*****
The taxi seemed to hit every pothole and every curb as Aiden sat in the backseat replaying the mortifying exchange between him and Anna. He had a plan when he came over. He was going to explain the whole plan to her. How he wanted to peacefully end his roommate arrangement with his best friend Brody. How he wanted to keep the peace between their families since massive amounts of money was at stake. How Aiden was instantly attracted to Anna and wanted to take things further. However, none of this came out of his mouth. He had just frozen. Something about her made his mouth feel dry and his head feel empty. She was not just another one-night stand and the more he looked at her standing naked in her kitchen, the more vulnerable he felt.
“Easy, man,” Aiden said through grit teeth as the cab driver hit another curb.
The cab driver shrugged an apology and Aiden rolled his eyes as Park Avenue came into focus. The bright lights of the many apartment buildings seemed like a hundred lanterns against a blanket of black night. Aiden shoved a hundred dollar bill through the fingerprint stained partition and slammed the door before the driver could finish his sentence about the change. He was kicking himself all over again. Why couldn’t he tell her it was more than sex? He liked her.
“Good evening, Mr. Sinclair,” said Phil, the doorman, tipping his black hat.
Aiden waved nonchalantly storming pass him to the massive bronze elevator. Even before the doors opened he could hear music blasting from the penthouse. Brody must have people over, or people were on their way over. The double doors were ajar and as Aiden skulked forward, feeling more glum and broody than ever, he heard the familiar high-pitched giggles of women.
“Great,” Aiden mumbled as he swung the door open.
Brody did not disappoint Aiden’s grim expectation. Loud, ear-splitting rap music shot into Aiden’s ear, making him wince. Women, beautiful women with long wavy hair leaned on the walls, furniture and each other, most looking red-eyed and giggling. They were waving at him and some even hooked their fingers, beckoning him closer. This was the worst day for Brody to be having one of his parties in Aiden’s opinion. It had gotten to the point that Brody ceased sending a text message giving Aiden any notice that their apartment would be inundated by every model and actress, want to be or not, for hours on end. Aiden wondered if it was out of line to call the police on his own party.
“Aiden, remember me,” said a dark-skinned model, grinning at him from a head of shaggy black hair.
“Hi Melania. Not a good time,” Aiden said, shoving past her.
There was a time when he would be more than happy to have her curvy legs wrapped around him, but right now all he wanted was to ring his roommate’s neck. Aiden all but stomped to the kitchen where Brody was leaning against their stove kissing a tall, red headed woman who Aiden recognized from a movie premier he and Brody had gone to a month ago. Two other models were standing beside him with their hands stroking Brody between his legs. Aiden cleared his throat as loud he could over the music. Brody looked up and the actress bit his bottom lip, pulling him back into the kiss. Brody grinned at her and smacked her hard on her behind.
“Easy, I’ll deal with you later,” Brody said, planting a quick kiss on her lips.
“Brody!” Aiden yelled, making all of the other models jump.
“What’s your deal? Oh, Melania’s been looking for you,” Brody said with an exaggerated wink.
“What the hell is this?” Aiden said, pointing at the tipsy models.
“Um, an impending threesome—oh, my bad, a foursome. Trouble counting,” Brody said, rubbing the curve a blonde woman’s hip.
“This is bullshit, man. Get them out,” Aiden said, inching closer to Brody.
The women looked at Brody and then back at Aiden before stepping to the side. Aiden’s fists were clenched by his side and if Brody was not standing so close to his partygoers, Aiden would start punching him or hitting with anything that could beat sense into him.
“Ladies, can I have a moment with my friend,” Brody said, taking a long swig of a drink he was clutching.
The models left, casting quick glances behind them.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Brody asked in a low almost menacing voice.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” Aiden all but screamed back at him.
“Are you deaf now? Come on, asshole, it’s Friday and those are the sexiest women in New York.”
Aiden ran his hands over his face, trying to reign in his temper but he just felt hot all over and wanted to punch something.
“Brody, this is our house. What the fuck, man? I can’t just come home and have an orgy in my living room.”
“Your living room? So, I need to ask you permission to have a little get together now?”
“Little? There are fifty girls here! Did you even go to work today?”
Brody shrugged, pouring himself another drink.
“Brody.”
“No. I’m not ready to face dear old dad yet. I might get another job actually.”
Aiden unclenched his fist and cocked his head, wondering if he heard Brody right. A Montgomery-West has worked as CEO for Montgomery-West for almost one hundred years. The reason for the merger was so that Aiden and Brody could be partners and continue their families’ legacies.
“What?” was all Aiden could manage to say.
“I’m hoping you could keep it quiet. If you don’t mind, I wanted to get the E penthouse. I know it will be your building so I was hoping you could swing me to the top of your list. I’ll pay and everything.”
Brody offered a sheepish grin, draining his glass. Aiden was speechless. This would solve everything and ruin everything all at the same time.
“Can you ask your decorator friend if I can talk to her?”
Aiden scoffed, thinking of how Anna looked at him before he left.
“Maybe you should, man. I saw her tonight and I doubt she wants to ever see me again.”
