Kay could smell the fresh scent all over his suitcoat that now covered her body, and all she could do was look at him and think about that scent as he rolled up his sleeves and began touching wires and removing caps and checking it all out.
“Do you have any tools?” he asked her.
“Tools? What kind of tools?”
“Car tools.”
Car tools? Kay smiled. “You don’t know anything about cars, do you?”
Nico grinned. “Not in the least,” he admitted. Then he looked at her. “You’ll have to call Triple A.”
“Why did you ask to look under the hood if you didn’t know what you were looking for?” Kay asked him.
“I thought I could be of some help,” he said.
It seemed like such an honest answer to Kay that she had no problem accepting it.
She was just about to call the auto service when another SUV drove up and stopped beside her car. But this time, a black woman got out. A woman Kay immediately recognized as Brenda Drake, Senator Drake’s wife.
Nico knew who she was, too, as part of his background check on the Senator before he agreed to assist him with those compromising photos. And he could see that she was angry.
She got out of that SUV already beet-red with anger. “Where is he?” she asked Kay.
“He left already.”
“Where did he go?”
“Why would I know where he went? I have no idea.”
It was obvious to Nico that Kay and that woman had a very contentious relationship. Otherwise Kay would not have answered her that way.
“You think you’re getting away with it,” Mrs. Drake said. “You and all those whores who work for him think you can sleep your way to the top. Well I won’t stand for it. I tell you I won’t!”
Then she hauled off and slapped Kay so hard across the face that Kay fell on her butt. Mrs. Drake’s male assistant and Driver hurried out of the SUV. Carmine got out and began running over to the scene too.
But as soon as Nico saw what that woman did to Kay, he didn’t wait for anybody to do anything. He slapped Mrs. Drake even harder across her face. He slapped her so hard that one of her sterling silver earrings dislodged from her ear and fell to the ground as she stumbled against her SUV.
Her assistant was about to rush Nico, but the Driver recognized him. “Ah, shit,” he said, pulling the assistant back. “That’s Nico Bacard. I’ll be damn. That’s Nico Bacard.”
The assistant knew that name, too, and immediately backed off.
“Let’s get her out of here,” the Driver said as he and the assistant began hurrying Mrs. Drake back into the SUV.
But the Senator’s wife was still upset. “Why aren’t you fighting back?” she angrily asked the two men. “Didn’t you see what they did to me? What are you doing?”
But they knew exactly what they were doing. They put Mrs. Drake back into the SUV, got in themselves, and sped away. They‘d explain to her later.
Nico had already reached out his hand to Kay and was helping her back on her feet. And he was upset with Kay. “Next time somebody come up on you angry as hell like that,” he said to her, “be ready. Always be ready. Never have your guard down. I don’t care who it is.”
Kay felt as if she was being lectured to. But she also felt as if he knew what he was talking about, so she listened.
“You okay, Boss?” Carmine said to Nico as he hurried over.
“I’m fine,” Nico said.
“That was Senator Drake’s wife,” Kay said to Nico. “You just slapped a senator’s wife.”
“And I’m supposed to give a fuck?” Nico asked. “I don’t give a fuck who she is. She got what she had coming to her. But I don’t like the way you handled that.”
And he meant it too. Kay could see that he was upset with her. What she couldn’t understand was why.
“I handled it the way I was supposed to handle it,” Kay responded to him.
“By letting that bitch clock you? I don’t think so!”
But Kay knew what she was doing. If she wanted to remain in the world of politics, and she definitely did, slapping a senator’s wife, even though she deserved it, wasn’t the ticket. Not ever. And besides, why was he so angry about it? It had nothing to do with him!
Even Carmine found his anger odd. Why was he all up in arms over some dame he just met, a dame he even went so far as to run a background on? She was cute, and had a smoking body, but so what? He could find that on any corner in Chicago. But that was his boss. He never ceased to amaze.
“In the meantime,” Nico said to Kay, “need a lift? Or do you prefer to wait here alone?”
“Who are you?” Kay asked him. Which stunned Carmine. She didn’t know?
“I’m Nicholas Bacard,” he said. “My friends and foes alike calls me Nico. Need a lift?”
Kay wanted to say no. She wanted to say hell no, she was just that frustrated. But then she thought about how vengeful Brenda Drake could be. She wasn’t about to wait out there alone for that woman to come back around as soon as Nico left.
And it said something to her, too, that Brenda Drake’s men knew Nico right off, and were so afraid of him that they would take off without even confronting him for slapping the Senator’s wife. That said a lot to Kay.
“Yes,” she said to Nico. “I need a lift.”
CHAPTER TEN
After phoning Triple A to tow her car to the dealership, she leaned back on the back driver side seat of Nico’s SUV, and looked at him.
“You’re a friend of Eddie’s?” she asked him.
She didn’t realize it, but he’d been staring at her the entire time she was in his SUV. “No,” he said.
She waited to hear more, but he wasn’t forthcoming. But that didn’t stop Kay. She was determined to find out just who this guy really was. “Are you from Chicago?”
“Was I born and raised here? No. But I have a home here, yes.”
“Where were you born and raised?”
