by Theresa Papa
Chapter 28
Nico Pope
Giselle called in sick today, which is curious. It makes me suspicious that she’s involved somehow in this mess. Arrangements will definitely be made today to investigate her. The morning has gone smoothly in my absence, thanks to how organized we run the salon. When someone is missing, there is always a way to compensate for the shortfall in the system. That way I have less stress and the days go by much smoother. This accomplishes my goal from when I left my stressful law career.
My next client is one who I called to come in for a haircut on the house today. This guy is a Chicago detective, and we’ve been friends since elementary school. I want to give him an off the record account of what I know and ask what he knows about Club Beta, Marcus Dent, Giselle, and the girls.
As I sit at the desk, Joe talks to my last client outside the salon on the sidewalk. He finishes and walks in.
“Hey, Joe! How’s it going? I didn’t know you knew Mrs. Klein.”
“How you doing, Buddy? Yeah, I know her through work. Her daughter’s friend turned up missing last month and sorry to say we don’t have any leads. I guess Mrs. Klein was sort of an adopted mom for the friend because she has no family to speak of.”
I motion him to come back to my office where we can talk privately for a few minutes. I describe the whole situation with Elizabeth, Marcus, and Giselle, and discover he knows some of the details already. Then I tell him all about Jennifer, and he wants Sam and me to go to his office and formally report her missing tomorrow morning.
“Joe, what do you know about the stuff going on at Club Beta?”
“I know that’s a touchy subject at the station. They have important people in Chicago backing them, so it’s difficult for us to rock their boat. For many years, there have been rumors of things going on there that should be stopped, but the political scene has protected that establishment through it all. Apparently, the club’s best customers are mostly politically connected, and they don’t want to lose their favorite form of entertainment.”
I lean back in my chair and rub my fingers over my lips.
“How difficult would it be to get in there and ask some questions?”
He looks at me with a smirk. “You and Jax better not have any crazy ideas about going over there yourselves trying to get information. It could get dangerous.”
“I’ll tell Jaxson your warning. But you know how Jax is when he gets an idea in his head.”
Joe blows out a deep breath.
“Make sure you call me if he gets himself into anything over his head. I’ve known you guys all my life, and no matter what, I’ll back you up if you need me to. I’ll look into Marcus Dent and Giselle Gourdan ASAP.”
“Thanks, Joe!”
“Have Samantha bring the keys to Jennifer’s apartment tomorrow so I can go over to check things out. I know she told you nothing is out of place, but I might see something she missed.”
After our talk, we walk out to my chair, and I find Samantha at the front desk. She looks gorgeous; her tanned complexion is flawless, and her silky hair is long and wavy down her back. She’s dressed in a navy pleated skirt with a pink halter-top under the same color short-sleeve sweater. Her legs are sexy and smooth accentuated by her high-heeled sandals. Of course as I admire how tantalizing she looks, so does Joe. His eyes practically pop out of his head as she walks toward him. A fury begins to rise within me that I’ve never felt before. It propels me toward Sam and instigates my actions to stake my claim on her for everyone to see. I possessively put my arm around her and kiss her quickly on the lips. I never condone public displays of affection in my place of business with my girlfriends. What has come over me? All I know are the words, “She’s mine!” are on repeat over and over in my head. The other hair stylists in the salon are now all gaping at us because this is unusual behavior for me. Sam looks around; everyone has stopped working to pay attention to us. Then her forehead scrunches up, and she turns her face back to me with a confused look. I finally regain my composure and smile to introduce her.
“Samantha, I’d like you to meet Joe. He’s a detective with the Chicago PD and my friend since fourth grade.”
I give all the employees my signature “get back to work” look they all know so well. And the blow dryers start again along with the conversations.
Samantha extends her hand to Joe.
“So nice to meet you, Joe. If you’ve known Nico that long, I bet you have some stories I would love to hear.”
