The Deal

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “Are you getting excited for your night out with Aldo?” I asked.

  Abby looked instantly horrified that I was asking her about it. Her facial expression made me laugh, and I just couldn’t hold back my smile. She was so full of life, so fun to be around, I felt like I had known her for years; not sure the last couple of days.

  “I’m sorry. It was probably terribly rude for me to accept his invitation. I’m not going to sleep with him or anything like that. He just seemed interesting, and I’m totally going to think of it as a job for the night; nothing more.”

  “I understand. It’s like a celebrity that has a movie premiere to go to. You will be his sidekick, help him interact with people. Make everyone laugh and feel comfortable for the evening. I think you will have a great time. But …”

  “What?” Abby asked as she leaned in toward me.

  “Don’t let him seduce you. He’s a pretty great guy; I could see you falling for him.”

  “Oh, my God Theo!” Abby said as she pushed me away. “First of all, he’s married. Second of all, he’s way too old for me. He’s like older than my father would be.”

  “You just go have fun. Think of it as a work thing. You’re there to make everyone else love him. He’s a pretty quiet guy when he’s at public events. Normally just sticks to talking to the same old friends. Maybe you could get him out of his shell,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Oh, yeah because Aldo is the kind of guy who needs help getting out of his shell.”

  We both laughed at the thought. Obviously, Aldo didn’t have any problems asking for what he wanted. As soon as he had seen Abby, he forgot all about me and went right after her. I suspected he was going to continue going after her until he got what he wanted. My only hope was that Abby wouldn’t actually want him.

  “He is a pretty handsome guy,” Abby said as she turned toward the screen to watch one of the movie previews that had started.

  I grabbed my chest and pretended to stab myself in the heart and dramatically die because of the hurtful statement. She was joking, and I was going to keep things lighthearted between us, but I knew Aldo had the ability to get a woman to fall for him very quickly. I desperately hoped he wouldn’t be able to convince Abby to fall for him at all.

  The other fear I had was that Aldo was going to out me to Abby. Although his business dealings were far worse than mine ever could be; Aldo could simply slip and let Abby know how I really became so wealthy. He could tell Abby all about how he helped me grow my escort business from just a couple of girls to what was now over one hundred girls. Aldo knew almost all of the secrets of my life, and with one swift movement, he could tear apart my entire life.

  Of course, when I got into business with him, I wasn’t thinking about what life would be like down the road. All I could think about was that I wanted to be wealthy and Aldo was going to help me get there. Certainly wealth came with its drawbacks, and being linked to Aldo had become one of them.

  Abby and I settled into our seats to watch our movie, but I found myself worrying more and more about her date with Aldo and what the outcome could be. She was a great girl, and I found it hard to believe Aldo wasn’t going to want to keep her for himself. And when Aldo wanted something, he usually got it.

  “Do you like it?” Abby whispered to me about halfway through the movie.

  “Yes, actually I do,” I said as I went back to watching.

  The film was about a young woman who gets stuck on a cross-country trip with her mother and her mother’s friends. The young woman had a whole suitcase of shoes and hardly anything else with her. I could tell where the plot was going from the beginning. A young, self-absorbed girl was going to learn the real meaning of life by spending time with women that were older than her.

  Abby seemed really into the movie, and I pulled her close to me as we watched the climax of the film. Sure enough, it delivered an emotional twist that had Abby in tears and gave me the perfect opportunity to lean down and give her a gentle kiss.

  If Aldo was going to try and sweet talk her away from me, he was going to have to do a pretty damn good job. I felt a connection with Abby and knew she did as well. Of course, we didn’t know that much about each other, but that would come over time, and I would just have to hope that she could forgive me for my past. I genuinely wanted to make a real life for myself without the escort business and had been working my ass off to get my businesses to make a profit. Unfortunately, the VIP escort business was much more lucrative than all my other investments put together. I could see why Aldo had such a hard time going straight.

  “Oh, my God; wasn’t that like the best movie ever?” Abby said with tears in her eyes as we walked out of the theater.

  “It was really good. I’m glad you forced me to go see it.”

  “You said you liked any movies.”

  “Apparently it’s true because I liked that one too,” I said as I pulled her toward me and kissed her.

  I loved to kiss Abby. It was like my body craved her, and the longer I was apart from her, the stronger my urge was to kiss her. Certainly I had lusted after women before, but this was entirely different than lust. I wanted her whole body and mind.

  “Do you want to drop me off at my place on your way home?” Abby asked.

  I was instantly confused. I knew she didn’t really have a place of her own and wasn’t about to drop her off at the storage building that late at night. But perhaps it was a clue that she didn’t want to stay over that night with me. We had spent most of the last few days together, but I didn’t want her to go off on her date with Aldo without talking more to me. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to share with Abby about him, but I knew I had to warn her. I had to make Abby understand that Aldo was a bad guy, a dangerous guy.

  “Why don’t you stay over?” I said as my hands moved up and down the sides of her body and then pulled her tightly against me.

