Taking Control Read online

  I stand up and proceed toward the door, not even waiting to see if Mitch follows.

  “For your sake, I hope you are correct and Tiny’s longing for a parent doesn’t overcome her newfound feelings for you,” Mitch mutters.

  It’s a warning, but not an effective one. There are things I might lose Tiny to—her infernal sense of pride and need for independence is one—but a man who cheated on and abandoned her mother? Never.

  I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response other than allowing the door to close behind me. I stop at Rose’s desk. “Our visitor is still in the conference room. If he isn’t gone in the next five minutes, call security.”

  Before I can sit down at my desk Louis is at the door.

  “What is it?” I ask impatiently. After enduring Mitch Hedder’s presumptuousness, I find I have little patience to tolerate Louis’s whining.

  “I saw you taking a meeting.” His tone is accusatory. “Should I have been in there?”

  “If you should have been in the meeting, I would have invited you.” My response is a dismissal, but this is a different Louis than the one I hired, one whose ability to take a hint, read nuance, and interpret a signal is suddenly nonexistent.

  “Given that you’re distracted by other things, I should be in these meetings. For the protection of Kerr Inc.,” he says frostily.

  He’s overstepped and doesn’t even realize it. “I am Kerr Inc. I shouldn’t have to remind you of this.” I reapply myself to the regulatory paperwork on SunCorp and dismiss him. He stands uncertainly at the doorway for a few moments. His suit pants make a whisking sound as he shifts his weight from foot to foot. He wants to retort, to say something, to take some power back, but I am Ian Kerr and Louis is a mere employee. He’s feeling that insignificance and wants me to allay it. It’s not going to happen. He’s done here.

  I continue to ignore him and he finally drifts away.

  TINY

  I TELL JAKE I HAVE to take a long lunch. It’s the fourth long lunch I’ve taken this week. He merely nods and shoos me out. My guess is he thinks I’m having sex with Ian. I’m not, although that would be better than what I actually am doing, which is cabbing it down to midtown and loitering around Richard Howe’s office. So far I’ve followed Howe to four lunches with various clients and have taken several surreptitious pictures with my smartphone.

  Howe enjoys eating fish. He orders it almost every time, and he tends to drink a lot. He also stares at the waitresses’ asses nonstop. I report all of this to Sarah.

  “Field work is pretty boring,” I tell her.

  “More boring than sitting inside at a desk and answering phones?”

  “Good point.”

  “Who does he have lunch with?”

  “No one interesting. A bunch of guys wearing blue suits. You know the uniforms the kids who go to private school wear on the Upper East Side? It’s like these are the same kids wearing the same uniforms, only the kids are taller and the sizes are larger.”

  “It looks like that because they are the same kids,” Sarah points out. “Any women in the group?”

  “No. The only women they encounter are the waitresses. I’m not getting anything out of this.”

  “You’ve only followed him for one week and only at lunch. You have to vary it.”

  “What do I tell Ian? I’m sorry I can’t be home tonight because I’m stalking this guy we both can’t stand.”

  “Then you’ll have to hope that something exciting happens during lunch.”

  “Sarah, have you been to the Aquarium?” I ask abruptly. An idea—probably a bad one—starts to formulate. Ian had once said that Howe is at the hottest clubs all the time, and right now there is no hotter club than Kaga’s Aquarium.

  “I’ve heard of it. That’s the club with the pools on the VIP level and the giant shark tanks?”

  “That’s the one. Would you like to go?”

  “God, I’d love to, but do you know how expensive it is? Even if I wanted to stand in line for two hours, which I don’t, isn’t the cheapest drink in there like twenty dollars? I’d have to suck on the same rum and coke all night.”

  “Ian knows the owner,” I murmur.

  “Are you saying…” she trails off and then lets out a squeak of delight. “Is it crass for me to say yes, hallelujah, yes?”

  “No, it’s a pretty cool place.” I hurriedly add, “Howe might be there.”

  “Ohh,” she says. “Then yes, let’s go. We can follow him around and record him doing stuff. Good call.”

