Dominic's POV
I'm actually relieved that I left the building. Being around people constantly is draining on my sanity. I'm not outta the woods yet. I pull up to my older brother's estate, taking deep breaths before I exit the vehicle.
I had texted him earlier to let him know I was almost there. The butler opens the door before I even fully reach it and bows slightly as he formally greets me. What are we, in Asia?
"Hi how are you?" I ask not really caring how he is. Yeah I'm in a mood right now.
I've been a little stressed lately and I think I just need some time to chill and think. I walk into the glorious house and stand in the foyer. My brother makes an appearance from out of another room and with open arms, greets me warmly.
"Nicky! How's my little fratello!"
"I survive man. Let me get something to drink though."
"Yeah yeah. Marzia! Get my little brother some refreshments won't ya."
A cute latina girl shows up quickly and smiles at the both of us like I'm sure she was trained to do and says, "Of course Mr. Boveri."
"Thank you," I say to her, not wanting her to think I'm taking advantage of her services. Also, I don't fancy her or anyone else spitting in my damn drink.
"Nicky baby, let's talk."
My brother leads me to his guest area that looks more like an airport lobby. We both sit in these enormous chairs.
Layla, my brother's beautiful wife walks in with the drinks Marzia was supposed to get.
"Oh hey Layla," I say pleased to see her.
"Oh hello Dominic. It's been some time since we've seen you around. You're too busy for us huh?"
"Ha, I'm sorry. I'm here now so don't kill me. Just say you miss me."
"Aha, you're right. You're too sweet for me to stay mad at."
She winks at me as she puts down our drinks. Her clothes are so tight I can see her pores making an impression on the fabric. She looks over at me with this seductive stare before she gives her husband a quick kiss. I don't usually chase women. They chase me. It's still very awkward for me but I've had enough interactions with them to know when one digs me and my brother's wife... she digs me. I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole though. Like I need any drama between me and my brother. Layla has always had a promiscuous air about her, and I made sure to stay far enough away not to get myself in any trouble.
"Thanks wife," my brother says.
"Royce, stop calling me wife. We're not vikings. I hate that shit."
"I can't call you 'wife'?"
"No," says Layla sashaying away.
"Why can't I call you what you are? Would you rather me call you slut then?"
I whistle slightly and look somewhere else in the room, feeling the discomfort at the sudden shift in tension within the room.
My brother takes a deep breath and turns back towards me and then plasters a smile on his face.
"You see what I have to deal with? Oi. So how are you little brother?"
"I'm doing fine. Just... I need to get away for a bit. My workers are driving me nuts."
He smiles.
"What did you expect? You're surrounded by beautiful and competitive women all day long. Why are you even complaining?"
I laugh and pick up my drink.
"Well, let's see if you could last week in my shoes?"
Royce laughs and tells me how he would handle it with an iron fist. My brother is way more outgoing than I am. He loves attention, me not so much. He tells me of his latest ventures, stories of women he almost had flings with, and a few companies he bought out including Computer Diesel; the store branch where Lacie used to work. The place was barely above water anyway.
I've been meaning to ask him anyway.
"Why Diesel? That company is s***. It's only going downhill."
He smiles.
"Ah Nicky, they were in direct competition with one of our affiliates."
"So you just wanted to shut it down?"
Royce sips his drink, staring straight past me. Something is up. He sets the drink down whilst smacking his lips with a smirk.
"I found out one of the family members of the one of the partners was stealing from me."
"How so?" I ask.
Now I'm really intrigued.
"Ask my wife."
With that, the tension settles between us like an icy fog. Holy shit.
I spent some more time with my brother, but since there's really nothing we have in common, other than blood, I found it agonizing to stay there another minute.
Later I head to coffee shop in town. I'm so tired and restless all at the same time. I'm going over things in my head- work, Kiera, everything. I'm already making plans for the game I've been working on that no one else knows about ; except Lacie of course.
What even possessed me to tell her about it? She seems down to earth and I know she would never betray me. She wouldn't dare. I could easily destroy her life if I wanted to. I have a hard time trusting people and so, when I go out on a limb to do so I always make sure that I have something on them, in the event they try to get one over on me.