  I knew she could tell I was rock hard with excitement for her. But it was more than just wanting to have sex with her, I didn’t want to let her out of my sight before her date with Aldo. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with her so she knew that I cared about her before Aldo started filling her mind with stories.

  “Not tonight, I’m going to head home,” Abby said pretty definitively.

  I wasn’t about to argue with her, certainly that would have made me seem like a jerk. Instead, I did the only thing I could. I offered to drive her wherever she wanted to go. I also text Mario to follow us and then keep an eye on her to see where exactly she went for the night.

  Abby gave me directions to the apartment building next to her storage unit again, and I followed them as if I didn’t know exactly where I was going. I hated that she felt like she had to lie to me, but I understood why she did. It was expensive to live in New York, and Abby certainly didn’t make enough at either of her jobs to pay for an apartment. Even her and Isabella together probably didn’t make enough for a decent apartment in the city, but where was she going to sleep that night? I would have to wait until Mario followed her and reported back to me.

  “Come here,” I whispered to her as I pulled up in front of her building. “You remember that Aldo isn’t all that he seems. No matter what, you have control and can say no at any time. Don’t forget it.”

  “Theo, I think you have him all wrong. He’s married. He doesn’t want to sleep with me; he just wants company for his event. Don’t worry so much. I’ll call you,” Abby said as she leaned over and gave me a quick kiss.

  I grabbed hold of her and wouldn’t let go, though. My lips moved gently from hers to her neck as I gently tapped them against her skin and took in her delicious scent. She released a deep exhale that again had my body in total overdrive. I could have grabbed her and slid her body right on top of my hard cock at that very moment, but of course, I didn’t. Instead, I let my hands move gently around to her back and slide down as low as they could go.

  I slid my fingertips into the
back of her panties and grabbed her ass as I urged her to come closer to me. With each firm movement, I felt her fighting her own urge to stay there with me and perhaps even to slide on top of my throbbing member.

  But when her hand moved to my pants and started to stroke me from outside my zipper, it was pretty damn close to torture. I knew she didn’t really have an apartment in that building or I would have asked to come up with her; instead, I had to let her go. Every cell in my body wanted to feel more and more of her, but I knew that by not having me she wanted me more and more. The law of wanting what we can’t have is something I taught the girls that worked for me. It was an easy tease that worked with all human beings, not just men.

  “Okay, okay, you better get going before I kidnap you and drag you back to my place,” I said, I gently kissing her soft red lips.

  Abby’s face was flushed, and I could tell she wanted to come home with me. But there was a game she was playing too; it was a typical female game, and I didn’t mind it one bit, but she had to say no. She couldn’t say yes to my offer after already spending two full days with me.

  “You are right; I’m going to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Don’t trust anything Aldo says. Please,” I said as she climbed out of the vehicle.

  “I thought he was your friend?”

  “He is. That’s why I know you shouldn’t trust him,” I said with a smile.

  It was true, I knew Aldo very well, and that was why I was so damned afraid of him spending time with Abby. I knew he was going to like her, what was there not to like. The second Aldo got hold of her, I was in danger of losing her forever.

  “It will be fine. I’m just a hired talking point, remember?”

  “Goodnight Abby.”

  “Goodnight Theo.”

  And just like that, Abby was out of my car and only hours away from being in the depth of Aldo’s grip. There was nothing else I could do but hope that she wouldn’t fall for him and that he wouldn’t slip up and tell her about who I really was.

  “Follow her,” I said to Mario as I drove away and called him.

  “I’m on it. Do you want me to follow her into a building? Or just tell you where she ends up?”

  “Whatever you think is best, but don’t let her see you. I’ll certainly be in some hot water if she knows I sent you after her to spy.”

  “You underestimate my abilities,” Mario laughed. “She’s jogging right now, and on her cell. I’ll let you know where she ends up. She seems to be in a big hurry.”

  As I hung up with Mario, I couldn’t help wondering if Abby had somewhere else she needed to be, and that was why she wanted to get going. Hopefully, Mario would be able to figure it out.

  It was just before 10 o’clock when Mario called me back.

  “She went to the women’s shelter,” Mario said. “I can’t go in, but they have to be there by ten o’clock or the doors are locked.”

  “The women’s shelter?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Shit, alright.”

  “Anything else you want me to do boss?”

  “No, thanks for tracking her for me.”

  Things were even worse than I thought for Abby. I had really assumed that she had a variety of friends’ houses that she was crashing at or maybe even some men’s houses. Certainly if I was going to recruit her into the business that would have been the best possible outcome. But if she was staying at the shelter, that meant that she wasn’t interested in selling herself for money. It was certainly good news to me, and I felt slightly better about her going out with Aldo the next night. If Abby was willing to sleep at the shelter instead of in some random guys bed, then she certainly wasn’t going to sleep with Aldo just because he paid her to come to an event.

  On the other hand, I felt terrible that I had plenty of spare room at my place and she would rather stay at a shelter than come back to my house again. There really couldn’t be any explanation; why would any woman prefer to stay at a shelter than a million-dollar penthouse apartment? It was baffling to me.

