Dominic was mentally running through his schedule while he swam. Swimming was his downtime, like meditation, his muscles programmed, his strokes streamlined, automatic, his breathing slow and even. His body moved with mechanical precision, his brain improvised and analyzed. There was still a lot to do to prepare for Tuesday; he visualized landing in Rome and started the countdown again. He preferred not leaving anything to chance. He might take calculated risks, but he was never rash.
Kate was slowly working a leg press when Dominic came up a half hour later, wearing a white terry cloth robe. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Do you want to come with me or should I see you upstairs?”
“I’ll be up in a while.”
Leaning over, he gave her a kiss, then walked away and took the stairs at a run.
Fifteen minutes later, Dominic was showered, dressed in jeans and a faded relic-from-his-past Legalize Pot T-shirt, and was seated at his desk in his office downstairs, talking on the phone. At a knock on the open door, he swung around to find Patty standing there with a surprise visitor. Charlie was smiling at him like he was expecting her. And she’d dressed in female executive mode, as if he cared. Her gray tailored designer suit was couture, her white silk blouse open slightly too much, and she wore enough real jewelry to indicate that she didn’t have to work for a living. Which wasn’t too far off the mark, because he wasn’t sure she actually did much work.
So what the fuck was she doing here? And how soon could he get rid of her?
But he waved Charlie in and pointed at the sofa and then to the phone in his hand. “Uh-uh, Kev, not until next week. No, Wednesday at the earliest.” He looked at Patty and brought his free hand to his mouth, mimicking drinking from a cup.
Patty nodded and left.
“Roscoe could help you in the meantime if you have any questions. Sure, we’ll be back on schedule after Wednesday.” He gave Charlie a polite smile. “You got it, Kev.” Setting the phone receiver in the cradle, he rose from his chair. Skirting the desk, his bare feet soundless on the carpet, he pulled up a chair from the table in the center of the room and sat.
“Some problem at the NGO?”God let her say yes because the alternative wasn’t anything he wanted to hear.
Charlie offered him a small bashful smile that might have been effective ten years ago, although even then it would have been a stretch. She wasn’t the bashful type. “No, no problem, Dominic. I just wanted to show you the fourth quarter results. They just came in.”
Seriously? Since when did he oversee the NGO? He had people who did that. With a silent sigh, Dominic held out his hand. “Sure. I’ll take a quick look.”
“You can see what we were planning on spending and the actual results. And the new compensation package is a separate document at the end.”
Dominic started flipping through the pages, looked up when Patty came in with coffee, said, “None for me,” and went back to his reading. He asked a few questions, Charlie inadequately answered them, and he returned to the first few pages to look more closely at the graphs showing the expenditure differences from one quarter to the next.
When Kate walked in, Dominic looked up. “Hi, baby. Come sit.” He patted his leg. “You remember Charlie. She brought over the fourth quarter results from Julia’s NGO.”
“I remember. Hi,” Kate said, taking in her dressed-to-the teeth competition. No way Charlie was here on business.
Charlie’s gaze targeted the cuff bracelets and her hello was frosty. “Working out I see,” she said with equal chill.
“Not much.” Kate took Dominic’s outstretched hand and sat on his lap. “I’m allergic to exercise.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. Dominic’s newest slut looked fresh as a daisy in shorts and a T-shirt, without a speck of makeup. Surely those boobs were silicone. No way they were real. The bitch wasn’t even wearing a bra. “I have a personal trainer. Actually a celebrity trainer,” Charlie added with the kind of hauteur seen only on the stage. “He flies up from LA twice a week.”
Fuck it. She was allowed. “Dominic’s been helping me out,” Kate said, smiling a little shy smile. “It’s so sweet of him.”
Dominic was tempted to laugh at Katherine’s performance art. And he might have, if Charlie weren’t breathing fire. “Here, baby,” he said quickly, stepping in to defuse the situation. “Take a look at the compensation report from the NGO.” He held it out. “You know accounting better than I.”
Then Dominic asked Charlie a few more questions with no better results in terms of useful answers, and went back to his reading.
When Kate flipped over a page and her bracelet’s diamond clasp caught the light, Charlie’s mouth pursed, her eyes narrowed to hot slits, and she quickly debated the danger in speaking her mind. No fool she, her voice was saccharine sweet when she looked at Kate and said, “What lovely bracelets. Such an unusual design. Did you get them here?”
Dominic didn’t speak up in the event Katherine preferred her own explanation. The bracelets weren’t overtly sexual, the wide gold bands simple enough, and the diamond clasps could have been costume jewelry. Although two of them were perhaps more suggestive than one would have been.
“Dominic found them somewhere.” Kate half turned to smile at him. “Did you get them here?”
