All He Needs (All or Nothing) (28 page)

“And then I said no to you and you freaked.”

“I never like no. Although I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get a no when I fucked you.”

She turned fully in his arms and looked up. “I might have had something to say about that.”

He grinned. “Did you?”

She rapped him on the chin. “Smug bastard.”

“Your smug bastard. Get used to it.” Although talk of feelings always had a finite time limit for him. Longer now than before, but still not his favorite subject. “Need some help finding clothes?”

“Nah.” She was learning to read his restless shifts; although what man liked to analyze his emotions?

He waved toward another doorway. “I’ll be out there.” And he strode away nude and beautiful as a god.

Kate flipped through a closet of workout clothes, picked out green shorts and a T-shirt, dressed, then settled on a chaise by the pool and watched Dominic do laps in a smooth, easy crawl. She stopped counting laps after a hundred, when he was still going strong, and wandered over to the fly machine. Adjusting the seat and weights, she leisurely worked her pecs. The bracelets were loose enough not to be a problem. It felt good to lift. She’d started when Gramps bought her a Harley for her fourteenth birthday. He’d said,
As soon as you can pick it up when it falls over, you can ride it.
Within a month she could bench press 120 pounds. She kept free weights in her apartment in Boston, but this space was a weight lifter’s dream. She leisurely moved down the ranks of machines, testing them out, not killing herself, taking it easy.

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.”

“I’ll send the report back when I’m finished,” Dominic said with his usual air of unflappability.

“Just keep it.” Charlie’s spine was rigid, each word chafing with affront. “We have a stack at the office.”

“Very well.” Lifting Kate from his lap, Dominic set her on her feet, moved to the door, and shouted for Patty. “Patty will show you out,” he said, turning back and stepping aside to let Charlie flounce past.

A few moments later, when Patty’s voice grew faint, Kate glanced at Dominic, who was still standing at the door. “Does Charlie do that often? Bring reports to your home?”

“Never.” He walked over to the sofa and dropped into a sprawl. The sofa, like so much of the furniture in the house,
was comfortable and well used, the wide-wale corduroy, once a deep forest green, now slightly faded from the sun. “That was pretty fucking transparent.”

“You were remarkably polite.”

He sighed. “I don’t like scenes. And I had no intention of having her stay long. Thanks, by the way, for coming in. I appreciate it.”

“I wonder how early in the morning she had to get up to put on all that makeup?”

Dominic smiled. “Meow.”

“I don’t care. I’d never do what she did. Barge in like that.”

“You don’t have to, baby. Men come after you. Although I’ve put up the electric fence in our contract. You’re off limits now.”

“I’ll have to let Charlie know you’re out of circulation too.”

“Be my guest. It’ll save me grief.”

“Speaking of grief.” Kate tapped the report with her index finger. “I don’t know if I should mention something that’s none of my business…”

He smiled. “Since when have you been afraid to speak up?”

“This is different. It really is none of my business.”

He shoved himself up against the sofa arm. “Forget the buildup. Just tell me.”

“I know you pay your employees well, but the compensation packages for Charlie and her assistant are really way above the norm for those positions. I see a lot of pay plans in my business. Those are premium ones. Especially
compared to other managers at Julia’s NGO. I don’t want to make trouble. I’m just saying.”

“I don’t actually oversee the NGO. Roscoe would know who audits the account.” He smiled faintly. “Melanie told me last night I should fire Charlie. I wonder if she knows something I don’t know? I thought she was just talking about Charlie’s blatant pursuit, but”—he shrugged.

“I’m not saying you can’t afford to throw that money away. You can. But personally, I’d wonder how much it pisses off your other managers. Ones that actually know what they’re doing.” She set the report on the table.

“She couldn’t answer a single question could she?”

“Not even half a one.”

He grinned. “You want a job?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m just dying to work for you.”

“One of these days, baby, I’m going to change your mind.”

“You can change my clothes for me if you want,” she said with a grin, rising from her chair. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“I’ll help you.”

“You just took a shower.”

“Hey, cleanliness is next to godliness.”

“How the hell would you know that?”

“I read.”

