Page 48 of Mine To Possess
I talked about how angry and saddened I was about the loss of life, and about how someone must know something, and pleaded with them to come forward.
I made all of the right comments about the investigation, saying the police were doing their best and that they had a few lines of enquiry ongoing and so on – it was all bullshit of course, but it was what they had told me - and the interview made the front page of the local newspaper. The photo and a few direct quotes from the interview have made other papers too and at least now the journalists seem to have lost interest in me for the most part. I guess the scoop isn’t much use when you’re not the first one to get it.
I’ve filed a claim on my insurance for the building and its contents, and I already have a team in place starting to work on the rebuilding of the restaurant. And it’s going to be a total reconstruction. The place pretty much burned to the ground and the empty shell the fire left behind was deemed unsafe. My developer knocked the shell to the ground, and he now has a team of contractors working around the clock to rebuild the building.
All of the staff from the restaurant who survived the fire have been given a generous compensation payment, and anyone who needed hospitalization has had their bill picked up by the company. They’re all on retainers now, still getting paid their full salary on the understanding they come back to work when the new restaurant is built.
None of this is able to distract me from the fact that Jerome and his men still haven’t been able to find Igor. Fucking Igor. He’s the bane of my existence and it really pisses me off to know I gave that son of a bitch a chance and I am now living to regret it. It’s like he’s just vanished into thin air. But he hasn’t. He’s not his father. He’s a spoiled, entitled little shit, and he’ll fuck up somewhere along the line and reveal himself… and when he does, I’ll be waiting. I’d feel better if that was sooner rather than later though. After the picture of Amelia and me appeared in the newspapers, it became clear I have someone I care about.
Someone who can be used against me.
I have barely let Amelia out of my sight since the fire. Of course, I have to go to work, but while I’m there, I’m confident she’s safe. She works exclusively from my home estate now. I have convinced her to begin studying to be a lawyer. I have increased the security on my estate, and I know she’s safe there. As soon as we finish work, we spend the evenings together.
She wants to go out tonight though.
I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t be put off. She said she refuses to live like a recluse and if I don’t want to go out, she’ll go out on her own. That persuaded me. How can I keep her safe if I’m not even with her? We’re going to one of my clubs. Although I’m a little nervous about Amelia’s safety, I’m also kind of looking forward to it. It’ll be nice to think about something other than Igor.
“You’re still not ready,” Amelia says, sticking her head around my office door.
She’s wearing a dress I bought for her. A black dress that clings to her curves and shows off her amazing legs. Suddenly, I don’t want to go out. She looks fucking amazing in that dress, but she’d look so much better out of it. I know she’s got her heart set on going out though. I shut down the computer, stand up and smile at her.
“I only have to change my shirt.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before and then it takes you like two hours to get ready,” she says, giving me a teasing smile that makes me want to rip that dress right off her.
I pause on the way past her to kiss her. She presses herself against me and kisses me back. She pulls away long before I’m ready for the kiss to end.
“Go,” she orders with a laugh.
“See, this is why everything takes so long. You stand there all irresistible and shit,” I laugh as I head for the bedroom.
“Of course, it’s got nothing to do with you not being able to choose which shirt to wear,” she calls after me.
“Look at you projecting.” I’m still laughing to myself as I get to my bedroom. I don’t take long to get ready at all. I pull out the first shirt I see. It’s a plain black one. Yeah, it’ll do. I change into it, spray some cologne, and go to the living room where Amelia is waiting for me.
“See. That wasn’t bad, was it?” I say.
“No, but it was only because you were trying to make a point.” She grins. “Now, let’s go before you start thinking about getting changed into something different.”
“Why would I get changed? Don’t you like this shirt?” I ask.
“It’s fine. You look great,” Amelia says.
“Ah, you’re just saying that aren’t you. I should change it.”
“No. Really. It's fine,” Amelia says, the frustration showing on her face.
I start to laugh. “Got you.”
She shoves me playfully. “Come on then.”
“Yeah, let’s go before you beat me up.”
Amelia laughs and shakes her head. My driver is already waiting for us, and I grab my keys, wallet, and cell phone. Then we step out of the door and hurry to the car. We head out to the club with Amelia chattering away about how it’s been so long since she’s been out. I remind her it wasn’t that long ago when I took her to the launch night of another of my clubs.
“That was ages ago,” she says with an adorable little pout.
26