of stairs. As I step out into the street I see that Dom has come out of his car and is leaning his butt against it. My heart does a little dance. He looks super-edible in a black T-shirt, blue jeans and pristine Timberland boots. His arms are crossed, and my eyes greedily rove over the thick muscle cords. His eyes are as bright as gems and are focused on me. Hit by an unnatural attack of shyness (What? Me, shy?) I pause uncertainly by the entrance door.
‘Hey, sexy,’ he drawls.
‘There’s a parking attendant walking toward us with a very determined expression on his face,’ I say as nonchalantly as I can.
He replies by opening the passenger door with a flourish. I walk toward him with a smile.
He grabs my arm. ‘You’re one incredibly beautiful woman, you know,’ he says.
The compliment goes straight to my head and makes my skin burn. I have to pretend to look down at my shoes to hide my flustered face. He lets go of my arm and I slip into the seat. I turn my head to watch his fine ass go around the back of the car. He gets into the driver’s seat and closes the door.
‘Thanks for the dress. It’s beautiful,’ I say quickly, ‘but I can’t accept it. It’s too expensive.’
He frowns down at me. ‘It’s just a replacement. I ripped your skirt yesterday.’
‘Well, it’s too expensive.’
‘Well, I was very sorry,’ he says with a glint in his eyes.
‘It could be deemed a bribe.’
‘Let me tell you how tonight and every night that we spend together is going to go down. We are never discussing my tax situation, or my finances, or any of that shit we talked about last night. You want that kind of information, you’ll have to talk to Nigel. We are just going to eat, talk, fuck and have fun.’
‘Rob and I have an appointment to see your accountant next week,’ I inform him quickly. ‘I’m saying this up front so there’s no misunderstanding about the investigation. We are going ahead with it.’
‘Good,’ he says casually.
‘You don’t sound worried.’
‘That’s probably because I’m not.’
I look at him curiously. ‘Why not? Most people in your shoes would be.’
‘Why should I be? I haven’t done anything wrong, and Nigel will finally get to do what he’s paid a shitload to do.’
‘Look, we won’t ever talk about your tax situation again, but I have to warn you that you really pissed Rob off the other day when you refused to shake his hand. He took it as a personal insult, and I think he’s going for maximum damage.’
A soft look comes into his eyes. ‘Thank you for the warning. It means something to me.’ Then he grins. ‘But it’s totally unnecessary. I meant to piss that asshole off. He’s like a little bully on a power trip. In school he would have been one of those boys who joined a gang to terrorize all those smaller and weaker than them.’
It’s startling how you can spend weeks and months with someone and be totally blind to their true personality. In one sentence Dom has described Rob’s entire MO. Something I’d shut my mind to because I truly believed we were doing it for the greater good. But now I’m not so sure anymore.
Are Rob and I bullies? We threaten ordinary, hardworking people who’ve salted away something for their old age, so they don’t have to depend on their children to buy them the necessaries the way my poor parents do, with prison sentences and force them to pay up. When possible, we even go into their bank accounts and help ourselves to their hard-earned money. We do it all because we can. And yet the multinationals, the super rich, the old money families who already have everything tied up in untouchable trust funds, we allow to get away with paying laughable amounts of tax or no tax at all.
Yeah. I guess the hard truth is, we are shameless bullies.
The idea disturbs me greatly, but I don’t share my thoughts with Dom. Instead, I shrug slightly and say, ‘Just ask Nigel to be careful. Rob can be really
‘Hey, sexy,’ he drawls.
‘There’s a parking attendant walking toward us with a very determined expression on his face,’ I say as nonchalantly as I can.
He replies by opening the passenger door with a flourish. I walk toward him with a smile.
He grabs my arm. ‘You’re one incredibly beautiful woman, you know,’ he says.
The compliment goes straight to my head and makes my skin burn. I have to pretend to look down at my shoes to hide my flustered face. He lets go of my arm and I slip into the seat. I turn my head to watch his fine ass go around the back of the car. He gets into the driver’s seat and closes the door.
‘Thanks for the dress. It’s beautiful,’ I say quickly, ‘but I can’t accept it. It’s too expensive.’
He frowns down at me. ‘It’s just a replacement. I ripped your skirt yesterday.’
‘Well, it’s too expensive.’
‘Well, I was very sorry,’ he says with a glint in his eyes.
‘It could be deemed a bribe.’
‘Let me tell you how tonight and every night that we spend together is going to go down. We are never discussing my tax situation, or my finances, or any of that shit we talked about last night. You want that kind of information, you’ll have to talk to Nigel. We are just going to eat, talk, fuck and have fun.’
‘Rob and I have an appointment to see your accountant next week,’ I inform him quickly. ‘I’m saying this up front so there’s no misunderstanding about the investigation. We are going ahead with it.’
‘Good,’ he says casually.
‘You don’t sound worried.’
‘That’s probably because I’m not.’
I look at him curiously. ‘Why not? Most people in your shoes would be.’
‘Why should I be? I haven’t done anything wrong, and Nigel will finally get to do what he’s paid a shitload to do.’
‘Look, we won’t ever talk about your tax situation again, but I have to warn you that you really pissed Rob off the other day when you refused to shake his hand. He took it as a personal insult, and I think he’s going for maximum damage.’
A soft look comes into his eyes. ‘Thank you for the warning. It means something to me.’ Then he grins. ‘But it’s totally unnecessary. I meant to piss that asshole off. He’s like a little bully on a power trip. In school he would have been one of those boys who joined a gang to terrorize all those smaller and weaker than them.’
It’s startling how you can spend weeks and months with someone and be totally blind to their true personality. In one sentence Dom has described Rob’s entire MO. Something I’d shut my mind to because I truly believed we were doing it for the greater good. But now I’m not so sure anymore.
Are Rob and I bullies? We threaten ordinary, hardworking people who’ve salted away something for their old age, so they don’t have to depend on their children to buy them the necessaries the way my poor parents do, with prison sentences and force them to pay up. When possible, we even go into their bank accounts and help ourselves to their hard-earned money. We do it all because we can. And yet the multinationals, the super rich, the old money families who already have everything tied up in untouchable trust funds, we allow to get away with paying laughable amounts of tax or no tax at all.
Yeah. I guess the hard truth is, we are shameless bullies.
The idea disturbs me greatly, but I don’t share my thoughts with Dom. Instead, I shrug slightly and say, ‘Just ask Nigel to be careful. Rob can be really
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