“Europe.”
“Ah. You’re European?”
“Yes. My mother is Italian, and my father is French and Italian.”
“Where was home base for you back then? France or Italy?”
“Both.”
Kay nodded. He wasn’t exactly a man of few words, especially when it came to minding her business. But when it came to his business, he was practically a mute.
When the SUV arrived at what Nico viewed as Kay’s cookie-cutter suburban home, he got out, walked around, and opened the door for her himself. She could feel his hand on the small of her back as he walked her to her front door. And that feeling she felt when he brushed her arm at Headquarters returned. And she felt compelled to ask. She was actually curious about him. “Would you like to come in?” she asked him.
“Yes,” he said. “Very much. But I’d better not. You’re tired. Get some rest.”
Kay was surprised he didn’t take the bait. She was pleasantly surprised. Most men, she knew, would not have cared whether she was tired or not. Most men would have jumped at the offer.
Which reminded her of something he said. “What did you mean back there?” she asked him. “About me mistreating myself?”
“You need to take better care of yourself,” he said. “That’s what I meant.” Then he reached out and removed a strand of hair from her forehead. “You look rundown, if I may be honest. You look as if you’re too tired to function properly. That’s never good. Don’t work yourself to the bone. Especially not for that guy.”
Too late, Kay thought. “I don’t do it for the Senator,” she said. “I do it for the people he serves. Yes, he serves the entire state, a large portion of which is quite wealthy. Those were the people who showed up at the meet and greet. But a larger chunk of his constituents are quite poor. The proverbial little guy. That’s who I look out for. That’s who I work myself to the bone for.”
“Not even for them,” said Nico. “It’s never a good idea.”
He seemed concerned, which she knew
was probably just her tired butt overreading it. “Thanks for the lift,” she said to him. “And thanks also for doing what you did back at the office. I would have kicked her ass myself, personally,” she added, and Nico laughed. “But my shoe got caught in that crack in the sidewalk and I stumbled,” Kay added in jest. “But you know the story.”
“The old crack in the sidewalk trick, eh?” Nico said, and then nodded. “I know the story.”
Kay smiled, and extended her hand. “Thanks.”
And as soon as Nico’s hand touched hers, and that same heat returned that he felt when he brushed against her arm back at Senator Asshole’s campaign headquarters, he made up his mind. It was startling, even for him. But he felt a need, a major need, to learn more about her. “What time tomorrow?” he asked her, still holding her hand.
Kay felt as if she had missed something. “Excuse me?”
“What time do you get off tomorrow?”
“Oh!” Kay had to think about it. “Tomorrow is Friday. The Senate is in recess so we’ll remain in Chicago. The Senator has no events on the schedule that I’m privy to at this time, so I’ll probably be off around noon tomorrow. And off the remainder of the weekend, unless something comes up,” Kay added. Why would he want to know that, she wondered.
“I’m leaving tonight,” Nico said, “but my plane will be waiting tomorrow, at noon or sooner, at the airfield.”
Again Kay felt as if she had missed something. “Waiting? Waiting for what?”
“For you. To bring you to me,” Nico said in such a sensual way that Kay felt it. She knew exactly what he meant. He wanted a booty call, and he wanted it on his terms.
And she was suddenly flooded with emotions. She found the very idea of getting on a plane to meet him for some rendezvous in bed was sexy, preposterous, arrogant, and wonderful too, all at once.
But just too much for her. For a booty call.
Of all the emotions she felt, she went with the one emotion that centered on his arrogance. “Why would I want to come to you?” she asked him. “I hardly know you.”
“That’s the reason,” Nico responded. “ I want to get to know you, and I want you to get to know me. You said yourself there’s nothing on your schedule all weekend.”
“But that doesn’t automatically make you the only game in town.”
“But it makes me the only new game in town,” Nico fired back. “Why not try something new? What do you have to lose? My plane will be on the tarmac at noon tomorrow – waiting for you. Good evening, Kay,” he said, and then finally released her hand. And he headed back to his SUV.
Kay was so blown away by him she didn’t quite know how to respond. So she just stood at her door watching him get in his SUV.
But then suddenly he pressed down his back window. “Go inside while I’m here,” he said. “So I’ll know you’re safely in.”
That was a first for Kay. Most guys would not have even walked her to her door, let alone wait until she was, as he put it, safely in. But she did as he asked and went inside, locking the door behind her. And she realized she felt good for a change. She actually smiled. Who is this guy? she wondered.
But then she realized she could easily find out a whole lot more about him than just the name he gave to her. After pouring herself a glass of wine, she made her way to the office inside her home, turned on the light, kicked off her heels, and went to her computer desk. After she sat behind the desk, she turned on her computer and ran an extensive search on Nicholas Bacard.
He wasn’t difficult to find. His name appeared on various search engines. Financier was the occupation that kept coming up the most, alongside his name. Financier Nicholas Bacard, or Wealthy Financier Nicholas Bacard, were the two most-used descriptors for him. Article after article mentioned how he created an empire on the backs of rescuing struggling companies in exchange for co-ownership of those companies. And from what Kay could gather, he didn’t own any of those businesses outright, but his holding company, Bacard International, partly owned thousands of subsidiaries that he helped turn around by infusing them with much-needed capital. In return for the infusion, he became a co-owner. He seemed to have left the running of those companies to the companies themselves. He just raked in the profits. And Kay saw major corporations in his portfolio. The man was no joke.