  I liked Abby and knew things were moving along quickly between us; I felt it and knew she did too. But I didn’t care at all. I was willing to get on the crazy love roller coaster with Abby if that was what she wanted. As soon as she was finished with her date with Aldo, I was going to talk to her about staying with me in my apartment. There was no reason for her not to stay with me.

  Chapter 15

  ABBY

  “This is a movie premier,” I squealed as we pulled up to the party Aldo wanted me to go to with him.

  “Not exactly darling. It’s a launch for my friend's production company. It will be filled with boring money guys all trying to get their hands on the next big star.”

  “I can’t go in there with you. Oh, my, God, I look hideous!” I said as we pulled up.

  If I had known I was going to such a big event, I certainly would have done something fancy with my hair and makeup, or at the very least, I would have had Isabella meet me to do it for me. Instead, I waited in line for the shower at the shelter for what seemed like all morning and only got about two minutes in the ice cold water before a woman was trying to get in for her turn. I combed through my hair and put some Velcro curlers in while I did the best makeup I could with the stuff I had in my bag.

  My nice dresses and shoes were still at Theo’s apartment, so I had to go with what I had in my storage unit. I found a long tight-fitting black dress that hid the atrocious black heels that I had. It had a low cut back that I thought would look good; but otherwise, it was a pretty plain dress.

  “Darling, you look absolutely radiant. Most women go way overboard with their hair and makeup. You look delightful,” Aldo said as he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips gently.

  As his lips touched my skin, I felt warmth rush through my body. I didn’t want to be attracted to Aldo, I really didn’t. He was married, and I would never date a married man. But he invited me to the event and was paying me $10,000, that was just too much money to ignore.

  I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I was simply there to keep him company for the evening and help him enjoy his boring money men from his industry event. If there was anything I knew well, it was how to mix in with any type of crowd. I felt more at ease pretending to fit in with people than I did when I actually fit in with a group. But Aldo was going to have to stop kissing my hand if I was going to be able to concentrate on the evening.

  “Now, what would your wife say if she saw your lips on me like that?” I teased him as I tried to keep the mood light-hearted.

  “She would say she wanted you for herself,” Aldo said, his piercing green eyes focusing on me.

  I’m not sure if I totally stopped breathing or what, but I definitely had to gasp for air. What had he just said? Clearly I hadn’t heard him right. I laughed and looked down at the ground. But I remembered that his wife had made a comment about me that morning when I had served them breakfast and wondered if she was bisexual.

  “I’m serious. She wanted you for herself that morning you served us breakfast. When I told her I was taking you with me today, she was delighted.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Well, I’m sure you can tell by looking at me that I’m not a conventional man, right?”

  Aldo was right; I could tell that he was a very modern guy. That night he wore a pair of deep blue slacks with gray crocodile shoes and brilliant pink socks. His button up shirt was short sleeved instead of long and showed his arms which were totally covered in tattoos. His hair was certainly salt and pepper gray, but it was short on the sides and long on top; similar to how my favorite singer wore his hair. Aldo Gioacchino was anything but ordinary.

  “You have a much better sense of style than I do,” I joked.

  “My wife and I understand that not every need we have can be filled by each other. We both enjoy the freedom of having other people in our lives and freely talk about it with each ot
her. If my wife had not been alright with me bringing you tonight, I certainly wouldn’t have. She was excited that I had found such a nice woman to spend my evening with.”

  I was simply dumbfounded by what he was saying. On television and in movies, I had heard about people having relationships like that, but I never thought I would meet someone who was in an open relationship. Question after question flooded my mind as I tried to think through how it could possibly work out that they both got to date other people and then came home to each other.

  “Okay,” I said quietly; afraid that if I said anything else, I would sound totally infantile.

  “I can tell you have questions. How about we go and enjoy our evening, and we can talk more about it later? Just know that I don’t spend time with anyone that I don’t genuinely want to get to know. That means talking, not fucking. I want to know more about you and can’t wait to spend this evening together.”

  “Okay,” I said again, blankly staring at Aldo.

  He again pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it as we walked into the building together. Aldo was unique and fascinating to be around. I wrapped my arm around his muscular, tattooed arm and walked with more confidence than I’d had for a very long time.

  Just being there with Aldo was an experience I would never forget. It was exciting to be around all the industry professionals, and for that one night, I was going to remember my dream of being an actress. I had long given up on that dream, but while I was around this group, it seemed possible again. Perhaps I could use the evening to make some friends in the industry.

  My breath was heavy as I tried to calm myself. In one swift statement, Aldo had made me feel more desire than any man I could remember. He didn’t just say I was beautiful, any guy could say that, and often did. Aldo made it known that he wanted to be there with me. Not any number of other beautiful women, but me. It was uncomfortable to hear that from a man but also an incredible turn on. I really didn’t get pure compliments like that very often.

  “So this party will be a lot of people talking about celebrities and trying to show off. What I need to do is get the conversations switched back to business without looking like a jackass. That’s where I’ll need your help.”