“I bet you would be interested in a few,” he replies with a smirk. “Listen, Nico told me about your friend Jennifer Chambers. I’m sorry she’s missing. I would like you to come to my office tomorrow morning and fill out a formal missing person’s report on her. Any information you can bring, including pictures, would be helpful. It also might be helpful for me to check out Jennifer’s condo personally.”
“Okay, thank you. Any help we can get in finding her would be greatly appreciated. I have the keys in my purse.” Sam has a worried look on her face as if the missing person’s report will confirm that all this is real.
“Sam, are you alright? Do you want to go upstairs and relax for a while?”
She smiles up at me sweetly, shakes her head, and then heads back up to the desk.
“I’m fine. I’ll let you get back to work.” She waves to Joe over her shoulder.
Joe sits back in my chair, and I cut his hair.
“Nico, man, she is hot!” he says as he shakes his head, blinking.
“Don’t get any ideas, Joe. I can’t be held responsible for my actions if another man puts his hands on her,” I reply, barely able to keep a lid on my churning insides at the thought. I change the subject and get him out of there quickly.
The rest of the day is uneventful, and I only see Samantha for seconds at a time until my last client leaves. She’s obviously preoccupied with thoughts of her missing friend, and her eyes are red as if she’s been crying.
Since it’s Saturday, we close a little earlier than during the week. I walk up to the desk, grab the keys, and lock the front door. Sam counts out the money drawer for the end of the day with an adorable little crease of concentration in her forehead as Constance mops the floors. As I walk over to the desk, I remember a past conversation between Sam and me right here at this desk where I promised to cut her hair. The night we were supposed to do it, she had her accident, and we ended up at the club together. Which was SPECTACULAR! I want to show her a total spa indulgence experience. It will help with her anxiety about Jennifer although we still have to have our talk. Maybe she wants her hair cut, and we can talk while I work. Then maybe we can have dinner and see where the night leads us.
I’m back in my office just finishing on the phone with Joe when a warm feeling comes over me. I look up to see Samantha standing in the doorway. She walks toward me to say, “Constance just finished, and I let her out the back. All the doors are locked. Here is the bank envelope for the deposit.” She places the envelope in front of me and leans her hip on the desk.
“Thank you, Sam.”
“Guess what! I got a text from Jen! She apologized for flaking on me and not picking me up from the hospital. But when I texted back to ask why she hasn’t been home and asking where she is, she never answered.” She places her palm against her head.
I take her other hand in mine and ask, “How’s your head? Any headaches or dizziness today?”
She smiles and squeezes my hand. “I’m fine today. The bump has even gone down, and the soreness has subsided. I don’t even know it’s there anymore.”
“Good. Listen, Joe just called. He went right over to Jennifer’s condo from here.”
“Oh, my gosh! Did he find something? Was Jen back?” Sam asks, her forehead wrinkling between her brows.
“He found clues that may point to Jen having left with a boyfriend. There was a recently postmarked letter and pictures of Jen and a man named Jerome. He also saw other evidence that he will tell
us about tomorrow. She may be trying to avoid bill collectors.”
“She introduced me to Jerome once, but I wasn’t too impressed with him. Well, if that’s the case, I don’t have to worry about her being in danger anymore. Frankly, I’m relieved. I knew it had to be something she couldn’t avoid to miss picking me up from the hospital. But now I’m pissed that she didn’t confide in me.”
“Joe still wants to see us tomorrow to discuss it further, but he wanted to put your mind at ease.”
Sam nods her head and exhales deeply. “Thank you for supporting me during all this drama. To have you to count on has been a huge help.”
“Do you have plans this afternoon, or can I have you to myself?” I ask with a wink, and I give her my wicked smile.
She hops up on my desk and crosses her long, luscious legs as I settle back in my chair to admire them down to her sexy pink toenails.
“I’m all yours. What do you have in mind?”
