by Mia Caldwell
There’s something else I wouldn’t mind you stroking. I thought to myself before working quickly to brush the idea aside.
“Transparent flattery’s not a particularly good color on you… Laying it on a little thick there, Kiona.”
“Am I? I wondered if that was perhaps a bit much.”
We shared a brief laugh, making eye contact as we settled back down to business. I steeled my face, and she instantly switched back into complete, stoic professionalism. I understood his game. We were moving past pleasantries. Now, there was nothing left but the negotiation.
Good.
“If I was the kind of girl who betrayed a client for money, what use would I be to you, Mr. Andrews?”
“No good at all, I suppose. Kiona, I have an offer for you,” I said with a dead-level voice.
“I already told you everything you’re ever going to know.”
“I’m not talking about your prior business,” I replied, glancing away.
“Oh? The wife thing, was it?” She asked coyly, sipping from her glass. She was stunned a moment ago, but now merely toying with the seemingly ridiculous thought. I admired how quickly she was adapting to this. It reinforced what I had seen in the boardroom, confronted with a table full of executives that could have had her head at any moment.
“I have to make some appearances,” I explained sternly. “Business negotiations, of a sort. I’m selling the company. I’m punching my ticket and retiring. For these negotiations, I have to present a particular type of image…and I require a wife.”
“So why not hire another twenty year old like that girl you took to Cancun last month?” she asked, shooting me a sideways glance. “I saw the pictures in the supermarket aisle. What’s wrong with the blue eyed blond haired bimbo?”
“This has to look real.”
“Are you telling me your wild weekend with Malibu Barbi wasn’t real?” Kiona said, feigning shock. “If you don’t mind me saying it, a fake marriage seems a little beneath you Mr. Andrews…a little cliché, too. You’re the wealthiest bachelor in the country. You’ve probably got women falling all over themselves to kiss your feet. Why fake it? Get a tinder account and go nuts.”
What the hell was I going to tell her? That I’m broken? That I can’t allow myself someone to let me into their heart?
“I chose you because you’re good at what you do, and this way, we both know this is a business transaction. Nobody gets hurt. Nobody falls in love. That’s what I’m good at Kiona. If I was good at personal relationships we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I let out a little sigh, angry that I’d allowed a hint of frustration into my voice.
“How important are these negotiations of yours?” Kiona asked.
I hesitated. “It will affect every employee I have.”
She pushed the issue. “Positively?”
“Oh yes,” I nodded, watching her. “Very positively. I’ll be disbursing half a billion dollars among staff members as a bonus to hedge against any potential layoffs in the transition period.”
“Half a billion?” she asked incredulously.
“The better part of a million dollars for each and every employee from the janitor to the vice president of the board.”
“That’s crazy…”
“I didn’t build one of the world’s largest marketing firms by acting completely sane,” I replied, smirking. “Besides, they deserve it. They are just as responsible for this company’s growth as I am. When this buyout is complete I will have more liquid assets than I could possibly spend in several lifetimes. Why not give back?
“I have your word on all of this?”
I had to admit, her emphasis on the matter surprised me. Kiona’s background told me that she lunged from opportunity to opportunity, reinventing herself to fit each new role. She was clever, quick on her feet, and remarkably intelligent…and nothing my investigations into her background had pulled up had ever given me the slightest impression that employee welfare would matter to her.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m considering becoming one of your employees.”
She’s a clever one… I have to be insane for even considering this.
“You have my word.”
“Why are you trusting me?” Kiona asked, studying my face.
“Oh, I’m never going to trust you,” I answered honestly with an apathetic shrug. “You’re clearly a liability, possibly even dangerous. But you’re a reliable and intelligent kind of dangerous; you will fit the part admirably, and that’s what I need for now.”
Kiona’s eyes locked onto mine, and for a brief moment I saw something fierce in them – something indomitable. It was like looking into the eyes of a wild animal, and I found myself suddenly rather intrigued.
“In that case…how much?” She smiled, giving a satisfied little laugh. Just like that, the animal inside was gone, replaced by a spark of mischief.
“Ten million.”
“Do I look like a publishers clearing house kind of girl?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Name your price,” I replied.
“Fifteen Million. Half up front, half when we’re finished.”
Her lips curled into a sexy little smile as I nodded. Who the hell was this girl? She threw around big numbers like they were old hat. How much was she being paid to infiltrate my company? Where in the hell did she come from?
“Deal,” I finally replied.
“You know, you had me worried sick this entire last hour…I thought I was about to be destroyed at this lunch. But instead, I’m marrying you? And while I’m thinking about it,” she paused suddenly, looking at me quizzically, “isn’t it against company rules to date or marry one of your fellow employees?”
