Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Call in sick,” I say carelessly. Something tells me she will be coming to London. I have something she wants and it’s not my dick.
I rap on the partition, and my chauffeur immediately gets out and opens the door on her side. She looks confused and embarrassed.
“Goodnight, Konstantin,” she mumbles, as she turns to get out of the car.
“You forgot your purse,” I say holding out her bag.
She whirls around suddenly, her face anxious. “Oh! Er… thanks.” Then she scrambles out.
“Goodnight, Raine,” I call as the door closes.
As my chauffeur accompanies her to her door, I dip my finger into a drop of juice that glistens on the leather seat. I bring my finger to my mouth and lick it.
Raine Fillander tastes like heaven.
Raine
My face is flaming with embarrassment as the expressionless chauffeur escorts me to the entrance of my apartment block. It is very possible that the back of such an expensive and luxurious car is soundproofed, but what if it isn’t? What if he heard my moans and screams?
“Goodnight,” I say, as I quickly open the door and slip into the building without actually meeting his eyes.
I hear his footsteps die away as I stand in the middle of the foyer. I know my mother will be waiting to speak to me and I don’t want her to see me like this. My hands are clutching the bag with the painting so hard my knuckles show white. I unclench my hands, take a few deep breaths and try to calm myself.
He wants me to go to London with him.
I want to go. God, how I want to go with him. It would be a dream come true to travel to London. I’ve never done anything like that before. The years are passing me by and all I ever do is work. I’d love to have a dirty weekend in a foreign land with a man like that. My passport has no stamps on it at all. It stares at me balefully.
What harm can it do to go with him? I’ve never called in sick before. It would be okay to do it just this once. And then I think of the money I need for Madison. And a thought occurs to me. Konstantin is so insanely wealthy. $120,000 will be nothing to him. Hell, he thought nothing of paying a million for a publicity stunt. What if I give the $50,000 back to Catherine’s client, and ask Konstantin for a loan of $120,000? I can explain to him about my sister’s medical situation.
He is a self-made billionaire so he almost certainly either stepped on or swindled a lot of people to acquire his billions, but I don’t know why, maybe the way he seemed to care about Chloe’s daughter being left alone too often makes me feel sure he will lend me the money if it is genuinely for a good cause. I don’t want him to give me the money. It will just be a loan. I’ll pay every cent of it back.
I hear the sound of the elevator arriving at the ground floor and I walk towards it. Two women get out and I walk in. I feel calm and sure of my course of action. I put the key in our door and walk into our tiny one-and-a-half room apartment. I call it that because Mom and Maddy share the normal sized bedroom and mine is barely bigger than a cupboard. My mother is sitting in front of the TV. As soon as she sees me she mutes it and stands, her hands tightly clasped in front of her.
“What happened?”
I shrug as casually as I can. “Nothing happened. We had dinner, afterwards he took me to a party, then he gave me a lift home.”
My mother sags with relief. “Good. That’s good. You didn’t go through with it.”
“No, Mom,” I say quietly, “but I’m going to spend the weekend with him in London.”
My mother’s jaw drops in shock. “What?”
“He invited me to go with him and I said yes.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Mom. It’s just a weekend away. It’s something everyone my age does all the time.”
Mom presses her lips together. “You hardly know the man.”
“Yes, it will be the perfect time to get to know him then, wouldn’t it?”
A sound of defeat escapes her. “What about the $50,000?”
“I’ll call Catherine on Monday and arrange to return it.” I don’t tell her about my plan to borrow the money from Konstantin. A) she won’t like the idea. B) Konstantin might say no to me. I will only tell her if he agrees to give it to me.
“Yes, yes, you must return it.”
I nod. “How’s Maddy?”
“She’s fine. She went to bed about an hour ago. Do you want a mug of hot chocolate?”
“Nah, I’m bushed. I’m off to bed. Someone is coming to pick me up at 8.00 am in the morning.”