Before she can say anything though, there’s a sound from inside.
“He must be here,” I say.
“Who?” she asks, groaning.
“Come on. You’d better meet him.”
I head inside with Aria on my heels. “I don’t like surprises,” she whispers.
“It’s okay,” I say, leading her back to the kitchen.
Standing over the table is a short man with graying hair and a tasteful goatee. He’s a little on the heavy side, although not fat. His suit is gray and slightly rumpled, but I know it’s expensive. He probably just slept in it again last night.
“Aria, meet Heinz,” I say. “Heinz, this is her.”
Heinz looks over at Aria with his light gray eyes. He nods to himself and doesn’t smile. That’s what I love about Heinz, that serious Germanic attitude.
“Very good,” he says, his accent thick. “We shall get started.”
“Get started?” Aria asks me. “What is this?”
“Heinz is my lawyer,” I explain. “We’re finalizing our little deal.”
“Very strange little deal!” Heinz exclaims. “Very strange. Writing contracts for this… arrangement.” He shakes his head. “Bizarre!”
I laugh and walk over as Heinz pulls papers from his briefcase. Aria hesitates, but she joins us, sitting down in a chair across from Heinz.
“Come on, this isn’t the strangest thing you’ve ever done for me.”
“Oh, no, no, it definitely is,” Heinz says. “Very much so, the strangest. And so much money?”
“Heinz,” I say, still smiling.
“Yes, right, I know. You don’t pay for my opinion, just my paperwork.” He rolls his eyes. “What kind of man has a lawyer but doesn’t ask for legal advice from him, eh?”
“This man,” I say. “Is that the contract?”
“Yes, yes.” Heinz holds the papers up, showing them to Aria. “Straightforward, yes? Five million dollars one week from signing so long as you fulfill the stipulations.” He looks at me. “She knows the stipulations?”
“Yes, but you should go over them with her anyway.”
“Right, of course.” He passes her a copy and walks around the table. “Here it is, very plain language, as you can see. You shall spend one week with Brady here, exclusively. No other men, he made that very clear.” As Heinz explains, he jabs his pudgy finger at various different paragraphs and sub-sections. He flips through the pages as he goes.
“Here is the odd bit,” he says, glancing at me. “This is where you agree to refer to Brady as your, ah, Daddy.”
I frown. “That’s not quite right. She’ll just be calling me Daddy.”
He clears his throat. “That’s correct, yes, yes. See here, right here.” He points at the page. “I was merely, ah… explaining.”
I check out the paragraph, and he’s right. “Okay then.”
He clears his throat. “So you see, Aria, dear. You spend a week with him, call him, ah, Daddy, and you get five million.” He clears his throat again. “Any questions?”
I grin at Aria. Heinz is so clearly uncomfortable. I almost feel bad for him.
She sighs. “Did you really need this?” she asks me.
“It’s for both of our protection.”
“Still, putting this deal in writing….” She trails off, frowning.
“It is okay, Aria, okay,” Heinz says. “One copy will be with me, another with you, and another with Brady. Three copies total, never to see the light of day unless necessary. You see? Very safe.”
She bites her lip. “Still. I’ve never signed a contract.”
“It’s a lot of money,” I tell her. “I need to cover my bases.”
“Right.” She sighs. “Okay then.”
“Very good,” Heinz says, pushing a pen toward her and turning to the last page. “You sign here, date here, and initial each page confirming that we went over it, yes?”
She nods and signs. I watch her the whole time, my heart hammering in my chest. She initials each page, and when she’s done, she passes the contract over to me.
I stare at it for a moment. I don’t know why I’m hesitating. It’s definitely not the money. I could easily give her that amount right here and now and never really miss it.
No, it’s something else…
I take a breath and let it out. And then it hits me.
I’ve never been exclusive to a woman for an entire week before.
That probably seems silly, but I became rich at a very young age, and I just never needed or wanted to settle down before. I always had multiple women, multiple girlfriends.
It’s a stupid thing to worry about. I want this. I want Aria fucking badly. I’d happily give other women up just to get a taste of her.
So, I sign the back, date it, and initial each page.
“Good!” Heinz says. He takes the contract. “I will copy and fax, yes?”
“Email,” I grumble at him.
“Yes, email, right.” He clears his throat. “It was nice to meet you, Aria.”
“You too, Heinz.”
He gathers his things. I walk with him back to the elevator.
“Are you sure about this?” he asks me softly. “Not too late to rip it all up.”