“My jeweler had them made.”
The office suddenly went silent.
Charlie came to her feet in an indignant surge. “Why don’t I just leave the report with you, Dominic? It seems I’m interrupting.”
Kate was slowly working a leg press when Dominic came up a half hour later, wearing a white terry cloth robe. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Do you want to come with me or should I see you upstairs?”
“I’ll be up in a while.”
Leaning over, he gave her a kiss, then walked away and took the stairs at a run.
Fifteen minutes later, Dominic was showered, dressed in jeans and a faded relic-from-his-past Legalize Pot T-shirt, and was seated at his desk in his office downstairs, talking on the phone. At a knock on the open door, he swung around to find Patty standing there with a surprise visitor. Charlie was smiling at him like he was expecting her. And she’d dressed in female executive mode, as if he cared. Her gray tailored designer suit was couture, her white silk blouse open slightly too much, and she wore enough real jewelry to indicate that she didn’t have to work for a living. Which wasn’t too far off the mark, because he wasn’t sure she actually did much work.
So what the fuck was she doing here? And how soon could he get rid of her?
But he waved Charlie in and pointed at the sofa and then to the phone in his hand. “Uh-uh, Kev, not until next week. No, Wednesday at the earliest.” He looked at Patty and brought his free hand to his mouth, mimicking drinking from a cup.
Patty nodded and left.
“Roscoe could help you in the meantime if you have any questions. Sure, we’ll be back on schedule after Wednesday.” He gave Charlie a polite smile. “You got it, Kev.” Setting the phone receiver in the cradle, he rose from his chair. Skirting the desk, his bare feet soundless on the carpet, he pulled up a chair from the table in the center of the room and sat.
“Some problem at the NGO?”God let her say yes because the alternative wasn’t anything he wanted to hear.
Charlie offered him a small bashful smile that might have been effective ten years ago, although even then it would have been a stretch. She wasn’t the bashful type. “No, no problem, Dominic. I just wanted to show you the fourth quarter results. They just came in.”
Seriously? Since when did he oversee the NGO? He had people who did that. With a silent sigh, Dominic held out his hand. “Sure. I’ll take a quick look.”
“You can see what we were planning on spending and the actual results. And the new compensation package is a separate document at the end.”
Dominic started flipping through the pages, looked up when Patty came in with coffee, said, “None for me,” and went back to his reading. He asked a few questions, Charlie inadequately answered them, and he returned to the first few pages to look more closely at the graphs showing the expenditure differences from one quarter to the next.
When Kate walked in, Dominic looked up. “Hi, baby. Come sit.” He patted his leg. “You remember Charlie. She brought over the fourth quarter results from Julia’s NGO.”
“I remember. Hi,” Kate said, taking in her dressed-to-the teeth competition. No way Charlie was here on business.
Charlie’s gaze targeted the cuff bracelets and her hello was frosty. “Working out I see,” she said with equal chill.
“Not much.” Kate took Dominic’s outstretched hand and sat on his lap. “I’m allergic to exercise.”
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. Dominic’s newest slut looked fresh as a daisy in shorts and a T-shirt, without a speck of makeup. Surely those boobs were silicone. No way they were real. The bitch wasn’t even wearing a bra. “I have a personal trainer. Actually a celebrity trainer,” Charlie added with the kind of hauteur seen only on the stage. “He flies up from LA twice a week.”
Fuck it. She was allowed. “Dominic’s been helping me out,” Kate said, smiling a little shy smile. “It’s so sweet of him.”
Dominic was tempted to laugh at Katherine’s performance art. And he might have, if Charlie weren’t breathing fire. “Here, baby,” he said quickly, stepping in to defuse the situation. “Take a look at the compensation report from the NGO.” He held it out. “You know accounting better than I.”
Then Dominic asked Charlie a few more questions with no better results in terms of useful answers, and went back to his reading.
When Kate flipped over a page and her bracelet’s diamond clasp caught the light, Charlie’s mouth pursed, her eyes narrowed to hot slits, and she quickly debated the danger in speaking her mind. No fool she, her voice was saccharine sweet when she looked at Kate and said, “What lovely bracelets. Such an unusual design. Did you get them here?”
Dominic didn’t speak up in the event Katherine preferred her own explanation. The bracelets weren’t overtly sexual, the wide gold bands simple enough, and the diamond clasps could have been costume jewelry. Although two of them were perhaps more suggestive than one would have been.
“Dominic found them somewhere.” Kate half turned to smile at him. “Did you get them here?”
“My jeweler had them made.”
The office suddenly went silent.
Charlie came to her feet in an indignant surge. “Why don’t I just leave the report with you, Dominic? It seems I’m interrupting.”
