RaineyI decided to start Tanner on his journey to becoming a chef by letting him stir the sauce for our pasta. He took the job seriously and didn’t move from his perch on the counter top. Normally I wouldn’t let him sit there but I wasn’t going to turn down his offer to help. Maybe when he was older, he would become a chef and cook something for me for a change. A woman could dream…While the water for the pasta was warming up to a boil, I called Tessa to tell her about my day.“Do you need me to come over with some wine?” my best friend asked. “You’re not that far away.”Tessa lived up the road from me for my entire life. She bought her childhood home when her parents retired to Florida. She was my rock in many situations even though at times we fought like sisters. I never missed out on having a sibling she was practically family.“That’s not even the worst of it,” I said, grabbing a box of angel hair pasta from the cabinet. I was only up to the part in the story where I was late f
MichaelEven though the sun was beating down on the green, there was a chill in the air that only the start of winter could bring. My curiosity about Sal Rossi got me out of bed that morning to meet with the possible new client. Even seeing him in person didn’t jog my memory. He was a normal looking forty-something-year-old guy with a spare tire around his waist. I rarely got involved on this level anymore, but this was a special circumstance. I had to get a feel for this guy and what plans he had cooking. Fredrick’s warning about speaking with Demetri made the meeting that much more important.We were on the fourth hole when Sal brought up his business. We’d talked the day before on the phone about the possibility of working together but he was very vague on the details. He seemed like a face-to-face business man and that was fine with me. Overall he seemed a bit old-school, I wasn’t a winter golfer so I assumed he wanted a place we’d be alone for this conversation. Though that made
MichaelThe eighteenth hole couldn’t come fast enough. I had to make an excuse about a meeting at the office to Sal so I could be back in time to see Rainey. I’d told Sandra that Rainey said she was available at a moment’s notice so when she called this morning about filling in her paperwork, I made sure Sandra had her in the office for eleven. Making the appointment with Sal early in the morning had been perfect. The course had been devoid of other golfers so we could be in and out of the meeting. And after discussing specifics about the deal, Sal didn’t delay in completing the round of golf.It was close to eleven-thirty when Constantine dropped me off in front of my building.I strode through the lobby and onto the elevator. I hoped I wasn’t too late. There wasn’t much paperwork to be done, only an application and a few contracts.The elevator doors opened on my floor and I blinked in surprise when I saw Rainey standing there.She moved aside, to let me off. “Good morning, Mr. Carr
RaineyAfter lunch with Michael, we headed back to the office for a few hours where he showed me to my own desk right outside his office which would give me quick access to him. He let me go early since he had a late afternoon meeting. His arrogance seemed on par with the other rich corporate types in the City. I didn’t know why I expected anything less. By the end of the meal, I quickly added the cost of everything and the lunch was well over my household budget for the month. I tried to hide my surprise. What it must be like to not worry about money. I had a job now, but I would never be that wealthy.And when I told my mom all of that, she simply nodded. “Maybe you need to get to know him a little better before judging him.”My mouth popped open but I had nothing to say. She was right. I didn’t know much about him.“Give him at least a week before making assumptions,” she said with a wink.A text chirped from my cell from Tessa, wanting to go out and celebrate my new job.“Who’s th
RaineyTessa had been right, the food was amazing. We were given several plates of small tapas but each piece packed a huge flavor. The mix of spices and sweetness of the morsels were to die for as Tessa had said.Two more drinks in, Tessa got the check for the table.“Are we going home?” I asked, now comfortable in our surroundings. I didn’t want to leave yet.“No way, we’re going to the club.”I really didn’t want to go anywhere else and ruin my buzz. “We can’t stay here?”Tessa rolled her eyes. “The dance floor is through there, sweetie.” She pointed to a door in the back of the room.We settled the check and Tessa lead me through the crowd. “Normally the entrance is through the front but since it’s not that busy tonight, they closed that part.”Since she said it wasn’t busy I expected me and Tessa to be the only people going into the dancing part of the club. Through a short hallway, we entered the space. I couldn’t help but gawk at a number of people. The music from the restauran
MichaelIt took a lot of willpower to leave Rainey. She looked sexy as hell tonight and I’d been right about her figure underneath her pantsuit which had been on my mind since meeting her. I wanted to know if she had a boyfriend, but I supposed it was good that I didn’t know. All thoughts of her had been more than professional. And not for the first time did I wonder if hiring Rainey or any woman was a good idea. I had no choice now. I wanted to see her succeed and I just as badly needed a good assistant who was professional while my thoughts were anything but.On the way upstairs, someone’s hand pressed against my back and I turned, expecting Rainey to be there. If she were, I’d have no choice but to follow her onto the dance floor and make myself more acquainted with her body.I was somewhat disappointed where instead of Rainey was a blonde. She winked at me and crooked her finger for me to follow her down the hallway to the bathrooms. She had a killer rack and it wasn’t hard to ima
Michael“That’s what I thought.” Demetri placed his glass on the table in front of us then sat up straighter. “Mr. Rossi has been treading dangerously close for years. With this development, he has a plan in place. One that I don’t want to see happen at all.”The formality of Sal’s name wasn’t a good sign. It was as if Demetri wasn’t dealing with a person, but an item. One to be disposed of.“I agree,” Fredrick said.Demetri turned to me, ignoring my brother. Fredrick was a loud-mouth on a daily basis but when he was drinking it was worse. And his memory tended to fade. I knew I’d have to remind him about this conversation tomorrow.When it came to these deals, Demetri dealt exclusively with me. He loved my brother but even I tired of his lackadaisical attitude.“What I don’t understand is why he came to me,” I said. “Even if he didn’t know my relationship with you, Demetri, if he did any research he’d know that Fredrick was my brother.” Demetri had put the club in Fredrick’s name fro
RaineyFor the rest of the night, I couldn’t get Michael out of my head. I spotted him once in the VIP rooms. It made sense since his brother owned the place. I wondered what it was like up there. The only experience with VIP rooms was living vicariously through movie and television characters. When I asked Tessa if she’d ever been up there, she’d laughed in my face.“I’d have to pay out two months’ worth of my mortgage to even book one of those rooms. Then you have to get a minimum thousand dollars’ worth of drinks.”“Holy shit!”She nodded. “I’ve been trying to get invited up there to see what it’s like but I’d rather not have to sleep with some skeeze to do it. Not worth it! Besides I love to dance.” Then she proceeded to twirl me until I was dizzy.I couldn’t help but think of Michael and the blonde who followed him upstairs. I’d tried to get that out of my mind the entire night but I couldn’t. Admittedly, I thought there was some glimpse of a friendship between us but I chose to