  “He’s leaving, gotta run. I’ll let you know the details about the Aquarium.”

  I hang up before she responds. Howe looks across the street and for a moment, I wonder if he sees me, recognizes me. He steps toward the edge of the sidewalk, but a car passes and he’s forced backward. I take the opportunity to turn and look in a window display, pretending to admire the dresses. In the glass, I can barely make out his form. He’s standing motionless, still staring at me. My heart is beating extra loud in my ears. Should I run? If he comes up to me, what will I say, other than you’re a piece of shit? Actually, I’d like to say something to him. I half turn before I realize he’s already gone.

  Deflated, I walk up to the corner to hail a cab. When I get back to the office, Jake is gone. There’s a white envelope taped on the door and inside is a note with words on it. I frown, because even though I know Jake wants me to read, he usually leaves me a voicemail. It takes me several minutes to read the two sentences, but when I do I realize it isn’t from Jake at all.

  Don’t poke a hornet’s nest. You’ll get stung.

  I look around, an odd sense of dread gripping me. Nobody’s staring at me. Everything looks normal, just another day at the office. I read the message again though and realize with a chill little feeling in my veins that someone is on to me. Someone knows I’ve been following Howe. Or…someone is following me.Feeling uneasy, I tuck the message in the desk and try to brush it aside. That afternoon, the phone rings several times but no one ever says anything. Hangups, I realize after the fifth one, are fucking creepy.

  SIX

  IAN

  THAT EVENING I TAKE TINY to rooftop restaurant in Brooklyn on an invitation from Kaga who claimed he wanted to get to know Tiny better.

  “Talk about a lonely motherfucker,” I tell Tiny as Steve takes us across the river.

  “Have you been friends a long time?”

  “For many years. We met at one of his nightclubs, in fact. I believe he thought I was selling drugs, isn’t that right Steve?”

  Steve grunts.

  “That’ll be a yes,” I dryly tell Tiny. “There was an employee of a pharmaceutical company who wanted to sell me secrets. They were worthless and I gave Kaga the tip to stay away from the company. If anything, the chemist’s willingness to spill secrets indicated a rather ill run company. Others bought into the fake inside information and lost quite a bit of money.”

  “But you and Kaga came out friends. Filthy rich friends,” she grins up at me. “I’ve lost so many of mine,” she admits. “I’m so glad Sarah called me. I can barely remember the names of everyone I graduated with, let alone keep track of their marriages, divorces, and jobs.”

  Since I don’t like Sarah very much, I stay quiet. Not that I have anything against her, except I don’t like thinking Tiny’s being used. God, I’m such a jaded motherfucker. Tiny doesn’t seem to think that way about Sarah. No sense in tainting something she enjoys with my cynicism.

  “Did I mention how lovely you look tonight?” Tiny’s hair is stick straight and her gorgeous breasts appear unbound again beneath a heavily sequined top in navy and a matching navy satin skirt. On her feet are silver sandals. I want to take them off, dip her toes into my mouth, and suck.

  “What color today?” I ask, sliding a hand over her knee

  “Ian,” she hisses, pushing my hand away and nodding toward Steve.

  I chuckle and assure her, “He doesn’t care.” I pay him a lot of money to
not care. Steve hits a button and the privacy screen goes up but not before I see his eye roll. It’s hard to say who he thinks is sillier—Tiny for being embarrassed or me for not being able to keep my hands to myself. “And now he can’t see.”

  “But he knows,” she protests weakly.

  “Who cares?” I whisper in her ear. “Tell me what color.”

  “Mint green,” she answers with a happy little grin, “But you won’t be seeing it until tonight, Ian.”

  “Don’t tempt me, Tiny. I can have you on my lap faster than you can blink.”

  She laughs and swats my arm. “I hate you,” she whimpers. “I’m worked up. My panties are wet and we’re about to get out of the car and have dinner with one of your closest friends.”