My attention quickly averts back to her face, but I can’t help myself. Looking at her pillow-soft pink lips that match her generously filled out pink halter-top, I am mesmerized. My mind wanders to her pretty little hands with pink painted nails splayed across my pecs when she rubbed herself all over me at the club. The halt in the conversation is palatable until she jolts me out of my lust-hazed reverie. “Nico?” I blink and gaze into space for a moment, and when I look back, her mouth curves upward. She’s pleased that her comment and my attraction for her have made me lose my train of thought.
“Sorry, I wanted to talk about one more thing today.” I look at her serious once more. “We did get some of our questions answered this morning for each other, but I want to know where you stand on something else.” She nods her head and blinks as I roll my chair closer and wrap my upper body around her legs. She welcomes the gesture of closeness by uncrossing her legs and then she takes both of my hands in hers and places them on her lap. It’s a good thing she’s holding my hands because it takes away the temptation of putting them up her skirt. Now I’m able to semi keep my train of thought.
“The other night when I kissed you and you ran from me, I promised to take things as slowly as you wanted. And I meant that,” I say honestly.
Her head tilts, and her expression softens. “I believe you.” The look on her face shows complete trust in me now. Nothing in the world is sexier than a woman who trusts you completely. But I need to hear it from her; I need to know that she realizes what happened at the club.
“Sam, when we were at the club, I thought …” I sigh heavily. “I didn’t know what to think. I knew for sure it was you as soon as you spoke to me. When you began to touch me, I recognized your scent and the way my body responded to you. When I asked you if I should stop, and you refused so adamantly, I was sure you knew it was me. My body was on fire, and my mind was so lust-ridden. All I wanted was to give you pleasure like never before. An unseen force drove me, so I could show you...”
She puts her fingers on my lips and stops me midsentence. Then she takes my face in her hands, brings her face in very close, and murmurs softly, “Do you think I’m upset with you for what happened at the club? That it somehow breaks the promise you made to me to take it slow between us?”
I nod my head slowly within her hands, and her eyes look into mine sincerely as she says, “I’m not afraid of getting intimate right away with someone I’m attracted to. Not that I’ve been with many people at all because I haven’t, but the minute we met, there was instant attraction, and I felt so drawn to you. You’re the type of person who shows someone they care by touch. I picked up on that right away because I’m the same type of person. Just as much as air or water are necessary for our well-being, we both also need physical touch from the ones we love. Also, physical contact is the manner in which we both communicate affection, so there will never be any doubt as to how the other person feels. I want to accept every touch, every caress with an open heart. In your case, it affects a great deal more than just my heart,” she says with a wink and continues.
“The reason I ran from intimacy that first night with you is because I was confused about your relationships with other people. I was under the false impression that you were sleeping with your friend Ken and with Giselle. Wait. Are you sleeping with Giselle?” Her eyebrows reach for her hairline, and she backs her face away, cocking her head in question.
“No, no, no. Giselle and I have never been together. You must have seen me kiss her that night in the hot tub?” She nods. “That was a ruse to get her to talk about Club Beta and maybe get some information about Elizabeth. But I couldn’t go through with lying to her, so I came clean. That’s why you saw her storm out of the locker room.”
She smiles and moves in closer again to whisper, “So there’s nobody in the way of us being together?”
I whisper back, “Not unless you still want my brother or you have some boyfriend waiting in the wings somewhere?”
She puts her index finger over her lips and cocks her head as if she’s deciding about it. She’s adorable.
“Well, there’s no boyfriend, but maybe I should keep my options open with Jaxson in case you’re a bad boy, and I need a backup.” She laughs and playfully winks. I slide her ass off the desk and onto my lap and take her mouth until the laughter stops. Succinctly, I convey the subliminal communication that she’s all mine now. Maybe forever.
Chapter 29
Samantha Marconi
The bad feeling I have been unable to shake off is now minimized by the lone text from Jen and my concentration on my job. After all, I can’t ruin all the opportunities I’ve worked so hard for.
