Secret Affairs

SIXTEEN

I was being healthy. I was coping. After everything that was happening, and everything that fell at a standstill, I felt like I had to push myself forward. There was no way that I could continue this downward spiral.

So, I did what my father—or should I say Benjamin—never allowed me to do. I got a puppy. He wasn’t an actual puppy. The dog I fell in love with at the pound was 6 years old and always overlooked for one reason or another. He was too old. He wasn’t a pure breed. He didn’t take kindly to rowdy children.

But I fell in love with Stanley the moment I saw his sad puppy dog face, I nearly cried. He was a mixture of a golden retriever, an Australian shepherd, and something else we couldn’t quite figure out. He was real crotchety sometimes.

Over the weeks, Stanley and I fell into a routine. We would go on walks all the way to Battery Park and stay all die relaxing in the grass. Stanley pretended to hate me at first, but once he settled in, he would lay his big doggy head on my lap for a quick power nap.

I had never felt so calm. It was surprising seeing how a furry companion could change my life in a matter of weeks.

We were currently leaving my home for one of our usual walks when I spotted a familiar set of green eyes across the street. Davis Buchanan waved before he set on crossing the busy street at a brisk jog.

“How did you know I would be here?” I asked him. It was becoming a habit of his to simply show up. There were no calls, no texts, not a single heads-up. Old me would have flipped a d**k at his impromptu meetings, but new me didn’t seem to care. It was easy.

Davis squatted down to pet Stanley, and the old dog responded with a lick to his face. He hadn’t even licked my face yet. I wasn’t sure if I should be taking offense at his affection for a practical stranger. Davis stood back up and gave me his signature smile before pulling down a pair of sunglasses over his face as we began our walk. “You forget who I am.”

“Any updates?”

“I think I found your father’s old receptionist; I just need to confirm it’s her,” he recalled. As we continued walking, all I could think of was throttling Janet. At any mention of that traitorous w***e, my blood boiled.

“I want her location,” I seethed through clenched teeth.

Breathe in, breathe out. Not in front of Stanley. Stanley is a good boy, and he didn’t deserve to feel my anger.

Davis nodded. “You’ll have it.”

“What else?” I asked, because I doubted that all he had to tell me was that he was close to tracking down Janet.

“The board members, they’re all covering for one another. None of them have broken their story.” We continued walking as I thought through the names on the board. One of those conniving mofos had the audacity to come after me. To steal from me. A small, tiny part of me was going after them to avenge Benjamin, but after everything that I had learned about him, I wanted nothing to do with that man.

Regardless, I still needed to find out who the person was that caused this much chaos. They were a menace, and thorn in my side. I could never be sure that they wouldn’t come after me next unless they were stopped. “How will you know who it was?”

“Do you really want to know my methods?” Davis questioned me with a curious tilt of his head. I contemplated whether I really needed to be informed. Then I realized that after all these years of being in the dark, the sun was bright. I wanted to know everything. I hated having information kept from me. I despised all the secrets that Benjamin Sommers had. I loathed the onslaught of trouble his actions brought. Even after his death he was still dragging me down.

“I’m paying you; I should know who I’m getting myself involved with,” I responded. It was for the best.

“I’ll go after their families.”

That response had me stop in my tracks and drop Stanley’s leash. It was not what I was expecting at all.

After Davis quickly retrieved Stanley’s leash, he stood in front of me waiting for anything. At this point, I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing correctly.

“What?! I’m not threatening their families!” I whisper screamed at him. People continued to pass us by on the sidewalk giving us questioning stares. I doubted they heard a single word I said, but that didn’t stop them from judging us for standing on the sidewalk.

“One of them tried to have you killed and killed your father,” he argued back.

My conscious reared its ugly head. I was better than these people. Or so I hoped to God I was. “I’m not like them.”

Stanley rubbed his head across my leg in what I hoped was an attempt to comfort me. We all continued our walk towards the park, this time with Davis holding onto Stanley’s leash since I couldn’t even hold myself together. “That’s exactly why they’re two steps ahead. They don’t care who they have to go through to reach their goal. They were willing to kill you to keep your father quiet.”

He was right. I hated to admit that the smug asshole that was the equivalent of a Gordon Setter was right. I would know. After I adopted Stanley, I went in search of all things dog and found equals for almost everyone in my life. “How would you even know whose family to threaten?” I asked in a lower voice.

With a casual shrug of his shoulders, he replied. “You go after one, they get spooked and tell the others, and that’s where we come in. You need to get them all in one place, and then I can get to work.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

We had finally made it to the park, Davis took off Stanley’s leash and tossed a ball I had no clue where he got from. I internally panicked, I wasn’t sure if my new dog would run off into the world without a second look back at me. Surprisingly, he took off after the small ball, retrieved it and sat it at Davis’ feet.

And when the hell did he learn to do that?

After tossing the ball once again, Davis turned to face me. “Do you really need a reason to throw a party? I thought that’s all you Americans did.” With that, he turned back to Stanley who was patiently waiting. “You’re a good boy aren’t ye mate? Take care of your new mum.”

“Let me know when you have everything ready,” Davis told me as he stood back up. “For now, I’ll focus on Janet, and you focus on a gathering.”

He didn’t even let me respond before he began walking away.