“Oh really?” Brody asked, with a raised eyebrow. “Then maybe we should see her together.”
*****
Anna stirred awake as the loft door slammed. She had fallen asleep on the couch shortly after Aiden left. Her neck sent shooting pains down her back as she adjusted from the awkward fetal position she was crouched in.
“You’re asleep?” Keith asked, dropping his duffle on the floor and glancing at his watch over his eyeglasses.
“I must have passed out,” Anna croaked, stretching her neck. “Wait, why are you back so early?”
Keith let out a deep sigh as he walked over.
“My sister and her ex-husband are making up again and it’s just awkward. He showed up out of the blue and now they want to call off the divorce—again. It’s ridiculous.”
“Oh. Good Lord, their lawyers must hate them.”
“Please, what lawyers? They both bluff. For being shrinks they are two of the craziest people I have ever met. Anyway, the drive back gave me a lot of time to think and do some internet searches. We need to talk.”
Anna sat up straighter, curious what Keith was getting at.
“Am I going to like what you’re going to say?”
Keith smiled, leaning back in the leather sofa.
“Did you know that the party boys’ families are merging?”
“Wait, what? That’s—that’s—”
“Billions of dollars, I know. I don’t know yet how the Excalibur plays into this but rumor is that their daddies are retiring sooner rather than later. Meaning—”
“Meaning the party boys will be our major clients,” Anna said, rubbing her forehead.
This suddenly felt more complicated.
“I—I know I said no before but we have to think of the future of our brand. I say we play nice until the water settles.”
“So, we are taking the Excalibur or the E as the cool kids call it?” Anna said almost laughing at herself.
“What’s so funny?” Keith asked, looking at her curiously. “I’m allowed to be wrong once in
a while.
Anna raked her fingers through her hair, debating if she should tell Keith she slept with Aiden. She and Keith had few, if any, secrets yet her tongue felt heavy and the words would not come out.
“Anna? You okay?”
“Yep, I think you’re right. I’ll draw up a mock-up if you get the permits,” Anna said with a forced smile.
Keith appraised her but nodded after a beat and rose from the sofa.
“I’ll get on that now. I need something to keep my mind busy. You sure you’re alright?”
“Um, yeah. Just tired.”
Keith pursed his lips and turned for his bedroom. Anna let out a sigh of relief, glad that Keith did not push the issue. Her stomach felt like it was filled with lead weights, just pure dread at the thought of seeing Aiden again. She wondered if she could circumvent Aiden all together and just go to Brody. Anna stood, pacing the floor and muddling the idea over in her mind. If the companies were going to merge then there really was no reason to meet with them together. It made sense in her head, even if she thought it childish to do so. Another snag was that the merger could take ages and she, being an outsider, had no idea how long such proceedings would take or if it had even started yet.
She walked over to the bay window where she watched Aiden just last night wave up at her. Then her mind flashed to Brody sitting across the table from her after they waited over an hour for the meeting. He was so carefree and handsome. He was trouble incarnate. Perhaps she made the wrong decision with Aiden. Aiden seemed the safest of the pair of them, yet he stormed out of her place like a sniveling coward. She could not imagine Brody storming out like that after making love to her.
“What to do? What to do?” Anna muttered to herself.
She grabbed her phone from the window sill and found Aiden’s phone number. She skimmed passed it until she got to the B’s. There it was Broderick Montgomery-West. Prior to the meeting, that both men were very late for, their assistant emailed both men’s phone numbers. Her thumb hovered his phone number, dropping like she would dial it then lifting like her phone was hot coal. Anna took a deep breath and dialed the number. Her mind was racing a mile a minute as ring after ring came through the phone. Aiden was just a stupid one-night stand. She was stronger than this. This was business.
“Brody. Who’s this?” boomed through the phone.
Anna jumped and cleared her throat.
“Mr. Montgomery-West, this is Anna Smith.”
“Anna! Well, this is pleasantly convenient.”
“Um, excuse me?”
“What I mean is I was planning on calling you.”
“Oh, well, I just wanted to let you know that Keith and I have reconsidered taking your project.”
The line went silent but Anna had an odd feeling that Brody was smiling at her. In fact, she knew it.
“Great. I think you would like the building. It has a certain flair if you can ignore the cobwebs. I can take you to it today if your free.”
Anna blanched.
“No, I think we will wait a few days. We need to get our mock-up ready.”
“I see,” Brody said, sounding disappointed, “how much time do you need?”
“A week. We will need to requisition permits and reach out to our decorators. It will take time.”
“Then take your time. Can’t wait to see you again. Talk soon.”
Then the line went dead and Anna’s hand dropped to her side. A smile spread on her face. She clearly had chosen the wrong party boy, but she would be fixing that sooner rather than later.
*****
It took less than a week to get everything they needed. Every designer in New York was calling them. The best way to spread news among the elite was to say it was a secret and then suddenly it’s on everyone’s lips. Anna and Keith had a team of designers working on acquiring the best furniture from every corner of the world, paintings from Italy, rugs from the Middle East, and dishes and silverware that once belonged to Napoleon himself. All of the old items in the Penthouse were being dusted and wiped down for auction and the auction houses were already buzzing with the news of the impending sale. Anna had done her very best to avoid both Aiden and Brody, though both kept her phone buzzing.