Nico and I really connect on all levels and truly understand each other. We both lay all our cards on the table and pave the way to begin an exclusive relationship. I’ve never encountered a man who comprehends women so completely. He understands that I need to have things spelled out for me and I’m too old to play games in a relationship. He feels he’s too old for games too.
With that knowledge, we playfully discuss our plans for the evening. I’m determined to keep Jen’s problems out of my mind and concentrate on my own life.
I sit on Nico’s lap kissing him while our deep conversation winds down to a more playful banter. His hands are stroking my hair, and he says, “I still owe you the haircut that I promised.”
I smile as he touches the tip of my nose with his fingertip, and then I tilt my head.
“Well, it certainly is not your fault that I went and dropped a book on my head the day you were supposed to cut my hair.”
“Would you like me to cut it now? It will relax you.”
I throw my head back, breathing deep as I reply, “I’m pretty relaxed right now. But a haircut sounds great.”
With that, he rises out of his chair with me in his arms. He walks through the doors of his office, letting my feet down first, then the rest of my body slides against his slowly. He never lets the optical magnetism we share separate. My pulse races. I can feel the sinew of his muscular body against my curves. This man oozes sexual charisma. I can feel the heat rise in my core.
Once we are back out in the salon, he gently lays me back against the sink to wash my hair. The perfect water temperature feels wonderful as he bathes my hair. The shampoo smells of jasmine and coconut; my favorite scents. Nico begins to massage my scalp with his fingertips, and the sensation sends chills throughout my body. He’s definitely a superhero, and his power is in his fingertips! What he’s doing to me now with them and what he did to me at the club with them, superpowers! By the time, Nico finishes with the scalp massage and the special conditioning this is building to an erotic experience. His soft voice says just above my face.
“Open your eyes, beautiful.” When I open them, I see him upside down. He softly kisses me from above like he’s really that superhero hanging from a web in a movie. What he says reminds me of my dream when Nico told me to open my eyes, and I saw Jaxson and him both making love to me at the sa
me time. I’m so shocked at where my mind takes my thoughts lately. I guess I needed to be around someone I’m so sexually attracted to, to turn on my inner goddess. Sex was never even at the forefront in my mind in any of my previous relationships. But with Nico, my mind is consumed with thoughts of when he will make love to me. The anticipation must be so great because of the unbelievable way he knew how to satisfy my body the other night at the club. I want more! But I don’t want him to think I’m throwing myself at him. If I act too eager, it’s not classy. So I’ll be good and take my cues from him, no matter where he leads us tonight.
I sit at his station; he beams as he places a cape around me to keep the hair snippets off my clothes. This is where I get to study him in the mirror while he concentrates on cutting it. His blue-black hair is slightly messy from when I ran my hands through it. He has a strong, chiseled jawline with high cheekbones. I grin when I admire his adorable dimples, and he reacts by looking at me in the mirror, sweeping me away in a sea of blue from his gaze. He smiles back and continues cutting. I return to my secret admiration of the way his muscles bunch and flex across his shoulders and arms each time he lifts them. How his smooth, tan hands and long fingers expertly switch between the comb and the scissors.
My eyes travel down to admire the perfect balance of his strong legs beneath the dark denim. I’m agonizingly aware of him when he leans into me to cut on top of my head. My arm resting on the armrest perfectly lines up with his crotch. He has no idea how hot he’s making me just as he grazes up against my arm while he reaches innocently over me. The memory washes over me of the night at the club when I had my hands inside his boxers fisted around his manhood. A sensation rushes through my stomach, and a surge of desire courses through me at the thought of touching him again. It becomes a struggle to stay still in the chair. I’m so turned on by this man. Then he sits down on his haunches, balancing on the balls of his feet in front of me. His face is slightly lower than mine between my legs. He checks the length of both sides of my hair to make sure they are even. Is my arousal evident to him? Does he realize the effect he has on me? I look into his eyes, and he just looks back thoughtfully for a second, and then I get treated to those sweet dimples when he sings.