Possessive Boss

“Doing this stuff off books is a little more than just about privacy.”

“Look, I get what you’re saying, but we have clients that make all sorts of requests. We accommodate most of them.”

Jacob frowns. “Most of them. Not all. I just want—”

“Look, man, you gotta trust me. My dad wouldn’t send us a bunch of assholes for clients, you know what I mean? These guys have money and they’re looking for a place to grow that money. That’s what we do, right?”

“Right. But we do it—”

“So we’ll take their money.” Darin’s talking fast, like he doesn’t want to hear Jacob’s replies. “We’ll grow it, make our commission, everyone’s happy. Why does it matter who they are? I’m not asking questions.”

“Come on, you have to know how strange that looks.”

“You never pressured me on this before.”

Jacob winces. “I was never sent to a meeting before.”

“True. Maybe that was a mistake.”

“Darin, I have a right to know about these things.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course you do, brother. I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated. Been a long day.”

Jacob lets out a breath. “Look, give me their details. I’ll research them and see if they’re legit. If they’re good to go, we’ll move forward. Is that reasonable?”

“All right. Okay, yeah, fine. I’ll make that happen.”

“Good. I appreciate that.”

“Cool. Okay. I’ll email you the info. I gotta call my dad and all that first.”

“Right. I’ll talk to you later then.”

“And hey, good job with the office. I hear it’s going great so far.”

Jacob looks at me, a little smile on his face. “So far, so good. I’ve recruited some solid talent.”

“I bet you have.” Darin laughs. “All right, man. Talk to you later.”

“Later.”

They hang up the phone. Jacob stares at it for a long moment.

“He didn’t want to tell me who they are,” he says.

“I’m sorry.” I linger a few feet away, cradling my wine.

“And when I pushed, he tried to dodge even harder.” He looks at me. “You heard him. He almost… threatened to cut me out.”

“I know.”

“He’s never done that before. I don’t understand it.”

“They’re mafia.” I stare at him. “You have to realize it.”

“I understand how it looks.”

“Jacob—”

He shakes his head and puts up a hand. “No more,” he says. “Enough of this for tonight. Please, I’m exhausted. We can talk about it more later.”

I stare at him for a moment and nod slowly. “Okay, yeah. This is a lot. I shouldn’t have dropped it all on you. I shouldn’t have asked to listen in.”

“It’s fine. I don’t regret that. Darin’s just not normally so… evasive.” He sighs and rubs his eyes. “Look, I’ll walk you out.”

“Sure.” I put my wine down and he comes over, but the intense warmth we felt a moment ago seems to be gone. I can feel how conflicted he is, how angry he feels.

I can only imagine what he’s going through. Finding out that his best friend is connected to the mafia and potentially bringing in bad business behind his back can’t feel good. In fact, it must be a pretty horrible revelation.

But just because it’s horrible doesn’t mean it’s not true. And fortunately for me, he’s strong enough to face it instead of running away.

We walk to the elevator and he hits the call button. We linger there, him leaning against the wall looking exhausted.

“Just so you know… I want him to be innocent too,” I say.

He looks up. “Oh, yeah? You and him go way back?”

I shake my head. “For your sake, really. It doesn’t matter for me personally either way, although it would be nice to know that someone isn’t out there laundering money for the mafia.”

He laughs a little. “Yeah, true.”

“I just, I know I dropped this on you. I don’t want this to hurt you.”

He shakes his head. “I can handle this. Believe me. I’m dealing, and I’m going to deal. If Darin’s doing something shady, I’m going to find out.”

“I believe you.”

The elevator arrives and I step on. He lingers in the door, keeping it open. “Come here.”

I step close to him. He reaches back and grabs my hair gently, pulling me close. He kisses me. “Night, Valerie.”

“Good night.”

He lets me go. I step back in and he steps back. The doors slide shut. I see him smiling slightly just as they close.

The elevator shifts and begins to descend.

I lean against the wall and close my eyes. This is so complicated already. I don’t know how I got myself in this position, why I ever said yes to this assignment. It was a stupid mistake, letting them talk me into coming here.

But I’m happy they did. If Mr. Gauge hadn’t chosen me for this, I never would’ve met Jacob… and I never would’ve felt this way.

It’s a double-edged sword. But god, does it feel good anyway.8JacobI spend the rest of the night and all the next day mulling over my problem. It’s late in the day and nearly everyone has left for the night. Val glances at me before she heads home, and I can read the uncertainty and worry in her eyes. I don’t return her gaze.