With a heavy sigh, I conceded. I would need to speak to Nate. If anyone could throw a last-minute party in honor of Benjamin, it’d be him. If I attempted to do so, suspicion would arise and I didn’t need that. Not now.

“Men are trash Stanley, never kneel for any of them,” I whispered to my dog.

******

After dropping Stanley off at my apartment, and a quick shower, I headed down to the office. This time there was no Janet to provide a fake greeting, with her fake ass smile. Instead, there was a young man who introduced himself as Dex.

I didn’t think he was aware of who I was yet, because the first thing that came out of his mouth was a flirtatious comment. He probably didn’t know I was five to seven years his senior either. He looked like he was still in college.

“Mr. Hayes,” a booming voice came from behind me. I turned back to see Nathaniel Peters standing at his door in all his beautiful glory with a scowl directed right at Dex Hayes. “I’m sure Miss Sommers would appreciate you keeping your d**k away from her.”

Turning back towards Dex, he was a bumbling mess, his cheeks had blossomed a cute pink and I had to repress a laugh. I walked into Nate’s office, sat in a chair while he talked to his new assistant. With a click of the lock, he walked behind his desk and took a seat as his throne.

“So, Dex is cute,” I laughed.

“He’s on the verge of being fired if he doesn’t stay away from you,” he responded.

“Practice what you preach Nathaniel, you didn’t keep your d**k away from me.”

That managed to wipe the scowl away from his face, replaced with a lopsided grin that had me clenching my thighs together.

Before he could respond with an inappropriate comment about his d**k, I told him what I was really here for. “You’ll be throwing a party in honor of my father next weekend.” I didn’t phrase it as a question, I knew better than to give him the option to say no.

“And why would I do that?” He asked, leaning forward, grasping his hands and placing his elbows on his desk.

I had to lean back in my chair he was so suffocating. He knew exactly what he was doing, with his perfect f*****g face, his chiseled jaw, his shiny eyes, and that damn near panty dropping smile.

I shrugged my shoulder pretending that he had zero effect on me. “To celebrate life. To honor Benjamin Sommers’ contribution to the world. I don’t care what reason you give people but you’ll make it happen.”

“What are you up to?” he questioned me with slitted eyes. He knew I was up to something; he just didn’t know what. And it would stay that way unless I said so.

An innocent smile crossed my face. “What could I possibly be up to? People have been known to overestimate me, remember?” I repeated the same words he said to me when I came here to choose my new office. They stung then; they meant nothing to me now. I didn’t have to prove myself anymore to anyone, because I knew I was enough.

“Rowan,” he warned in a dangerously low tone that had me wondering if I should get down on my knees now or later.

“Yes, Nathaniel?” I answered with a bat of my eyes. This was like the world's most casual foreplay. He pushed my buttons, I pushed his right back, and then we’d have really great mind-blowing s*x.

Only, I knew better now. I was handling my issues like a healthy person, and not like a s*x crazed maniac.

“You’re playing a dangerous game.” Nate was the classic Doberman. He was powerful, fearless, and fearsome, everything that beautiful dog was. Except when trained properly, they could be sweet and affectionate. Nate just had to be trained properly.

I leaned forward resting my chin in my hand, which took him by surprise. The small glint in his eyes told me he was enjoying this repartee. “See, that’s the problem. Everyone assumes I’m playing games when if I were to hypothetically be doing anything, I’d be going for throats,” I said as I ran my finger down his neck stopping just slightly over his collared shirt.

“I like this side of you,” Nate confessed as he grabbed my hand in his.

Slowly pulling my hand back, I responded honestly. “This was always me. I simply chained myself away for others. But not anymore.”

“Have dinner with me?” That took me by surprise. I thought we were just playing, flirtatiously skirting around the s****l tension but not acting on it. Not after the last time.

I shook my head, warding off the dirty thoughts that were already crossing my mind. For f***s sake he asked me to dinner, not to his bed. “Nate, you and I would never work. Nothing can ever happen between us, why can’t you see that?”

“Something already did happen between us and I thought it was spectacular,” he grinned.

“I’ll resent you. I’ll always resent you.” We would never work. He may have worked out a deal with Benjamin, but I’ll always feel as if I was cheated out of something. Granted, I didn’t want anything to do with this place anymore, so maybe it wasn’t that bad.

“Hate s*x is great s*x,” he argued back.

“You’re so—ugh.” I couldn’t even think of anything as my brain turned to mush. He was good at that. Nate used his imposing aura to get what he wanted and he was so close right now.

“I’m so what? Say it. You know you want to, so why deny yourself? We could be great together. Just think about it, my fingers, my mouth, my c**k, all for you.”

Jesus Christ. If his goal was to make me wet, I was there as soon as I laid eyes on him, now I was like a dog in heat. I wanted all of that. My lady parts wanted all of him. Would this be counting as a step back, or just fulfilling my lust filled desires?

“I—you can’t just say stuff like that,” I stuttered. When did I begin allowing men to turn me into a twit with just a few words. No, not just any men. Only Nathaniel Peters.

“Come back to the company, as my equal.” I was not expecting that offer. I didn’t even want it, but by the surprised look that was no doubt on my face Nate probably thought it was what I had been craving.

“You want me to come back?”

“Yes.”

“I have a dog now,” I said in a weak attempt to convey the fact that I didn’t need anyone. Not even Nathaniel Peters.

“I like dogs.”