“Not spiritual sermons.”

“Should I?”

“It’s too late for you.”

“That’s what I was thinking. But I could wash your hair for you. How about that?”

She lifted her T-shirt up and grinned. “How about
washing something else.” Then she dropped her shirt, turned, and ran.

He caught her halfway up the stairs and swept her up into his arms. “You can’t get away, baby. Don’t even try.”

He was very good at washing hair.

Really excellent.

She almost wanted to ask him where he’d learned to be so gentle, but she thought she might not want to know.

T
he next few days were perfect. Dominic and Kate played chess with the children several times. Once, they ate lunch at Lucia, taking the armored limo and going in through the back door, although Kate was unaware of the security machinations. And one afternoon—under the same discreet guard—Dominic took Kate to visit Gretchen and then to Tosca Cafe to sample one of his favorite drinks. They were shown into a back room by the owner, Dominic’s friend, and they sampled the House Cappuccino, a Prohibition-era brew of chocolate, brandy, and steamed milk. On Melanie’s recommendation, Dominic had the de Young Museum stay open late one evening so Kate could see Vermeer’s
Girl with a Pearl Earring
in private. As a major donor, his request was granted without hesitation. And after witnessing Kate’s ecstatic oohs and aahs as she stood before the small, pristine, almost virginal painting, he was pleased he’d made the effort.

But they mostly stayed in, spending the majority of their time in Dominic’s bedroom, coming out on occasion to eat, use the gym, or sit outside on the rooftop deck with its spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge. On those fleeting occasions, Patty would summon the staff from next door to quickly clean Dominic’s bedroom and bathroom, change sheets and towels, pick up in general, and of course wash the used sex toys.

Kate had timidly inquired who exactly was in charge of that task the first time they’d returned to the room and she’d seen the tidy display all neatly lined up on the bathroom counter.

“Patty’s in charge of the house, the cleaning people, the yard men, the billing and deliveries. I don’t ask. That stuff all looks clean, right?” Dominic casually remarked. “Patty’s more of a stickler for hygiene than anyone. She uses organic everything so we’re safe there. You can eat off the floor, she always proudly tells me. So I think the toys are equally wholesome.”

A lifted brow. “Wholesome?”

He grinned. “And yet your qualms never last for long, do they, baby?”

“You’re shamefully good at corrupting me,” she murmured.

“It’s not corruption if you’re having fun,” he drawled lazily. “And I’ll always make sure you’re having fun.” He tipped his head. “So pick out something.”

Her question answered with Dominic’s habitual disregard for the duties of his staff, Kate followed his suggestion and made a selection. He might not know how the toys came to be arranged and organized so systematically in the bathroom, but he certainly knew how to use them.

The next day, when Kate was discussing a recipe with Patty, he took the opportunity to shut himself in his office and give Justin a call.

“I may hang up abruptly if Katherine walks in,” Dominic warned. “Have you found anything?”

“When money’s no object it’s not a problem.”

“Good. Where?”

“Upper Belgrave Street. A nice, two-bedroom flat. Five and a half mil.”

“It’s settled?”

“Someone in your office here will sign the papers this afternoon. And the account for Amanda has been set up.”

“Good. Roscoe said he’d take care of it. You’re sure Amanda doesn’t mind helping?”

“She’s in shopping heaven as we speak.”

“Give her a kiss from me. Although tell Amanda if anything needs painting or new carpeting has to be installed, it has to be environmentally responsible, no chemicals, no toxicity. Same with the furniture. All natural finishes, fabrics. Katherine’s not a large woman. She can’t absorb the same quantities of toxins as someone my size.”

“Sounds as though you’d like Katherine wrapped in cotton wool and put in a glass box.”

“If only I could,” Dominic said drily. “So,” he briskly added, “can you have this done by Saturday? We fly in either late Saturday night or Sunday.”

There was always only one answer for Dominic Knight. “Sure, no problem,” Justin said. “We’ll have it ready.”

“Thanks,” Dominic said. “We’ll see you this weekend. By the way, we haven’t met. You’re just a magnanimous manager from CX Capital helping out a new contractor. You can cover your ass on that, right?”

