standing in front of me with her arms bound overhead.
Aleena.
I could come to need her—was already so close to it.
I’d forced myself to keep my distance this week and it hadn’t lessened that need at all. I’d dealt with it, tolerated it. I’d even visited my club briefly, although it had done nothing for me. The boredom I’d felt too often these days had only intensified and even the thought of touching one of the Subs who visited, looking for a brief visit from an unattached Dom like myself, had left me feeling faintly disgusted.
“Stop it. You don’t owe her a damn thing,” I said, anger burning inside me.
I couldn’t owe her. That would mean I’d committed or let myself come to need her or care more than I’d let myself allow. We called it a relationship, but we hadn't set any terms.
There was a knock at the door and I lowered my arm, took a moment to smooth my suit—and my expression.
Without turning to the door, I said, “Come in.”
“Dominic?”
“Yes, Ms. Davison?”
There was a pause and I heard the stiffness in her tone when she responded, “Mr. Kim is on the phone. He wanted to thank—”
“Please send the call on through, Ms. Davison.” I turned toward the desk and flicked her a look. “I’m having dinner with my mother tomorrow. There’s a wine she enjoys…I can’t remember the name. Fawna might have it in her notes. If she doesn’t, give her a call. She’ll remember it.”
I reached for the phone.
“Have I done something wrong?” Her voice was quiet but steady. “You told me I had to be honest with you. Don't I deserve the same courtesy?”
I should have known better than to get involved with her. She wouldn’t cling. I already knew that. But she wasn’t going to quietly fade back into the background, either. She would call me on my shit.
Fawna had warned me about getting involved, but the warning had come too late. I'd already been in too deep.
“No, Ms…” I sighed and looked at her, saw the dull flush of color on her cheeks, the pain flashing across her eyes. “No, Aleena. My mother wants to make amends. And things are complicated. I need to think.”
“Of course, Mr. Snow.” She inclined her head and turned to go. There was no animosity in her words, but no warmth either.
She knew I wasn't being completely honest.
“Aleena—”
“Mr. Kim is waiting,” she said. Then she closed the door.
Chapter 11
Aleena
I’d found the wine Dominic had requested.
He’d taken it with him when he left for the office that morning and I’d stayed home to work in the home office.
We’d fallen into something of a routine and Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were the days I normally went into the office with him unless there was something specific going on and he requested that I go in too.
Since he hadn’t made that request, I’d already busied myself at my desk, dres
sed in my ‘home’ work attire, hoping he wouldn’t make any changes to our ‘routine’ and he hadn’t.
I was glad.
When the door shut behind him, I kept working a good twenty minutes, what I considered my safety zone, because he sometimes forgot things when I didn’t go in with him. No, he often forgot things.
It hadn't taken me long to understand just why the man had a personal assistant. He was sharp as a whip, but he had too many thoughts inside his head and no sense of organization. I’d once mentioned it and he’d shrugged it off. That’s why I had Fawna…and now, you. I'd known enough kids back in Iowa who had ADHD to figure that was probably the case.
Once those twenty minutes ticked away, I let myself breathe out a quiet sigh of relief and leaned back, covering my face with my hands.
I hadn’t been able to drop my guard at all since he’d made that announcement yesterday.
His mother wanted to make amends?
“Like hell.” The waspish note in my voice didn’t go unnoticed by me, but fuck it. I figured I had every right to feel waspish. And bitchy. And pissed off. Maybe she did want to, but that wasn't the reason Dominic was acting so stand-offish. He wasn't being honest with me. Even after he'd made me promise to be that way with him.
Feeling like I was going to come out of my skin, I got up and started to pace. Back and forth, I went across the office.
There was work waiting for me on the desk, but I’d been unable to sleep most of the night, so I’d taken care of probably a third of the things in my inbox already. Dominic’s ridiculous social calendar was now updated, save for a few things I needed to confirm with him. I knew better than email over those.
The phone rang and I drifted over to look at it, considered not answering it, but I had come to take my job too seriously. I couldn't let my personal life interfere. With a sigh, I picked it up.
“Snow residence, this is Aleena. How may I help you?”
There was a faint pause, followed by a sniff.
I rolled my eyes. Spare me.
“Aleena.”
The way the woman drew my name out told me everything I needed to know. I didn’t even look at the caller ID to see if I was correct. I did, however, hit the button that would allow me to record the conversation. Call me suspicious, but I didn’t trust her.
