The Intimidation Game (Game Series Book 1)

by C. L Stewart

  “Nikki do you have the weeks reports ready for Jed yet?” The voice that sounds like nails scraping on a blackboard startles me and I look up to find Astrid standing in front of my desk. I really want to stick my foot out under the desk and kick her hard in the shin. My patience is seriously wearing thin with her.

  “No Astrid, I don’t, because it’s only ten thirty and we are still working.” I can hear the exasperation in my voice, and I can tell by the wry smile on her face that it pleases her to know she’s annoying me.

  “Well Jed needs them in an hour. He has a meeting to attend this afternoon and he needs everything wrapped up before the weekend.”

  I sigh. I just want her away from me, so I relent. “Okay, come back in an hour and they’ll be ready.”

  “Thanks Nikki, you’re a star.” She turns, throws her hair over her shoulder and struts away.

  I turn to Damo, whose face is puce as he tries to stifle a laugh, and I smile. As soon as the elevator doors close, we both end up laughing so loud that whole office stops to stare at us.

  I hold up my hand, “I’m sorry folks, we didn’t mean to put you off your work. Although while I have your attention, Jed wants the reports early this week so finish what you’re working on before his foot soldier comes back in an hour for them.”

  I am met with a collective groan and I give them all an apologetic nod as they return to their work. I swear one o’clock is not going to come quick enough.

  No sooner had I finished collating all our reports than Astrid was back to collect them. I handed them over without much conversation. I really didn’t want her spoiling my good mood and now, as I watch everyone leave for the day, my mood is turning anxious. I know it’s all about what I have to reveal to Dan, and I’m worried about what he’ll think of me. I think very little of myself as it is, if he ends up feeling the same way it will destroy whatever there is left of me.

  “Right Miss Nikki, I’m done for the day. You make sure you have the best time tonight okay.”

  “I’ll try Damo.”

  “Oh, honey you’ll be okay, just be yourself and it will all work out fine.” He throws his bag over his shoulder, kisses my cheek and walks off, whistling as he goes.

  I sit down at my desk and am about to shut down my computer when a memo notification comes through. I open my email and see it’s from HR. It’s only addressed to me and the title says First Month Appraisal. An appraisal already? Good grief that’s quick. I don’t really feel like I’ve had time to breathe since I started here let alone done enough to be appraised on. As soon as I click on the invitation my calendar pops up on my screen and the date is slotted in for Monday morning. Oh, that’s wonderful, now I can think about it all weekend. I hope whatever Dan has planned for tonight is good enough to take my mind off it for a few hours. With a sigh I shut down my computer and grab my bags. Dan and I are leaving straight from the office so I’m on my way up to his apartment to get ready. I’m feeling all kinds of emotions right now, the most prominent being gut wrenching fear.

  I take a steeling breath as I get in the lift and check out my appearance in the mirrors. As the doors close and the car starts to move, giving me that familiar whoosh in my belly, I know it’s now or never. This is my chance to put the past behind me and move on. To be the normal person I should be, not the frightened little girl Mike made me. The doors opening again makes me jump a little. I step out of the lift and am surprised to see Tabitha still sitting at her desk. I stop and check my watch. She looks up and smiles at me.

  “Yes, I’m still here,” says Tabitha with a smile on her face that speaks volumes about the fact that she knows exactly why I’m here. I suppose being a PA to a man as powerful as Dan means that she must be privy to a lot more than just what goes on his business.

  “Don’t worry my love, I’ll be out of here in ten minutes. I just have an appointment to arrange for Dan for tomorrow.” The smile she gives me makes her eyes sparkle and I can sense that she’s happy for him.

  It’s only now that I wonder about his dating history after Irena. I know about what happened with Astrid and I wonder if that’s what he did right after having his heart broken. Did he just sleep with every woman that threw herself at him? Good Lord is that what I’ve done? Since I left South Africa, he’s the only man who’s shown me any interest. This could have more to do with the fact that the only places I’ve really been to socialise have been a tiny deli in my building and a gay bar. My almost brush with a one-night stand shall remain at the back of my mind and will forever be locked up in the cabinet marked ‘What the fuck?’