“Not a problem. I’m a little like you, Nick. I make my own rules.”

Dominic laughed. “Glad to hear it.
Ciao
.”

Then he made a quick call to Leo.

“I was wondering when I’d hear from you,” Leo remarked.

“Life’s busy when you’re on vacation,” Dominic said, the smile in his voice palpable.

“Sounds like it. Everything’s going well then?”

“Yes, very. We fly out Saturday though, Sunday at the latest. I’d prefer Saturday. We’ll firm up the departure time later. And tell Sese I’m going to need him in London. I’m hoping to talk Katherine into having him serve as her live-in cook. That way there’s someone on the inside as well as your crews outside. A little extra security. And Yash better come along too. Just in case.”

“I’ll tell them. Sese’s at his relatives in the Central Valley, Yash is attending some seminar. I’ll see that they’re back by Friday night.”

“How did things go with Tan?”

“Everything went well. They’re all gone.”

“You’re not saying Gora’s goon squad flew back to Bucharest?”

“No.”

“No repercussions?”

“Only in Bucharest I expect. It should help your negotiations,” Leo added.

“Maybe. Gora will run out of guns before he runs out of muscle. But it might make him question his tactics. Tan and his relatives are fine?”

“Everyone’s fine.”

“I don’t suppose—”

“You don’t want to know.
I
don’t want to know. Tan
sees it as doing you a favor and it’s not as though Gora’s men had flown in from Bucharest for a vacation.”

“Right. Thanks for the update. Gotta go.” He set down the phone and smiled at Kate, who was standing in the doorway of his office. “I was talking to Leo. I think we’ll leave on Saturday, unless it matters to you. Did you get the recipe you wanted?”

Kate lifted a recipe card she was holding.

“Come here. Show me. Is it something I’d like?”

“As if you care about cooking,” Kate said with a smile, moving toward him.

“Hey, I care about what you care about.” He swung his chair a half turn and lifted his arms as she approached. “Are you going to cook for me?” He drew her down on his lap.

“Maybe.” She gave him a smile. “It’s your rice pudding.”

“Score.” He lightly kissed her cheek. “I’ll even help with that. Although,” he added, keeping his voice deliberately neutral, “I was thinking you might like Sese to stay with you and cook. You really don’t know your way around a kitchen. You like to work long hours, or at least you did in Amsterdam, and Singapore too, according to Johnny Chen. When you’re pushing yourself that hard, you need nourishing meals. And Sese will stay out of your way.”

“Tempting, but I can’t imagine this apartment is very big.”

“Let’s wait and see.” The word
tempting
was a good sign. She wasn’t adamantly opposed. And he knew a two-bedroom flat priced at five mil must have some decent-sized rooms.

Their remaining days were nothing but sunshine
and roses, rainbows and bluebirds, unalloyed pleasure—luxurious and momentous. Dominic made sure of that. Whatever Kate wanted, he gave her.

Kate had told herself that first night in Singapore that whatever time she had with Dominic, she wouldn’t spoil by thinking about the future. And by and large, she was able to deal with her emotions in a practical way. She was incredibly happy most of the time. Only occasionally, late at night, she’d wake up, terrified, her heart pounding, afraid she’d lost him. But a second later, she’d feel Dominic beside her, or holding her close, and her panic would subside.

For his part, Dominic was feeling a rare tension. He generally had nerves of steel, but with Katherine’s safety at issue, with them both in the crosshairs of Gora’s relatives, considerably more was at stake. Katherine had already been targeted in Singapore, Gora’s men in place before he’d arrived. So he wasn’t just gambling with his life, a life he’d viewed as disposable for years. Living held more purpose for him now. Since meeting Katherine, he felt as though he had a future, perhaps even a good one. And he was unprepared to lose either her or that future.

Although on a purely tactical level, Gora was the problem. He was a loose cannon at the best of times, always indebted to his wife’s mafiosa family organization, but defiantly independent on the surface. None of which offered a predictable outcome to the meeting on Tuesday.

Money usually worked as leverage, but not always.

There were too many players at the table this time.

And some of them were invisible.