But was he single?
Kay was surprised that she would even care. Why should she care if he was single? But she was curious as hell. And she checked the personal side of his resume too.
But that was where it became very thin. All she could find out was that yes, he was single, and nothing more. Nothing about who he was dating. Nothing about if he’d ever been married, or if he had any children. Just nothing. The only reason she knew he was single at all was because one article referred to him as the bachelor financier.
Kay sat back and stared at the photograph of him on her screen. He looked so stern and serious, especially for a man who appeared to only be in his thirties. And his portfolio was so expansive for a man his age!
But that bodyguard of Brenda Drake’s recognized him on sight, and it wasn’t the kind of recognition he would have given to a financier, a man who helped to finance struggling corporations. It was the kind of recognition he would have given to a . . . to a what, she wondered? A drug kingpin? A loan shark? A mob boss?!
Not that Kay had experience with any of those “professions.” But that was the impression she had of Nico when she first laid eyes on him. That he looked like a distinguished thug. Like a bad boy from way back all dressed up and cleaned up. There was no other way for her to put it. And, for reasons she could never explain, nor would she ever admit out loud, she always liked those kind of guys.
But she’d never heard of him before. And why would a guy like that be meeting with Senator Drake? Was Senator Drake’s businesses, all of which was supposed to be in a blind trust, failing too? And he needed Nico Bacard’s cash infusion? Kay didn’t know. But she couldn’t seem to quench her curiosity about the man.
But that didn’t mean she was going to go off with him on some plane. She used to love to have her share of fun. During her college days nobody would have confused her for being chaste, but she wasn’t that reckless. She just had her share of fun.
But then, while still in college, she met Eddie Drake when he was running for Congress, and began working for him. He didn’t try to hit on her, which she appreciated about him, only to later learn it was probably because he only liked white women. Or, at least, that was all he was ever seen with. His wife was black, but Kay had long ago concluded that was probably for show.
But she put aside all of the fun, and all of those opportunities for meeting herself a husband, and devoted all of her time and energy to Eddie’s career, a man, back then, that she believed in. And she still did, when it came to helping the poor and forgotten. But his moral life was pitiful. His moral life left a lot to be desired.
But her moral life was not up for debate. And her decision not to go on some plane ride to have a booty call with a stranger was one reason why it wasn’t. She was cautious. She was careful. She turned off her laptop, with Nico’s face fading away into a black screen, went upstairs, filled her tub, and soaked for a full hour. She soaked that man right off of her mind.
And then she took her tired butt to bed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As soon as she sat down behind her desk at Headquarters the next morning, members of her staff were in her office, one after the other one, with constituent concerns, with requests to leave early, with legislative complaints. And she handled every situation. If Eddie wasn’t so cheap, she’d have an assistant to help her with so many demands on her time. But Eddie was cheap when it came to staff hires. She had to handled it herself.
And then, when the last aide left her office, Roger Pettway walked in, closed the door, and plopped down in the chair in front of her desk. “You look like you could use a break,” he said as he sat.
“And I just got here,” Kay respon
ded. “Which should tell you all you need to know about being a senator’s chief of staff.”
Rog smiled. “Any decision yet?” he asked her.
“No, Rog. Not this fast.”
“Then how fast? I need to make some moves if you’re serious.”
“I should be able to let you know something when I hear something. Holmes hasn’t even announced his retirement yet. And he may not announce it for months. I’m not making any moves until after that announcement. People have been known to change their minds. He may change his mind.”
“But you need to be ready to go full-hog within days of his announcement, or you’ll just be one of many vying for that seat. You need to make it clear that you’re in the running. That may scare a lot of wannabes away.”
Kay nodded. Rog was one of the best political strategist around. “Understood.”
“Now on to more substantive issues,” Rog said, leaning forward. “What’s this about some guy liking you?”
Kay looked at him. “What guy?”
“You tell me. They say he likes you.”
“Who’s they?”
“Alright, alright. You’re playing dumb.” He leaned back in his chair. “Which means there’s some truth to the rumor.”
“It’s not,” Kay said. “Trust and believe.”
“Then who was the guy at the sip and see?”
“It was a meet and greet, thank you, not a sip and see. But you would have known that had you shown up.”
“Who was he, Kay?”
Kay exhaled. Office gossip was as potent as palace intrigue. “If we’re talking about the same guy, and that’s a big if, his name is Nicholas Bacard. But they call him Nico.”
“And he likes you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, no. Is he interested in getting in my panties? Probably. But I wouldn’t call that liking me. I’d call that liking what he thought he could get out of me. Or put in me,” she added, and Rog laughed.
Then he exhaled too. “I’m disappointed,” he said. “I thought you might have found somebody who would love you, and who you could love. Lord knows Keisha and I have been trying to hook you up with Mister Right for years.” Keisha was Roger’s wife.
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