The Love Of Money - S01 E256

Story 4 hours ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E256

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 256

Carla leveled a gaze at me, her smug little smile fading. "I'm not stupid, Marcus. He was just trying to shut me up, but whatever. I like diamonds more, but two percent of one of the largest companies in the world is a really nice present."

"Why the fuck would Hiro give you something like that, even if it's only two percent?" I asked, finding it hard to believe. "There's no way he got that desperate for sex. Couldn't he have just... I don't know... cheated?"

"I doubt there's a whore in Japan that can make Hiro feel as good as I can," Carla said with a level of confidence I'd never seen.

Erin and I looked at each other, and I could tell my assistant was impressed.

"So, you've been planning something like this for months?" I asked, hardly believing that the bottle blonde could be this much of a mastermind.

She laughed and said, "I wish! No... I was just hoping to build a little something for myself! Hiro doesn't give me money, so I've been finding different ways of squirreling it away. I have jewelry. shoes... clothes, and stock. It's not, like, life-changing or anything, but it's enough so I don't have to grovel to his snotty kids after he's gone." She gave me a predatory look, "Or enough to get away from him long enough to find someone who appreciates me more."

Then she continued, "Hiro told me about the vote and that you wanted Chandler to be CEO. He said he was gonna side with you. Then Amber showed up for dinner last night, and they talked in his office for a while. After she left, he said that we were voting for Kelly."

Carla shrugged. "I just did a little math and realized that if the numbers were right, I could make the vote a tie. When you and Astrid got back, I asked her what would happen if there was a tie, and she said Chandler would get to decide."

"You swiped my number off my phone on the off-chance you might want to text me?"

"No," Carla said. "I stole your number because you never texted me! I was just gonna vote for Chandler and hope you'd take care of me. I didn't think about messaging you till I saw your and Chandler's faces after Hiro voted."

"So... you didn't plan all this? You just got lucky?" I asked.

"Luck is the fruit of the patient and the harvest of the diligent," Carla said.

"What is that? Henry David Thoreaux? Gandhi?"

"Sierra," she replied.

A pop singer/actress. That scanned.

'So, what now?" I asked.

"Now, you keep up your end, Carla said. "Like I said, I went out on a limb. You think can go home?"

"Fuck," I muttered, turned my back on her, and started pacing the room. "How mad is he?"

"Hiro?" Carla asked. 'Pretty mad. We just screwed him out of all the stuff Kelly promised him, the stuff you promised him.. and a wife."

I whirled to face her. "A wife?"

Carla looked up at me with those soulful hazel eyes. "Like I said. you think I can go home?"

'So, you're getting a divorce," I said.

"I'm pretty sure he'd prefer being a widower over a divorcee, Carla responded. I saw Chloe raise an eyebrow at that, and Erin gaped. Carla looked at the two of them and then back at me. "Well, It's true. Hiro has ties to all sorts of gangs and criminals and stuff."

'Why'd you marry this guy if you thought he was the type who would be willing to kill you?" Erin asked.

"Well, I didn't know at the time. Besides, Carla said, leaning forward to display a tantalizing amount of cleavage as she stared at my assistant, and I caught Erin fighting to not look at the glorious sight in front of her. "Have you seen Hiro's bank account?"

Erin snorted, hazarded a glance at Carla's chest, and said, "Can't spend it if you're dead. And I'm sure it's impressive." She hiked a thumb at me. "Mine has a bigger one."

It was my turn to gape at Erin. Where the fuck did that come from?

Carla gave Erin a half smile, sat up straight, and looked back at me, 'Oh. I know. Why do vou think I turned on Hiro?"

"The disrespect and potential danger?" I suggested.

Carla shrugged, crossed one leg over the other, and sat back in her seat as she rested her hands on one knee like a proper princess. There was a tantalizing amount of bare thighs in full view. She looked me up and down like a piece of meat, gave me a prim smile, and said, "You owe me a job... and a date."

I know I would have failed to keep Chandler's position without her, but still... fuck the day I met Carla Tanaka.

Monday 6:05 pm

"Goddammit. You too?" asked.

Natashya was just zipping an overnight bag shut, but I'd come into the room just in time to catch a glimpse of clothes and tolletries. As I said the words, she looked over her shoulder at me-her mahogany eyes were the only thing I could see around the bush of wild hair and dreads as she peered my way, Irises shone with emotion... I just couldn't tell what kind of emotion it was.

I hadn't expected Emily to actually pack up and leave the apartment while I was away, but most of her stuff was missing, and with Natashya's belongings hidden away in a bag, the room had a vacant feel to it. I hated it.

"Where is she?" asked, not bothering to clarify who I was talking about. The dancer knew very well who I was referring to

"She was going to stay with a friend," Natashya said, most of her face still hidden behind her shoulder and hair, so couldn't quite get a feel for how much of the doghouse I was in. "I got a hotel room near The Starlight and told her to meet me there. I didn't want her crashing with a friend, but she wouldn't have stayed at a hotel without me."

I wasn't about to argue without knowing how she felt about the situation. "Let me pay for the room," said.

"You've done enough," she replied, returning to her bag.

"Natashya..."

She slung the bag back over her shoulder and then turned to look at me, eyebrows raised. She wasn't smirking at me like she usually did, but she wasn't scowling at me like I was week-old roadkill elther.