  “Is he with someone Tabitha?” I ask gesturing to the frosted office walls.

  “Nope, just waiting for you.” She bites her lower lip and can’t help herself but smile at me.

  Feeling extremely self-conscious, I give her a tentative smile back. “Thanks,” I say as I make my way through the office door and as I turn to close it, I see Tabitha’s smile widen as she stares at her computer screen.

  I turn to face the office and find it empty. Dan’s apartment door is slightly ajar, so I make my way in, slipping off my heels as I go.

  “Hello,” I call, my voice echoing along the white hallway.

  “In the living room,” Dan shouts, his voice sending goose bumps up my bare arms.

  I walk through to the open plan living room / kitchen to find him sitting on one of the brown leather chairs surrounding the coffee table. “Oh.” I stop abruptly and take in the sight in front of me. His dark hair is wet, obviously from a recent shower. The only thing he’s wearing is a pair of washed out grey jeans and his tattooed skin is bathed in the early afternoon sunlight shining through the massive windows.

  “Hi,” he says, his smile as bright as the sunshine behind him.

  I don’t really understand why I feel so awkward in front of him. I’ve seen him naked; he’s touched almost every inch of my body. For God sake his mouth has been on most of my body.

  “Hi,” I say back but I can’t seem to make myself say anything else.

  This is bloody pathetic. Dan stands and takes my overnight bag from my hand. It’s rather large but a girl needs to be prepared. Okay so two sets of straighteners, three makeup bags and every bobby pin I own is a bit overkill, but you never know.

  “Christ woman have you got a body in here?” Dan laughs and it immediately lightens the mood, swiping away most of my awkwardness.

  “Just essentials for making me beautiful.”

  “Follow me,” Dan says as he turns towards the bedroom, stopping beside me to whisper in my ear, “you won’t be needing this then.”

  His breath on my face makes me want to turn and kiss him. I smile as I follow him, watching his muscled back as he pads barefoot to the bedroom.

  “You can get ready in here. Feel free to use the shower, and if you need it there’s a hairdryer in there. We need to leave here for three thirty, so I’ll let you get on.”

  I walk in and put my shoulder bag on the bed and turn to see Dan close the door behind him. I sit down on the bed and take a look around the stark white room. This apartment is as far removed from Dan’s country house as you could get. Everything in here is white and minimalistic. The country house is opulent and charming and looks lived in, like a home should. It’s like he lives two different lives. I get up and walk into the adjoining bathroom that is just as white as everything else. Turning on the shower, I watch the plumes of steam rise from the shower tray and sigh deeply as I contemplate the night ahead of me.

  As I sit in the familiar back of the Range Rover, I’m reminded of what went on the last time I was in here. I shiver slightly at the delicious feelings the memory conjures. However, when I look at Dan, the memory disappears in an instant. He’s looking anywhere but at me. Why? It dawns on me that we’ve been in each other’s company for almost three hours and he hasn’t touched me once.

  “So, um, where are we going then?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

  It takes Dan a second longer th
an it should have to turn to me. He smiles and I’m relieved to see that it’s a genuine smile. “London,” he says.

  My eyes widen and I can only imagine what my face looks like. “Oh…uh…okay then”.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I can’t seem to take in my surroundings or actually believe what’s happening tonight. I had left my flat this morning with a completely different idea of dinner to Dan’s. He told me it would take an hour or so to get where we were going. Silly me, to think it was an hour or so drive outside Glasgow. Nah it was an hour’s flight on a huge private plane to London City Airport. And now we are sitting sipping champagne in a beautiful restaurant in The Shard with the twinkling lights of early evening London spread out below us. A waiter comes to the table and clears our starter plates.

  “How was it?” Asks Dan.