“You can’t ignore them forever; you know that right?” Keith said, plopping a stack of city permits on Anna’s desk.
“I’m not avoiding anyone. Are these all of them?” Anna asked, unrolling the architect’s drawings and scanning them.
The space really was filled with so much potential. Sure, there were many unnecessary walls and small rooms leading nowhere, but that was typical of many buildings built during that time. Now that the walls were knocked down in the drawing it was on track to be a masterpiece.
“I know you heard me, Ms. Smith,” Keith said, a trace of humor in his voice.
Anna looked up, feeling her face grow pink with heat.
“I—slept with one of them,” Anna said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“I see. Which one?” Keith asked, shutting her office door.
“Does it matter?”
Keith proffered a weak smile and shrugged.
“I guess not. We’re in pretty deep at this point. You really want to quit now?”
“No, it’s just—”
“You’re a grown woman. No judgment here. I think they’re both idiots but to each their own. Are we both in, all in, with this project? I mean there is a lot of money on the table, more than we have ever made. We’re partners.”
“I still want to do it. I can be a big girl I suppose.”
Keith smiled and nodded before he turned to leave.
Anna slumped back in her leather office chair and pinched her eyes closed as her phone rang again. It was Brody.
“Hello,” Anna said, sitting up straight.
“She lives,” Brody said with a low chuckle.
“We’ve started gutting it, but it’s still in the works. I’ve been very busy making your new, let’s see, brothel.”
“You’re as funny as you are pretty. I know you said a week, but I was wondering if you could meet me at the E.”
“Meet you there? It’s under construction.”
“Well, I had a room fixed up nice so that I could say thank you. It’s simple to be sure, but I figured you could give me a tour and I could say thank you with a bottle of French champagne.”
“Sounds tempting.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I can’t build your brothel if I’m having champagne.”
“It’s not a brothel. I plan on having a family there someday. My children will run those halls.”
“Ha. And how many women will father these children?”
Brody laughed loudly in the receiver and Anna could not help but laugh too. She was liking Brody more and more every day.
“Fine, I’ll come, if you behave.”
“Now, you and I both know you don’t want me to behave.”
Anna bit her bottom lip and hung up the phone. Her schedule was full, but she was too curious. Anna buzzed her assistant, Evan, and had him clear her schedule for the day. From the stony look on his face, Anna could tell he thought she was ill.
“Are you sick?” Evan asked.
“Nope, just on a mission.”
Evan narrowed his green eyes at her, but said nothing. Anna had never taken a day off in all the time Evan had worked for her. She once came in with swine flu, before anyone in New York knew what it was and how dangerous in was. She was the consummate workaholic.
Anna grabbed her purse, pinched her cheeks and headed out the door. Keith watched her walk by him, whipping around to see her enter the elevator and offer a mock salute as the stainless steel elevator doors shut close. She never ever took a day off. She never took chances, especially with men. It was all work, but now she wanted something else. She wanted to experience more out of life besides work.
“Taxi!” Anna yelled, jogging out of the building.
A yellow cab skid to a halt and took
off before Anna had the door all the way closed.
“You in? Sorry, traffic is a damn nightmare,” the cab driver said gruffly speeding off down 8th avenue.
Anna nodded that she understood and rattled off directions. The cab driver looked at her like she had three heads.
“That building’s been abandoned for decades, sweetheart. Hell, a big-haired ghost might get you,” the cab driver said with a dry, hacking laugh.
Anna smirked and stared down at her phone. Brody had not texted her, but she hoped he at least expected her.
“You buying that place or something? I think I’ve seen your face on the billboards on 34th street.”
“Ha! Me? I couldn’t afford to do anything but decorate it.”
“Well, New York will be interesting if that place comes back. God, my dad used to tell me stories about it. This is his cab, you know.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep. That’s where husbands would go to forget about their wives and families. Bad reputation.”
Anna’s stomach sank and she thought of Brody’s words about a family.
“It can be different,” Anna said after a long pause.
“Or it just can be the same.”
*****
The elevator, the largest Anna had ever been inside of, creaked and groaned like a root being pulled from the earth. According to the city documents the elevator was safe but the shrieking noise it made as it came to a stop at the penthouse level begged to differ with the city inspector. The massive grey penthouse was like a maze with many rooms leading nowhere. The smell was a mixture of a room that had been sealed off for too long and a breeze that seemed to be coming from nowhere.
“Hello?” Anna called out.
She walked deeper into to the space, careful to step over paint cans, plastic tarp and scaffolding. As the presumed living room came into focus, Anna saw a large fur rug placed on the floor with a basket. She grinned at it and looked around for Brody. She jumped as she felt hands cover her eyes.
“I intended to meet you downstairs, but you are a little too punctual for me,” Brody whispered in her ear.
The Crime of Protection Page 50
