Chapter 49

Michael

I waited until the elevator bell dinged again before I ventured out of my office. I quickly thought of an excuse to come out of there without it seeming like I was checking if Rainey had gone. I strode over to Sandra’s desk.

“Please hold my calls for the rest of the afternoon,” I said.

Typically, I would have called her from my desk to tell her that, but I had to know if Rainey was still there. I was a fool to expect her to be. I wanted her to run back into my office and take the job back. But her damned stubbornness prevented her from doing that.

“Will do,” Sandra said, continuing to type on her keyboard.

I nodded and went over to the coffee bar set up in the lobby. I preferred a fresh brew from a carafe, but a pod would have to do. I needed a little burst of caffeine to get me through the rest of the day. Now that I cleared my schedule of phone calls, I had to fill my time with work to distract me from thinking of Rainey. I didn’t like how she left without giving me an answer. I would have rather she say no right out of the gate than to leave me hanging like this. It came with a terrible feeling in my gut.

I’d give her the weekend to consider her options before moving on.

My cell phone rang from the other room. I glanced at the open door while my coffee still brewed into the foam cup. My pulse beat in my neck. Was that Rainey calling? Did she want to refuse the job over the phone? Or maybe she saw the extra amount in her pay stub, and she wanted to yell at me over the phone about it. I smirked, thinking of sparring with her again. It did turn me on.

I let the call go to voicemail. I didn’t want Rainey to think I was at her beck and call at all times. For once, she could wait.

After my coffee had finished brewing, I took it into my office and closed the door. I stood at the windows for a few minutes, sipping the searing liquid. When I thought it was an adequate time before returning her phone call, I went to my desk and picked up the phone.

There was a missed call from Frederick.

I placed the coffee cup down with a sigh and sat in my chair. I dialed his number.

“Michael.” Frederick answered on the first ring.

“What is it?” I barked.

“Whoa. What’s going on with you?” Frederick asked, feigning hurt.

“A lot, as you already know. How is Natalia?”

“She’s great man,” he said. “We’re having a fantastic time here. I think it was fate that we met again.”

I rolled my eyes. The two of them together always worried me. She liked men with money, and he liked women who looked like her. It was a superficial relationship, but it wasn’t any of my business. What was my business was Frederick’s dealings with Demetri. The ones that got me into trouble with Rainey.

“Listen,” Frederick said in a more serious tone. “Demetri just called, and he’s headed to the bar tonight—”

“Let me guess,” I said, cutting him off. “You want me to do your dirty work for you.”

“It’s not dirty work,” Frederick said, annoyed. “I just need you to mail me what Demetri brings.”

“So I’ll be the one who is responsible for pushing illegal substances through the postal service?”

“I wouldn’t ask you to do that,” Frederick said. “But I don’t want to leave yet. It’s a perfect scenario here, and I don’t want to bother with heading back for a quick exchange.”

“So you ask your big brother to do it for you?”

“I wouldn’t trust anyone else,” Frederick said.

I rubbed my forehead, the effects of the caffeine weren’t playing in my favor. Instead of a burst of energy, I felt more exhausted, and a headache was forming. I doubted much of those effects were from the coffee.

“What’s going on with you?” Frederick asked. “You seem pissed about something. And it can’t be because I asked you to do something for Demetri. You usually jump at that opportunity.”

“I never jump at any opportunity from either of you.” What did he think? I didn’t have a billion dollar business to run. But he was right about something. Rainey was under my skin and took residence there, always reminding me of how I fucked it up with her. “I want to make sure you know what you’re doing. The cops are still watching me, and I’m sure they have tabs on your club as well. If we make contact with Demetri too many times, they are going to pull him in as well.”

“He’s the one who had a hit on Sal,” Frederick said. “So I’d rather the cop’s start looking at him.”

There was my brother. The one who never took responsibility. How different we were. I wasn’t in the mood to get into his personality quirks at that moment.

“I’ll do it,” I said, wanting to change the subject. I hadn’t been to Kadia since I saw Rainey there last. I wondered if I’d see her again. I doubted it. Each time she went, she seemed happy or celebrating something. I doubted she’d celebrate anything tonight. She probably would spend her time off from work with her son.

“Thanks, bro, I knew I could count on you.”

“Just as long as you and Demetri keep me out of this from now on. With the cops on my ass, I don’t want my business to suffer. That was part of the deal.”

“I know, I know,” Frederick said. “Man, you need to get laid. Why don’t you ask that assistant of yours to get on that?”

I gritted my teeth. “Rainey isn’t here.”

“Did you give her the day off?”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to reopen the wound, but I had no one else to talk to about Rainey. It wasn’t as if Sandra and I were the office gossips. “I had to let her go.”

“How come?”

“She lied to me.”

“Was she stealing from you?”

“No,” I said. “Nothing like that. She lied about having a kid at home.”

“Was she looking for a sugar daddy?”

“No,” I said. Rainey wasn’t the type. I knew that now, but only after accusing her of just that. Talking with Frederick wasn’t making me feel any better. “But if she hid something then I don’t know what else she lied about.”

“Well, you don’t have time for that bullshit,” Frederick said. “I’m sure you can find another hot piece of ass at the club tonight to satisfy your needs.”

“Alright, I have to go,” I said. I liked to have fun, but I wasn’t as callous about talking about it as Frederick was.

He laughed on the other end. “Okay. Speak to you soon.”

“Bye,” I said then hung up.

I placed my cell in one of my drawers of the desk and shoved it closed. I needed to focus on work for the rest of the day instead of thinking about Rainey and what Frederick wanted me to send to him.