  “Very nice indeed,” I say and then I can’t help myself but laugh.

  “What?” Asks Dan, slightly bemused.

  “I’m sorry Dan but this is a little overwhelming. I really wasn’t expecting this when you said we were going out for dinner.” I smile and gesture at the restaurant.

  “A most beautiful restaurant for a most beautiful woman,” he says smiling as he reaches across the table taking my hand and rubbing my knuckles. It’s the first time he’s touched me all evening.

  I feel my cheeks redden and my hand is set on fire.

  “So, does the plane just wait for us while we have our dinner?” I ask.

  “Well,” he says with that sound in his voice that tells me there’s more to this evening than meets the eye. “We’re not going home until Sunday.”

  “Sorry?” I’m a little taken aback.

  “We are staying in London for the weekend,” he says with a proud smile on his face.

  “Dan, I haven’t got anything with me for a weekend. All I have is my phone and my purse and what I’m wearing. I left everything back at your apartment.” I know my voice is a little higher than it should be for such a swanky restaurant, but I hate being surprised.

  “Honestly, Nikki don’t worry. We’ll stay at my place and I’ve made sure there’s plenty of clothes and toiletries there for you. I really hope you don’t mind me organising this. I hoped it would be a nice surprise.” His voice sounds a little hurt and I instantly feel terrible.

  “Oh, Dan it’s a lovely surprise it’s just…” I stop talking as our main courses of Seared Sea Bass for me and Saddle of Welsh Lamb for Dan are delivered to the table along with all their sides. The food is exquisitely presented and if the starters were anything to go by, I know this will be delicious too.

  “Nikki, I don’t really know how to handle you.”

  Handle me? “Why would you need to handle me Dan?” I can hear the dejection in my voice.

  Dan holds up his hand. “Sorry, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean handle you, I meant I don’t know how to do things for you without appearing… I don’t know, controlling.”

  I shake my head and stare at the food on my plate. Food that looked so delicious when it arrived at the table but now makes me want to puke. Closing my eyes, I feel tears fall down my cheek and a soft sob rise from my chest. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

  “Let’s get out of here. Dinner can wait,” Dan says. He holds out his hand and I take it, getting up from the chair.

  Dan nods to the maître d’, who nods back to him, as we leave the restaurant and I realise the men know each other. As soon as we are in the empty lift, which didn’t take long to arrive at the 31st floor, Dan pulls me into his chest and in that safe place I let go. I’ve totally ruined what should have been a wonderful surprise and I feel terrible for him. He’s absolutely trying his best and it’s lovely and sweet and everything I want, everything I need.

  “Hey,” Dan whispers, stroking my hair.

  I look up at him, the air cool as it hits my tear stained cheeks.

  “You okay?” He asks softly.

  I nod, unable to answer for fear of starting to cry again. Dan hands me a linen napkin from the restaurant. I smile at his blatant theft from a swanky establishment and dab at my eyes as the lift doors open on the ground floor.

  “I’ve got a car waiting outside,” Dan says, smiling at me as he leads me out of the lift and through the marble tiled lobby.

  Outside, waiting at the kerb, is a black Porsche SUV. I will admit that sometimes I forget he has more money than a small country. Sometimes, when we talk, it’s as though he’s just a normal guy, then I see a car like this, hear him take a call or, shit, remember he’s my boss and I’m pulled back to reality. I watch as Dan opens the door and I climb into the back of the sumptuous tan leather interior of the Porsche. He closes the door and gets in on the other side. The person driving is a woman this time. For some reason it makes me feel awkward. This is the third person I’ve seen driving Dan around. I wonder if he ever drives himself anywhere. I jump slightly when Dan puts his hand over mine on the seat. I’m still holding the poor linen napkin that will never be with its friends in the restaurant again.

  “Are you alright Nikki?” He asks.

  I look at him as the driver takes the car away from the kerbside. “Yes I am. I’m so sorry I ruined our dinner Dan. I’m an absolute head-case, aren’t I?”

