Bound Beneath His Pain (Dirty Little Secrets 1)

“Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry,” I mutter, exiting Holt’s elevator the next morning, banging into the four large men occupying the space. As the doors shut behind me, I exhale a long breath, stifled by all the testosterone that surrounded me on the way up to my floor.

I push the hair off my face, reminding myself of the text Liv sent me ten minutes ago. Go see Kevin—he’s got a lead that might work for the Lowes. Our department. Fifth office on the right. He’s waiting for you. I find the reception area surprisingly quiet, and hurry past, making my way down the hallway, but the offices are empty, too. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s been a zombie apocalypse I don’t know about, when I stop in front of the fifth office on the right, glad there’s a person inside. “Kevin?”

A twenty-something young man sits behind his desk. He lifts his head and smiles. “Hi. Allie, right?”

“Yup.” I enter his office, taking a seat in front of his desk. His office is quite a bit smaller than Liv’s and mine, confirming that Micah gave us a bigger office to keep us together. At least, I hope that’s why and it’s not because he thought impressing me would win him a date. Pushing my paranoia aside, I cross my legs, pulling my white skirt over my knee. “Liv tells me that you have a lead on a house coming onto the market.”

Kevin adjusts his red bow tie against his plaid dress shirt, sighing at the stacks of paperwork on his desk. “Yeah, I do. Or I might, I should say. My clients are on the fence if they want to sell now or wait for the fall. But when Liv sent the email around for what your clients want, the house I have fits their needs perfectly.” He rummages through the pile of papers on his desk. “Give me a sec. I’ve got it here somewhere.”

I fight my smile, beginning to understand why Holt merged with Richardson. My old boss had proven to know the magic in the residential side of real estate. Holt needs to step up their game, if Kevin is any indicator of their agents.

“Aha,” Kevin finally exclaims. “Here it is.” He offers me a wrinkled piece of paper.

I smooth it out and glance at the newly renovated two-story house, scanning over the details. I mentally check off all of the Lowes’ wants. “You’re right. T

his is pretty much perfect.” I look away from the paper to Kevin. “Why are your clients hesitant to sell?”

“Money, of course.” Kevin picks up his cellphone and clearly types a response to a message before continuing. “They wonder if they’ll get more in the fall, even though I’m telling them they won’t.”

“I take it, then, they want full asking price?” Which is four million.

Kevin nods. “They won’t budge, not even by a penny. But the house is worth it, so no one is getting screwed over here.” He pushes his glasses up on his nose. “And your clients? Are they easy to work with?”

I half shrug. “I showed them a handful of houses that I thought were perfect yesterday, but Mrs. Lowe is pickier than she initially let on. No wiggle room here. I need to find her exactly what she’s looking for, and it has to have the wow factor.”

Kevin draws in a deep breath before speaking again. “All right, having a potential buyer set up might push my clients to make a move.” He pauses, brows furrowed until he slaps a hand on the desk. “Let me talk to them, and if they’re interested we can set up a showing. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.” I smile. “A win-win for Holt.”

Kevin laughs, giving a soft nod. “The higher-ups love when we represent both sides of a deal. We’ll each get a gift certificate for dinner if the deal closes.”

“Really? That’s nice of Holt.”

“Not Holt,” Kevin corrects. “The gift card comes directly from Micah.”

My open mouth shuts, words lost to me. I guess I didn’t expect Micah to be so in tune with his employees. Usually the higher-ups don’t deal with the employees who make all the money for them.

Another surprise from Micah.

Another damn check mark unchecked.

“You two are late. Better get moving.”

I glance over my shoulder, finding the receptionist Anna standing in the doorway. She frowns at Kevin, her topknot bun pulling her forehead tight. “You know how Mr. Holt feels about anyone working during this time.” Her gaze slides to me, creases on her mouth deepen. “You don’t, so I’ll tell you: Mr. Holt gets really annoyed if he finds anyone working during Holt’s Day. Past employees have been written up.”

I scrunch my nose. “Holt’s Day?”

Kevin rises from his desk, moving around the side and heading toward the doorway. “Ah, you haven’t been to a Holt’s Day before. Come on, I’ll take you up.”

I rise and wait for him to exit his office first, and as I’m following him and Anna to the elevator, I find the other receptionists gone from their desks now. I’m so confused my head is beginning to hurt. “Where is everyone?” I ask.

Anna glances over her shoulders, rolling her eyes. “They’re at Holt’s Day.”

Kevin smirks, pressing the top button of the elevator. When Anna looks away to step into the elevator, he mouths, “Bitch.”

I smile and nod, following him into the elevator, and stepping in behind Kevin as he uses his keycard to access the top floor. Silence surrounds me until the doors open and then a wave of laughter and chatter wash across me.

Anna hurries away, quickly leaving us without saying a word.