  “You look gorgeous and unmussed,” I assure her. “No one would ever know. If you do feel particularly restless, I’m happy to address any issues in the bathroom.”

  “You’re out of control, Ian.”

  “With you, all the time,” I vow with a wink and a chuckle.

  Kaga waits for us on the rooftop, enjoying a drink at the bar. There are three women surrounding him.

  “Miss Corielli, so nice to see you again.” Kaga squeezes both her hands and leans down to kiss her cheek. We’re seated in the corner of the rooftop, a small screen separating us from the rest of the dining area. Kaga prefers his privacy as do I.

  “How are you enjoying your new job?” Kaga asks.

  She gives a self deprecating little laugh, “I think Jake is a very kind person to give me this job.”

  “I don’t believe Jake does anything out of kindess,” Kaga says, slightly bitter. “If you’re not competent you wouldn’t be there.”

  “Maybe.” She sounds unconvinced. “I know that Jake could have someone do my job ten times better than me. Plus, he knows I don’t enjoy working there, which makes me feel bad,” she finishes with a big sigh.

  “Don’t worry about Jake’s feelings. He’s a big boy,” I say, simmering with irritation.

  I swiftly change the subject for her sake and we end up spending the rest of the evening arguing about the shitty city traffic. Tiny’s solution is for all of us to ride bicycles, a suggestion Kaga greets with utter horror.

  “It’s good exercise,” she insists.

  “There are plenty of other ways to get one’s blood pumping,” Kaga replies, his eyes sparking with amusement.

  My hackles raise, and in the next instant, I have a rather appealing image of my fist slamming into Kaga’s face. “No one gets to make innuendos of those kind to Tiny but me.” I growl, low.

  He inclines his head. “I apologize Ian. Of course. I would not like that either.”

  “You guys are cavemen,” she shakes her head in reproof. I try to settle down the next minute but holy shit, does she definitely bring out my caveman.

  “Perhaps if she had a big shiny rock on her left hand, it would help to remind me of her status,” Kaga offers.

  “I can see it will have to be large enough that blind men like you will be able to see it.” I pick up Tiny’s slim fingers and press a kiss against them. Her fingers do look bare.

  On the way home, she snuggles into my side—I like it. I like it so much I draw her closer, pinning her in place. The promise to ravish me in the car is forgotten and as the car ride lulls her to sleep, my mind swings back to the frustrating day with Louis.

  “Did you have a very bad day at work,” she says, smoothing her ringless hand over my chest. Now that Kaga has pointed it out, the fact she doesn’t have my ring on her finger bothers me. I need to give it to her but I haven’t found the right moment.Fuck, that hand is screaming for a ring from me and my wallet’s itching to pay for it.

  “I thought you were asleep bunny,” I say pulling her into my lap and dropping a kiss on her hair.

  “No but I’m really full and feeling terribly relaxed. I’m sorry I’m not embarrassing you in front of Steve like I said I would.”

  “You’ll have to make up for it later,” I say.

  “Will you tell me what’s bother you first?” she asks.

  I hesitate because I don’t like burdening Tiny with unimportant things—things that have no bearing on our life together. But I’m always pressing her to share every little corner of her life with me so I’m a raging hypocrite if I don’t tell her. “I’m likely going to fire my vice president of operations,” I finally admit.

  She pushes away and gives me a frown. “That sounds serious.”

  I pull her back because I miss her. “It’s not. It’s probably been a long time coming. I told him that I’m thinking of winding down Kerr Inc and he did not take that well.”

  “But Ian, why would you do that? I don’t understand.”

  “I hardly can explain it myself,” I answer. “I’ve worked nonstop since the age of fifteen, even earlier. I went to school, did odd jobs hustling on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, playing poker games and leveraging those sums into higher stakes poker until I had enough money to buy my way into a small time brokerage firm. I bought and sold everything—legal and illegal—that I could get my hands on. Kerr Inc. is a nice accomplishment, but I can’t go anywhere from here.”

  “So you want to retire on top?”

