C H A P T E R O N E
S O M E T H I N G M I S S I N G
THE ACCOUNTS report spreads a smile on my face.
My company is doing well. It's doing more than well. Not to mention the income the subsidiaries bring in.
The partnership with my sister's and brother's companies have thrived...
I'm richer than ever!
That thought simmers and slides the grin off my face.
I'm richer than ever.
Somehow, that part of the success doesn't thrill me. There's only much money a man needs.
I've no need for the amount of money I make.
I give to charity, I build schools, improve orphanages. That makes me happy.
Still though, the lingering sensation of something missing nags me.
"Mr. Kane?"
I look up, noting my secretary's frown making one appear on my face.
"What is it, Carla?"
She pursed her lips. "Dominique is demanding to see you."
Now I see why she looks like she bit into a lemon expecting sugarcane.
"Send her in," I sigh, avidly ignoring her face of displeasure.
Carla's like a big sister to me, so naturally, she despises Dominique.
Sloan hates her even more. She told me that if I didn't do something about her, that I'd come in to work one day, and find her simmering in a pot of acid.
Direct quote.
A floral scent surrounds me, announcing her presence.
Unlike most cliché relationships of this variety, Dominique didn't bathe in perfume. She didn't have a squeaky voice.
No, she was sophisticated, and graceful. Her voice was just the right tempo.
She was perfect.
On the outside, that is.
Inside, her greed could not be quelled. Inside, she smelled of decaying flesh, her morality falling off the bone.
Inside, she was rotten.
"Hey Sebby," she purred, taking measured steps in high heels toward me.
"Dominique," I replied coolly.
"Why the long face? Are you not happy to see me?"
I appraised her, as if thoughtfully. I was really just making her sweat. I knew her inside and out.
I'd seen it a thousand times.
"As a matter of fact, no."
Her expression dropped.
"What's the matter?" I cooed. "The truth making it hard to play coy?"
Huffing, she plopped on my lap.
I allowed her, not wanting to exert the efforts to get her off me.
"But Sebby,"
Frustration ran rampant through me, the hole in my chest thumping painfully.
In the beginning, I let Dominique play her game, I wanted this hole painted over.
She could never fill it; she didn't have enough substance. She didn't have enough substance within herself to fill anyone else.
But now, as I'm getting older, all she does is remind me what I'm trying to gloss over.
She's a bandaid over a bullet hole, and the resulting infection is reminding me that she did nothing but made it worse.
"Dominique, it's over between us—"
"You say that all the time—"
"And for that, I'm truly sorry. But I can't do this anymore, okay? You and I are not permanent. I think I need permanent."
Her brow dipped, her lip turning up disgust.
The only thing Dominique L'Tri wants permanently, is money.
"Fine. Call me when you change your mind."
She flounced out, self assured.
That didn't bother me though.
What bothered me, was the fact that me going back on my word had become predictable.
I OPEN THE door to the club, the strobing lights blinding me. Withholding a cringe, I greeted my friends, exchanging bro-hugs.
"Glad you could make it Seb," My best friend, Rick yelled over the music.
"Glad I could make it too," I joked.
"Shut up ya goof," he laughed, shoving me.
Rick led me up to the VIP floor, insisting that the drinks up there were much better.
I asked why and he puffed his chest out in pride.
"I made it that way,"
So we sat on the VIP floor, overlooking the crowd. We were scanning the dance floor when I felt a sharp jab in side.
"Hey!" I cried.
"Look," he nodded toward a pair of women both beautiful but in different ways.
"Which one?" I asked.
"The blonde,"
But the blonde didn't interest me. It was the Goddess next to her, that caught my attention.
In fact, I didn't even see the blonde next to her until Rick pointed her out.
All I saw
Was her.
Her hair was a black mass of curls that framed her face and floated down her back ethereally.
Her body was perfectly imperfect. Her build wasn't slim as such, but her assets weren't at all proportionate.
She small but curvy, and...soft.
She looked so soft.
A thrumming in my blood started, a hum in my brain. I felt that hole, that gap, close just the slightest little bit.
Waving over a waiter, my eyes trained on her, I told him to give her a drink and put her on my tab for the rest of the night.
"What's her limit, Mr. Kane?"
My eyes don't stray from her, as I answer him.
"There is no limit. Give her what she wants until I tell you otherwise."
He nodded, scurrying away.
I watched as the woman looked suspiciously at the drink the waiter gave her, making him point up at me.
Amber eyes followed his finger and locked on mines.
'Thanks' she mouthed, smirking. Than she downed the drink and winked at me.
She didn't look at me for the rest of the night.
THE NEXT FEW nights were torture. Every night for the next week was the same routine.
I'd send her a drink, she'd look up at me, wink, mouth thanks, and ignore me.
She also never bought another drink once it was clear that she wasn't getting one if I didn't buy it.
We had been playing this game, and I was ready to make the final move.
As every other night, we did our little dance, and then things took a turn for...interesting.
Rick nudges me, directing me to my Goddess.
A new song had just started, I hadn't been paying attention, but when I listened carefully, I placed it.
Pillow Talk blared from the speakers, and she screamed in excitement.
She dragged her friend the center of the stage, and took the floor. Her body swayed and dipped and twisted in all sorts of naughty ways.
She grinned, throwing her back, her eyes closed. My jaw clenched tight, watching her body make love to the beat.
I made my way down. Tonight will be the last night I just watch. Tonight she will be mine.
What do you think so far?