“I planned to fire you at some point anyway. Just for the sake of convenience.”
“Alright then. I suppose I’m ready to get started.”
“As easy as that, is it? No other questions?”
“No,” she remarked, flipping her hair and flashing a confident smile. “I could ask you all the questions in the world, but I’m a professional. I’m ready to get to work.”
“Remarkable,” I observed, standing up from my seat. “But there are still some things we need to go over…perhaps at my place tonight. This is going to be a bit of a formal arrangement, you see.”
“Sure, I guess I’m not really doing anything tonight anyway.” Kiona shrugged, pulling her plate back and taking another bite of her salmon. For a moment, the clouds shifted above, and the resulting sunlight bathed her mocha skin in radiance. She swallowed, scooping up her glass for another sip of water, and the light twinkled against the glass.
This woman looked absolutely beautiful…I would have to play this very carefully. For the sake of indulgence, I allowed myself to admire her for a moment before taking a deep, soothing breath. She had been endearingly perceptive during our conversation, and what made her ideal for this task could be my undoing if I didn’t keep myself restrained.
While she drank from her glass, I took the opportunity to concentrate briefly, taking a deep and soothing breath. This was a ritual of mine – closing everything out. It was how I kept myself safe from everything external, focusing myself down into a compact, diamond-hard core that was unbreakable, unshakeable, and unreachable. While my mind concentrated on finding that place again, I could feel the safe, familiar walls pushing back up and fortifying themselves, blocking her and everyone else out. With my next exhalation, it was done; the spell was broken, and I was untouchable again.
“The helicopter will pick you up at six o’clock sharp. I trust that you will be there in time?”
“Of course,” she responded, patting her lips again and standing up across from me. “And by the way…”
She extended her hand, and I clasped it in mine. Her fingers were soft, velvety, and sent a surprising jolt of warmth where it didn’t presently belong. As she withdrew, I closed my fist around something hard and plastic
that she had pressed into my hand.
“Call me Key.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond. Key turned heel and walked out with a surprising level of confidence. Sitting there in silence, I opened my fingers and saw a tiny black plastic USB stick. It was a simplistic thing, the kind of device you would never notice sticking out of a work machine. Unmarked. Unremarkable. I knew instantly that whatever Key had come here for, it was on that USB.
This wasn’t just a peace offering. It was proof that she was walking away from whatever organization had hired her. For a brief moment, I wondered if I could use it to figure out who exactly that was, but I pushed the thought out of my mind. It didn’t matter. None of this mattered. Soon enough I’d be married, and this whole company would be a distant memory. Where would my newfound freedom take me first? Paris? Rio?
Maybe I’d just take a walk in the park at the end of the street and try to forget the world.
I dropped the little black usb stick to the floor and crushed it beneath the heel of my shoe.
(Back to Table of Contents)
Chapter 6
Kiona
The rest of my day was pretty surreal. Had any of that just happened? Really?
Fifteen million. Half up front! He said yes and he didn’t even blink! The biggest payment I’d ever seen was six thousand for catching the owner of a gym cheating on his wife. Sure, Technolust Analytics was going to pay me twenty thousand for getting that USB full of corporate secrets out of here, but that was small-time. I made a mental note to send my contact there a message and let them know I’d failed at the task. It might make it harder to get another gig… You don’t look for someone like me on craigslist or in your local yellowpages. Corporate espionage is a word-of-mouth kind of business. Of course, being out of work is a little easier to swallow when you’ve got millions of dollars in the bank.
And all for some pretend marriage to a freaking billionaire? Whatever Cole had gotten himself into, it must be worth one hell of a lot more than fifteen million, that much was certain. My mind swam with the possibilities.
I tried to push the bizarre lunch with my billionaire boss out of the way to focus on my job. I really did. But the rest of my work shift passed excruciatingly slowly, and every glance up at the clock was another bitter reminder that I cannot manipulate time with my awesome brain.
Luckily, some last minute busy work fell into my lap around 3PM, and I happily submersed myself into designing the foundations of a promotional campaign. This was more of Tanya’s shtick – after all, she was the promotions manager of the department. Unfortunately, she was out with her sick kid for the day, but I knew that I could get by without the specifics. It’s what I do…
The work was a little more than I could chew, originally. I had been under the impression that I could tally up the budgets, slap a barebones campaign together, and call that done. That’s before I realized that the offices I needed to reach were closing fast.