  “No,” I shake my head. “I want something fulfilling in my life, and I know that the acquisition of more wealth, more status isn’t it. The only reason that I want to have money now is so that our family never suffers. But the mere fact that I have so much makes us both targets. I don’t like that. I want to live a quiet life with you. I want to drive our kids to school and chaperone them on school trips. I want to watch every softball pitch or soccer kick. None of those things can happen while I’m down on Hudson Street trying to figure out whether to invest twenty million in this new technology or that new venture.”

  “Oh.” She leans back to stare at me as she digests this.

  A moment of uncharacteristic uncertainty wafts over me. Does giving up Kerr Inc. diminish me in her eyes in some way? Was I not man enough without the billions backing me? “I’ll still be filthy stinking rich,” I say, unable to keep the sarcasm from leaking out.

  “Lord, Ian.” She rolls her eyes. “As if that even matters to me. I just had no idea you felt that way. I think it’s comforting, actually. I wonder sometimes if I’m enough for you. Whether you’ll lose interest because I’m not smart enough to figure out all the terms for buyouts and mergers and leverages and positions. Wanting to exit the fast lane doesn’t make you smaller to me. Just smarter.” She hesitates and then jokes, “Can we just run off to an island together and forget about the real world?”

  I grab her hand and press a kiss against the back of her fingers. “Done. What island do you want me to buy? Something in the Baltic? Perhaps down by Greece? South America?”

  A small smile appears while she pretends to contemplate her options. “Why not all of them? We can travel from island to island whenever we get bored.”

  “I can’t think of anything better. Let’s leave tomorrow.”

  “I wish.” She laughs lightly.

  “You don’t need to wish,” I answer. “It can be reality if you want it to be and I will be your rainmaker.”

  “You know what I really wish for is you,” she whispers with a secret smile, her eyes wide and suddenly vulnerable.

  Fuck this girl gets to me. With that one look, I’m on fire, my chest tight with emotion, my dick straining to join me to her. “I’d like to stop using condoms, bunny,” I tell her.huskily whisper, pulling her closer to me, “I’ve had a medical check up and I’m ready to go. All clean. All clean and if you’ll have me, all yours.”

  Her eyes widen with surprise, then haze over in lust. “You want to have children?” she asks me, her tone slow and measured.

  “When you’re ready, but mostly I want to fuck you without protection,” I say honestly.

  Her eyes heat up, and it’s a good thing we arrive home or we’d have to employ the privacy screen again. As it is, we
barely make it inside the door before I’ve ripped her panties down her legs and she has me out and inside of her.

  “God, Ian, you feel amazing. I swear I can feel every vein.”

  I can’t speak to her because I’ve no brain cells left. The lush feel of her bare cunt against my unprotected length is too mind blowing. I can’t form words. I can only grunt and thrust as the world spins around me. It’s too fast and I’m losing control and I need for her to come with me.

  I fasten my mouth on her, plunging my tongue inside her. The sounds of our sex is messy and wet. I reach between us, pushing her skirt out of my way so I can find her perfect little clit. I press down with my thumb and she finds her release only seconds before mine comes shooting down my spine.

  “That was…” she’s at a loss for words.

  “Fucking amazing,” I finish for her. After a few more heartbeats I carry her up the stairs until I find our bedroom and we start all over again.

  SEVEN

  “I APPRECIATE YOU DOING THIS,” Tiny says for the millionth time as she rushes around the bathroom trying to get ready. I don’t recall ever seeing her this nervous before.

  “It’s not a chore.” I slip my pearl cufflinks through a snowy-white dress shirt. Sitting on the bench, I pull on socks and loafers. This is my nightclub attire, as designated by Frank. Shirt, dark wash jeans, and a sport coat. Tiny picked the coat out for me, and it’s currently lying on the end of the bed. Stretching out my legs, I enjoy the show she’s putting on.

  We’re taking an old friend of hers to the Aquarium, and Tiny has put more effort and thought into what she’ll wear and how she’ll look than any of the dates I’ve taken her on.