Quarantine Pet - His Pet

Then I got the call.

“Hey, William,” I greeted. “What’s the latest?”

“Just wanted to touch base,” he said warily. “You and Sandra are doing some good work up there. Keep up that good work.”

“Thanks.”

“We were especially pleased that Shore Communications is going to sign with us.”

“That was a team effort,” I informed him. “Your cousin’s very sharp.”

“Yeah, she’s also very young and naïve, Jack,” William added. “Look, I get it. She’s attractive, but you have to understand how this would look at the firm, Jack. Not to mention, well, my brothers and I have family, and they would certainly have questions. I need you to be on your best behavior, okay?”

“Have I given you any reason to think otherwise?”

“Yes. You arranged this entire thing, so she’d be alone with you in the Hamptons. I seriously doubt you would’ve done that for a male associate,” William concluded.

“Oh, pish-posh, William,” I dismissed. “Of course, I would have. If the person was single and had no kids.”

“Is Sandra the only one of your team that —”

“I’m not sure, but I knew her better and knew she had no kids to go home to,” I continued, not giving William a chance to think. “I picked your cousin because out of the three associates I was working with, she was the best. She’s the sharpest tack in the drawer.”

“She is brilliant, but —”

“But nothing, I won’t hear of it. Sandra’s a creative genius when you get right down to it,” I gushed. “Really thinks outside the box.”

William started to stammer. I had put him on the defensive using a technique I had developed in the courtroom to lead witnesses. Find something you know they agree with and then pushing them forward with a concept you need to sell to them.

“Surely, I mean, my brothers and I, we don’t disagree…”

“I don’t know. She’s been invaluable. If I were you three, I’d start working on a plan to keep her in the family business. You don’t want a situation where she’s out-competing with you someday. She is younger, keep in mind.”

“Competing? Well, Sandra wouldn’t do that,” William laughed nervously.

“Of course, she would! She would have to do it so not as to collude with you guys,” Jack informed him. “She can’t collude with another firm. You can’t disagree with that!”

“Maybe I should talk to my brothers…”

“You haven’t? All this time? Wow. Just wow, William,” I said, planting the seed.

William made a hasty retreat off the phone. I hated to verbally steamroll him like that, but I didn’t want him pressing me on Sandra. The less I had to directly lie to the bosses, the better, even if I did have plausible deniability.

Unfortunately, the phone call put things in a new light. The Brothers weren’t stupid. Eventually, they’d redouble their efforts in making sure I didn’t end up hooking up with their cousin. Perhaps this entire incident had been a mistake.

For now, I would stay clear of Sandra. She would just have to understand that our situation needed to remain professional. Unfortunately, I was worried that I had already taken it too far.

Chapter Nine – Sandra

The next morning, I was anxious to get taught some more knots from Jack, but he was very standoffish. At first, I figured it was just the mountain of work we had ahead of us. He was very professional, as was I, but I kept waiting for a moment that we could have a break together. It never happened.

When I went into the kitchen to eat lunch with him, Jack had already made his plate and was headed back to his desk in the home office. Maybe this was part of the buildup. He wanted me to anticipate and wouldn’t know when it was coming.

At dinner, by the time I got into the dining room, he had already eaten and left a plate of food for me. We were in the same house and he actually started emailing and texting. What the hell was going on here? Was this some kind of game?

For two days, I played along, expecting Jack to break at some point. I kept convincing myself it was all an act and that his attitude was part of the “long con” in his fetish. He had to torture me at a distance, pretending to be uninterested and then — bam! Sex.

But the sex and the knots never came, and neither did I. In frustration, I called up Isabella to get a read on things. Isabella was good at spotting weirdos and lunatics. Plus, I figured if Jack was already cheating on me, she might stumble into his side piece.

“This is all part of his seduction, maybe,” suggested Bella. “I mean, if a guy ties you up, he might leave you there for a while, ya know? Then, just when you can’t stand it, he walks into the room and bam!”