  “Nope, you’re not. Come here.” He tugs on my hand and I loosen my seatbelt, sliding across the back seat to snuggle into his warm, inviting body.

  I stay in his safe, quiet embrace the entire car ride through London. Over one of the bridges spanning the Thames, past Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park coming to a stop outside an apartment building on the opposite side of the road to a lovely park. We get out of the car and head into the building still in silence and with an air of trepidation hanging between us. I know what’s to come tonight and I’m not looking forward to it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I’m pleasantly surprised at the normality of the inside of Dan’s apartment. Sure, it’s huge as I expected it would be, but it isn’t what I would have expected of an apartment in one of the most expensive areas of London. Dan is in the kitchen pouring us some drinks and I’m standing out on the balcony overlooking the park. It’s huge and wraps around three sides of the apartment which incidentally takes up the entire top of the building. It’s a little chilly up here as a slight breeze brushes past me pulling little wisps of hair over my cheeks. I’m surprised when I feel those wisps being pulled back from my face by warm fingers, a radiating heat forming at my back.

  I close my eyes as Dan kisses my neck. “Come inside,” he murmurs against my skin. “We need to talk.”

  A cold sweat overcomes me. I nod, turning and following Dan through the doors and through the dining room to the living room. He sits on one of the large, pale blue sofas and I take the opposite one. I notice two glasses with a finger of whisky in each and a bottle in the middle. He obviously realises we are in this for the long haul tonight. I lean forward and lift one of the glasses. I down the whisky and pour myself another, more than the first and down that one too. The glass clinks as I rest it back down on the glass table top. I close my eyes against the burning in my throat and feel my eyes water behind my lids.

  “No. No more,” Dan says softly as I go to pick up the bottle again.

  I sit back slowly and look at my hands. I feel as though I’m going to throw up and I know it’s not just the whisky. There’s a horrible silence between us.

  “Nikki.”

  As I look up, the tears pooling in my eyes tumble down my cheeks. I feel so pathetic. When I think back to the person I was when I graduated from university, there’s a pain in my heart. I was so confident in myself. I knew I was clever. I have a thing for numbers and knew I deserved the job I landed after I got my degree in Computing Science. In fact the cocky little bitch I was when I left university thought I deserved a better job. Not now though. Now I’m a shell of the person I was then. I’m grateful when Dan starts talking first.

  “Remember what I said about full disclosure?”

&n
bsp; I nod.

  “Well I’m going to tell you everything about Astrid and Jed and the investigation and I want you to know that I don’t expect anything in return.” His warm smile eases my nerves and I am in that moment more grateful to him than he will ever know.

  “Thank you,” I say softly as I swipe at the tears on my face.

  Dan gets up and, from where I have no clue, produces a box of tissues. He hands them to me as he takes a seat beside me now. “You okay?” He asks with not an ounce of pity in his voice.

  I give him a nod and a small smile as I dry my face and blow my nose in the most unladylike fashion ever.

  “Okay then here goes.” He takes a deep breath and dives right in. “So, you know the very basics of this, but I’ll start from the beginning. Jed was one of a team of five people I hired to start my business off. He and Tabitha are the only two of those five left.”

  I nod. “That makes sense,” I say thinking of Tabitha when I went up to Dan’s office earlier today. God a lot has happened in that short time.

  Dan flashes me a quizzical look. “What does?”

  “Oh nothing really, I was just surprised at Tabitha’s reaction to me being at your office this afternoon. It was as though she already knew everything about us, but I guess that when you are a PA you do know a lot about the person you work for.”

  He nods his head and smiles. “Yeah, we have a strange relationship. Obviously she does all my bookings for meetings and flights and the like. She’s more than just a PA though. I would class her more as a good friend or a kind of… well sister like person. Do you know what I’m trying to say here?”

  “I get it. I really do. She probably knows more about you than your own brother does. So, I take it she knows about this Jed and Astrid thing too then?”