I left work early that day.
When I called Bentley to see if he wanted to sit down and talk more about the article, he ignored my calls.
With good reason, I guess.
I was pretty mean to him in my office when he was only trying to help. But I didn't see it that way at the time. I thought he was looking for another reason to do something reckless, as the reckless billionaire does.
I called him twice more before I decided to give Fredrick a call and make my own move on Bentley. To my surprise, he answered with cheer in his voice and was more than willing to help me out.
“You know this is crazy, right?” he said as he drove me to one of Bentley’s establishments. “He doesn’t like his meetings being interrupted. I’ve seen people get dusted for that.”
Dusted was something I had no desire to know the meaning of. My focus was on the man in charge. For some reason, I craved him more when he ignored me. Or when he was busy, I should say. Because I wasn't sure that he was ignoring me, I just assumed he was still upset.
“Why are you taking me to him then?” I asked. “Won’t you get in trouble for this?”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “But I have a feeling I'll get in even more trouble if I don't take you to him. Mr. Thomas is practically head over heels already. I don't know what kind of spell you put on him, but kudos to you.”
I smiled and shook my head at such a ridiculous statement.
In my mind, there was no way Bentley Thomas was in love with me already. We barely even knew each other.
I had heard of love at first sight and had even thought I experienced it myself once upon a time. But I couldn't believe that was the case for Bentley. I felt like I was too regular for a man like him to be in love with so soon.
“What kind of meeting am I crashing?" I asked. “Is it something important? Something mysterious?”
“I’m not sure,” Frederick said. “I don’t really get into the specifics of what he does in office. I’m just the driver and the muscle.”
“How do you and Bentley know each other?”
“We grew up together. Old friends. When he got sent away, I was the only one who kept in contact with him. So when he finally came home, he gave me a job and made sure that I was taken care of.”
I’d be lying if I said Bentley was a hard man to admire.
Though I knew to take what the people in his circle said about him with a grain of salt, it wasn’t just word of mouth. I had experienced his kindness myself. He was gentle with me and everyone around him. Even when he might have been angry or had reasons to fly off the handle.
When we got to our destination, I was impressed. It was a tall building that nearly scraped the sky and had Bentley’s name stamped right on the front.
The building was spectacular. There was a doorman. Marble floors. A large wraparound receptionist desk and glass elevators that revealed its contents.
I didn't need to guess why that was, because I already knew. A man who was as important as Bentley was needed to see exactly who or what was coming for him.
“Wow, you would think I was trying to visit the president,” I said as Fredrick walked me into the elevator and pressed a code for Bentley’s floor.
“I mean, you kind of are,” he chuckled. “Mr. Thomas is high on the food chain. You never know who might walk in and try to take a bite.”
We rode the elevator all the way to the top.
The door slid open and revealed a floor that was nearly empty. It was quiet and kind of creepy, if I'm being honest.
The few people I saw sat at desks with their heads down and their eyes focused on their computers like robots. They barely flinched when I stepped off the elevator alone.
“You see that big room at the end of the hall,” Fredrick pointed. “That’s where you’ll find him. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
“Why aren't you coming with me?” I asked nervously.
“Oh no,” he laughed and shook his head. “This is as far as I'm going. You take it from here. This was your idea.”
He reminded me of a big brother by the way he playfully taunted me as he retreated into the elevator.
I smiled and flicked him off before heading in the direction he pointed. My nerves were all over the place as I made my way. When I finally reached the conference room where Bentley was, my heart throbbed at the sight of him. He was so mouthwatering, I nearly drooled.
I gently tapped the glass door, and everyone’s eyes darted over to me.
It was a room full of gentlemen all dressed in expensive suits with briefcases and iPads in front of them. Bentley stood at the front of the room, displaying some kind of floorplan for a building, and I couldn’t help but tingle inside.
“Come here,” I mouthed at him.
He held back his laugh. I saw it on his face. After smoothing over his tie and letting his colleagues know he was stepping away for a moment, he came to the door to see what I wanted with him.
I took charge in that moment.
Arrogantly grabbing him by the tie, I pulled him into an empty room, closed the door behind us, and immediately pounced on him. Kissing him savagely as I backed him into a corner.
I don’t know what came over me that afternoon, but I surprised myself.
“What did I do to deserve this?” he asked while accepting my kisses and gropes.
“I don’t know,” I panted. “I guess you have a hold on me somehow.”
He lifted me with ease and sat me down on an empty table. Our kisses were so passionate and intense that I could barely catch my breath each time our lips locked.
His hands felt all over my body, making me arch my back because I ached with lust for him.
I wanted him to have his way with me. Right there on the table. And he did.
All while his team waited for his return.