My gut tells me she isn't that kind of person, but you never know and I don't like leaving things to chance. I know things have been rough for her but she needs to woman up. I don't have time to be sensitive to people's feelings.
Walking into the coffee shop, all eyes immediately fall on me. Some people in my position would never get tired of this but I do. I absolutely loathe being the center of attention. I walk up and order a cup of black coffee.
Every guy and girl is staring at me hard on. The girl serving me is doing everything within her power to look as pretty as can be. She's not bad. Redhead, ok body. She doesn't seem to age well even though I know that she's probably in her mid-20s.
Even though I would have a go at her I'm not the kind of person who cheats. Kiera and I are kinda a 'thing', as far as constant hookups are concerned, and as annoying as she can be I would never want to purposely go out of my way to do anything to hurt her. Even if she never found out I certainly would know and it would kill me inside, especially since I too agreed to our arrangement.
I walk over to a table and pull out my phone. I see already that I have dozens of missed calls. I sigh inwardly. Most of them are Kiera. I don't plan on calling her back anytime soon. This outing is for me. I need some respite before we go on our trip. I'll be around my crew constantly and so I won't have any alone time PLUS living with the girls is gonna drive me crazy.
Heading back to my car, a woman comes up to me and just takes me completely by surprise. At first I think it's the redhead but it's some dark haired beauty. She hugs me and kisses me, forcing her tongue down My throat. I push her off firmly.
"Whoa woman! I'm sorry, who the hell are you? What the fuck!"
"I'm a big fan. Haha don't be such a prude. I know you have girls falling all over you all the time."
Yes this woman is very beautiful but honestly right now I'm scared out of my mind. What if she has some sort of virus and I just got it? What if she has a disease that she's carrying and it's passed on by contact or body fluids? Holy crap! Now I need to take a trip to the doctor to make sure I don't have anything. I go inside my car quickly and grab some water and wash out my mouth. She just stares at me.
"What are you a Germaphobe or something?"
I whirl on her with an incredulous look on my face.
"Um... when it's other people's body fluids that I don't know ... then yes. It's kind of disrespectful to just go up and shove your spit in someone else's mouth dude."
I don't let her finish. I jump in my car and speed away leaving her there on the sidewalk. I make a call to my physician for when I'm in town. I already have an instant headache.
After I leave my physician, who saw me right away and declared I was clean, I went straight to my house.
Right now all I want to do is sleep. I think about my life and where I am right now. I'm generally happy, but I know there's more... so much more. Kiera rings again.
"What's up?" I say as I answer.
"Where are you babe?"
"At the house."
"Aw. You tired? Want me to come meet you there?"
"Are you finished with all the planning?" I ask her.
"Not quite but-"
"Then no," I say abruptly.
She should know by now that I don't put pleasure before work. She's not worth that and I need everything to run smoothly.
"Hey baby, Lacie really doesn't have to be here. I got this."
"We've been through this Kiera. I don't like going over the same topic more than once."
I get up and head to the kitchen to get some sparkling water.
"I know but you told me to tell you when something makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Kiera! You're not my fucking wife! Stop with that mess. You want to know the main reason why I got Lacie? Yes I saw potential in her but I wanted you to know that you're not irreplaceable."
The phone goes quiet.
That was the ultimate truth. Kiera getting close to me was giving her a big head. It changed the way that she treated me and others around her and I couldn't have her messing up my business. I didn't want her thinking that because we had a little bit of something going on, that she was untouchable.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes Kiera. You have this God complex about you which makes you tend to forget that you're an employee."
"Of course I know that!!" She barks.
Oh boy here we go. As soon as she starts to go off of the phone I put my phone down on the counter, with her still talking away on it, and walk back to the bedroom. Like I have time for that.
Woot!!! I've heard thy prayers. Thanks for keeping me accountable guys. I got over my nervousness and just wrote. I honestly never expected people to even read my story and it's a lot of pressure lol. Thanks kittens. You're all so amazing. Stay tuned.