The Banker (Banker 1)

She waited patiently for an answer.

As if I hadn’t just experienced a vivid fantasy, I answered her. “Leave it as it is.” I left the office and guided her to the last room in my home—my bedroom. It took up half of the third floor, having an Alaskan king bed, a private living room, a balcony that overlooked the backyard, and a bathroom that was big enough for a gym.

It was the only time she’d slightly cowered on the tour. She stepped inside my room and looked at the bed for a long moment before she appraised the barren walls around it. The bed was custom-made and shipped across the pond. It was nine feet by nine feet, perfect for more than two guests at a time.

It was the exact reason I had it.

Siena must have pieced that information together, but she didn’t comment on it. She moved through the rooms and examined the other spots. She scribbled notes then came back to me. “You have a beautiful home, Cato. Decorating it should be no problem, especially when it’ll look amazing no matter what hangs on the walls.”

“Thank you.” I stood near the foot of the bed, reflecting on the last kiss we’d shared. We’d stepped off the elevator, and then my lips were on hers. I smothered her with hot kisses as I guided her back to the bed. I’d kissed a lot of women, but she was exceptional.

She’d said she didn’t want to sleep with me just for the job, and I believed her. If that were the case, she would have gone through with it—including Christina. But she was sincerely offended at the thought of sharing, and that drove her away.

I could slip my hand into her hair and kiss her then and there. I could rumple the sheets with our sweaty bodies. I could make her come just the way I fantasized about. But being with one woman hadn’t been my taste in a long time. It became too boring to be exciting. Now I always had two women at once—and even that was becoming tedious.

Siena wouldn’t be any different.

She scribbled some notes then came back to me. “Since this room is primarily just for you, I thought we could go with dark and sultry images, of women and historic landscapes, unless there was something you specifically had in mind. I have a few clients who prefer to decorate entire rooms inspired by a single artist.”

I heard everything she said, but I didn’t really take it in. I watched her lips move and focused on the way her sexy mouth opened and closed. Glimpses of her tongue reminded me of the way it felt in my mouth. “Whatever you think is best.”

Bates joined me at the bar. Instead of going to the club right away, we met up for a drink in Florence. I left Tuscany because I had work to do in one of our offices in the city. Bates was managing another just down the road. The trouble with having a big company was two people weren’t enough to keep it running. Neither one of us trusted anyone else to delegate any high-profile work, so it always fell to us two.

Bates clinked his glass against mine. “How’d it go with Siena?”

She’d been on my mind a lot lately. It surprised me how she could walk into my home and remain professional, when our initial meeting had been anything of the sort. Maybe she was just trying to get a job at the time, but no woman kissed like that unless she enjoyed it. The fact that I had no idea what she was thinking or what she wanted was a turn-on in itself. Women were so brazen with me, throwing themselves at me with little respect for themselves.

Siena was different.

“Took her on a tour of the house. She already has a lot of ideas.” I stared at the TV in the corner and ignored the woman who was staring at me from across the bar. I had a whole phone book of women I could contact for a dirty night. There wasn’t much excitement in the chase anymore. Like an animal that already had a carcass by its side, there was no reason to go out and keep hunting.

“Married?”

“No idea.” I never asked because I didn’t care if a woman was married. Her husband could hate me all he wanted, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he didn’t want his woman to hook up with someone else, he should be a better husband.

“Boyfriend?”

I took another drink. “Does it matter?”

“I suppose not.” He rested both of his arms on the table as he fisted his glass.

I still wanted to fuck this woman, but I didn’t have any claim on her. I’d never made a claim on any woman in my life. It would be strange to start now. “But since she works for me, lay off.”