I got home from work that evening, and the billionaire himself was waiting at my doorstep.I thought he was done with me for good. I thought if I wanted to contact him again, I had to go through his lawyer.However, we both thought wrong. Our passion and desire for one another wouldn’t let either of us stay away. The lure was too strong, and the lust was too addicting.“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought your lawyer would be taking my calls from now on.”He ignored me, took my keys and bag from my hand, and opened my front door as if he lived there. I followed him inside and locked us in, while he held on tight to the silent treatment.I hated being ignored. I hated it being so quiet when there was so much to say. Yet Bentley made the game fun. It was interesting and intense. Sexy and tempting. But it was a game I didn’t want to play all night.“Are you gonna say anything?” I asked. “If not, you can leave. I’ll get ready for bed so that I can get an early start on my invest
Another victim. Another story. Another reason to walk away.I called Bentley immediately after leaving Silvia’s home. He said he had already heard because her parents called him, pointing fingers. They felt he was the one to blame because she worked for him, and honestly, I felt the same way.It made sense. She talked to me about what she knew, which wasn’t much, but he didn’t know that.My immediate thoughts were that Bentley had eyes on every single one of his employees, so he knew that I had talked to her, and he wanted to silence her before she said too much.He swore he didn’t. He swore he was nowhere near Silvia’s home or had anyone else take care of his dirty work. I wanted to believe him so badly. I wanted to trust him. But my decision shifted from one side to the other.“You have to know something,” I said. “There’s no way two people who are tied to your club lose their lives so close to each other and you don’t know a thing about it. Why? Huh? Why Silvia? Were you afraid she
“I take it your visit went as planned?”Fredrick stood near his SUV smoking a cigarette, eyeballing my ruffled shirt and messy hair when I returned.I felt a little embarrassed that I was figured out. But I owned it.“It went fine,” I said as he opened the door for me to get inside. “Do you feel like being my chauffeur for one more stop?”He extended his hand with a mischievous grin on his face and said, “Where to Mrs. Thomas?”I had never envisioned myself as a wife. Especially not to a man who wasn’t even my boyfriend.Yet, the name had a nice ring to it. Mrs. Thomas. But it was much too soon for marriage talk. Although I did picture Bentley and me standing at an alter, ready to say our I-do's, and got butterflies.“Just drive the car," I laughed. "I’ll tell you where to go.”I put my sunglasses on and rode my chariot all the way to Silvia’s place.I wanted to talk to her alone, without Rodger, and see if she’d elaborate more on what she said about him.He had a very distinctive look
I left work early that day.When I called Bentley to see if he wanted to sit down and talk more about the article, he ignored my calls.With good reason, I guess.I was pretty mean to him in my office when he was only trying to help. But I didn't see it that way at the time. I thought he was looking for another reason to do something reckless, as the reckless billionaire does.I called him twice more before I decided to give Fredrick a call and make my own move on Bentley. To my surprise, he answered with cheer in his voice and was more than willing to help me out.“You know this is crazy, right?” he said as he drove me to one of Bentley’s establishments. “He doesn’t like his meetings being interrupted. I’ve seen people get dusted for that.”Dusted was something I had no desire to know the meaning of. My focus was on the man in charge. For some reason, I craved him more when he ignored me. Or when he was busy, I should say. Because I wasn't sure that he was ignoring me, I just assumed
Bentley stormed out on me. He was angry and disappointed.He wanted me to stand up for myself and him because he swore he was innocent. But I couldn't make that call so soon.He questioned why I ever slept with him if I didn't trust him, and I asked myself the same thing. I don’t know why I did it. Did I enjoy it? Very much so. But he and Rodger were right. I was playing with fire.“What was that all about?” Marcia entered my office with concern on her face. “Things looked pretty heated between you two.”I sighed and lowered my head.Telling her about my night with Bentley was out of the question because I knew how much she gossiped, but somehow she pieced it together on her own.“Is that who had you in such a good mood earlier!?” she gasped. “OMG! No way, Justine! You did not sleep with the very man you’re investigating!”“Shh!” I hissed. “Lower your voice before someone hears you.”Her eyes were as wide as her smile, and her thirst to know every single detail was even wider.“Wow, yo
My office door flung open unexpectedly.I thought I would look up from my report and see Rodger huffing and puffing a second time about my own personal choices. But it was Bentley.He stood there, half smirking as he watched me close my notebook to attend to him. There were no flowers in his hand or any fancy gifts that time, but that didn’t stop me from thinking he had stopped by as a sweet gesture.Tina, Marcia, and Mandy were all standing outside my window peering in, making googly eyed faces, and fanning themselves.I playfully shooed them away to no avail, while Bentley made himself comfortable in the seat in front of my desk.For a moment, he sat there, staring at me through piercing eyes. I thought he would tell me he was done answering my questions and to never contact him again.Until he finally spoke and put me out of my misery.“So, this is it, huh? Where all the magic happens and crimes are solved.”I put down my pen and rested back against my chair.“Yeah. This is it,” I