Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Duke Baldwin,” she coos. “Wow! What are you doing here?” Her towel dips slightly, giving me a better view of her tits. She did that on purpose.
Ignoring her, I look at Ted. “I sat in your office for two hours. You owe me five minutes for my time.”
He laughs. “I don’t owe you anything.”
“I’m sure Senator Banks would love to know that you canceled your afternoon to fuck the help.”
The blonde gasps and her cheeks flush red.
“Fine,” Ted sighs, opening the door wide enough for me to step inside. “Five minutes.” He turns to the blonde and says, “Wait for me upstairs.”
Her gaze shifts between us, and then she disappears in the opposite direction. Ted leads me down a long hallway and into his office. Paneled floor to ceiling in wood, it looks like the office of a rich asshole. Every movie cliché is present in this room. I feel like I’m waiting for members of the Skull and Bones to pop out from a hidden doorway in the wall.
A mahogany desk sits in front of a long row of windows that overlook the backyard. A giant deer head is mounted on the wall above a wood burning fireplace. Two oversized leather armchairs are on the right side of the room, with a decanter of amber liquid sitting on the table between them.
Ted motions for me to sit, and then pours me a glass. I wave him off. I’m not here to sit around and bullshit with him. I’m all business today.
He sips from the glass and then sets it on the table. “You wanted a meeting. So, talk.”
“I need your help getting Lila’s contract with the Caps back.”
He gives me a smug look I want to knock from his face with my fist. “What makes you think I can help you with that?”
“Senator Banks knows the team owner personally.”
He snorts. “And why would he want to help you?”
I lean forward, measuring him up with my eyes, and he cowers at my intense gaze. When I was in middle school, my math teacher told my mom that I scared her. She thought there was something wrong with me. It’s not like I went home and killed rabbits or burnt bugs with magnifying glasses, but the Baldwin stare works every time.
Ted leans back in his chair and tips the glass to his mouth.
“You should do this for Lila,” I challenge. “And for your daughter, who you stand up every chance you get.”
He slams the glass on the table, and liquid spills out. “Stay out of my business.”
“Lila is my business. If you don’t want to do this for me, do it for your daughter. Lila won’t tell you because she’s too proud, but she needs the money. She couldn’t afford to lose this job.”
“She didn’t want alimony,” he says. “Instead, I gave her full custody of Max. If she needed the money, she should have fought me harder.”
I grind my teeth, commanding every ounce of energy to stop myself from knocking him out. He deserves worse than what I did to Dean. Hell, now that I know the truth, Dean didn’t deserve it at all. Okay, well, maybe a little ass-kicking. After all, he did get my baby sister pregnant. That has to count for something.
“I know how this works. I’m sure there’s something you want. Money for the senator’s next campaign? A public appearance for a fundraiser?”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Not quite.”
“Spit it out.”
“There’s a cheerleader,” he says, and I shake my head, not the least bit surprised.
“You somehow managed to get a woman like Lila. If you could convince her that you’re not a total piece of shit, I’m sure you could pick up a cheerleader on your own. They’re pretty easy to get into bed.”
“It wasn’t like that with Lila,” he shoots back. “You have no idea what she was like when I met her.”
I kick my sneaker up on his table, which earns me a nasty look. “Enlighten me.”
He tips head. “Do you mind? That’s a ten-thousand-dollar table.”
Rolling my eyes, I slide my shoe off the table.
“We were high school sweethearts,” he says.
“I know.”
“I’m not the asshole you think,” Ted says, now settling into his chair with the glass of scotch. “I went out of my way for Lila for a long time, but she has a habit of pushing people away. She shut me out. We stopped talking. Sex was non-existent. I mean, what did she expect me to do? Sit around and wait for her to stop hating me?”
“Lila’s story is much different.”
“There are two sides to every story. Lila never fully recovered from her mother’s suicide. She thinks there’s something wrong with her and that her genes are corrupted. That’s why she got into psychiatry.” I give him a look that says Tell me something I don’t already know, and he continues, “You got too close. That’s why you’re here right now.”