I privately made the calls I needed, throwing myself on the mercy of the poor soul who picked up, studied some of Tanya’s notes from pre-existing work. In the end, I barely scrapped the work together in accessible form with ten minutes to spare.
When I stepped out onto the roof, the helipad absolutely dominated the area. The wind whipped at my clothes from the altitude as I staggered towards the pilot, who waved me over with a delighted grin. I could see myself in his sunglasses as I crossed the brief distance.
“It’s your lucky day, Miss Walker!” The pilot shouted towards me, taking me by the shoulder. “My name’s Patrick, and I’ll be your captain on this flight! Have you ever been in the air before?”
I looked at him oddly as he helped me up into the cabin. “I’ve flown coach a few times, when I was a kid! Not since then, though!”
Patrick leaned in, pulling a headset into my lap and indicating for me to buckle up. He gave a brisk pair of tugs to the buckle, switched my headset on, and gave me the thumbs-up.
“Forget everything you know about that,” he chuckled. I could hear him clearly against my ear.
“That good?” I asked, staring him in the shades.
“Almost nothing like it.”
The door closed, and he climbed into the cockpit. Running his checklist, he started talking to himself as I glanced out the window. The roof access door was a small distance away…I could still call to the pilot over the headset and change my mind.
Truth be told, I had only partially taken Cole Andrews seriously. But now that I was seated in his private helicopter, ready to depart for his home, I was suddenly aware that this was actually happening.
My breath caught in my throat as the blade above us began to twirl above. The walls were clearly soundproofed as well s they could be – the growing throttle remained distant, and the helicopter barely moved an inch.
“All set back there?”
Now or never, Key.
“Let’s do this!”
“Finally!” He laughed jovially into the mike. “If only I could convince Mr. Andrews to have that level of enthusiasm…better hold onto something! Bit on the windy side!”
Immediately, we lifted off, pulling straight forward off of the building. I gazed out the window in horror as the roof disappeared out of sight, and we began to slowly ascend.
“Wait, why didn’t we go straight up? It’s always straight up in the movies!”
“Fuel conservation and noise deterrence!” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I spend every day transporting the token billionaire of this city around in this little hummingbird! You’re safe with me.”
“That’s…reassuring, actually,” I agreed. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Enjoy the view!”
That’s exactly what I did.
The city sprawled below as I listened to Patrick coordinate with local aerospace and the airport control tower. We weaved around a building or two as the craft ascended. After a few minutes, only the very tallest towers of the metropolis could reach our height. Everything reached out far below, just barely recognizable.
“Is it far?” I asked the pilot.
“Not in this, it’s not. Not far at all. Of course, this puppy can hit two hundred miles an hour, so far isn’t exactly the same thing up here…”
I nodded to myself, entranced by the view again.
Not ten minutes later, we were encircling a small manor, situated atop a high-rise building. In front of it sprawled a large, lush garden with exquisite landscaping. I could see a small pool in the back, part of a balcony just the right size for a modestly large party.
“I’ve heard of a penthouse apartment, but… He lives in a pent… House?”
“Yeah, that’s about what I said too…”
We descended on the helipad. Patrick removed the headset and released me from the cabin, and I climbed out onto the pavement to see the home of the Runaway Tycoon for the first time.
Outside of the walkways and this helipad, I was surrounded by a large, lush garden with accent trees and a blend of aromas that invigorated my very soul. It stretched to occupy all of the rooftop space in sight, giving way only to the manor itself. You could almost forget you were on top of a skyscraper, if it wasn’t for the stomach-dropping views in every direction.
The penthouse was a stunning modern marvel, scraping the sky in luxurious fashion. Choosing an elegant, futuristic design, the architect had gone all out – half polished, white stone, half glass, and all class. With the sun setting in the distance, the lights were already on, giving the entire place a romantic ambiance that made my knees wobble.
The rotors sped up behind me, and I turned on the spot to see the helicopter begin its ascent. As the sunlight gleamed against the window, I barely saw Patrick waving, and I waved back with slight indignation.
What the hell do I do now? I don’t see Cole anywhere…
The way I saw it, I had two options:
1. Fling myself from the rooftop.
2. Knock on the guy’s stupid sexy door.
; I almost laughed until some wind pulled at my dress and briefly terrified me. Squaring my shoulders, I strolled around the fountain in front, made my way up the stairs, and rang the doorbell.
A few seconds later of shuffling from the other side, and the door squeezed open. Cole Andrews stood in relaxed attire, a wide grin spreading across his face.
“Ever been in a billionaire’s home?”
“…Can’t say that I have,” I answered meekly.
Cole grinned. “First time for everything. Come inside.”