The Love Of Money - S01 E281

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The Love Of Money - S01 E281

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 281

Jesus… and here I’d been asking Henry the million-dollar questions when she could have simply told me over dinner the entire time. Maybe I should get her to work for me. I needed to mine her for all it was worth.

“Anything I can do to change his mind?” I asked.

“Not sleep with his wife, for starters,” Astrid said.

“Well, whether I did or not, he’s pretty sure I did, and I don’t think there’s anything I can do to convince him otherwise.”

“If you were to hand over Carla and pay him off, that would likely make him feel better, but I don’t know. He’s a prideful man.”

Two waiters attended us, and they both stepped forward to remove the dish covers and reveal a lovely collection of greens topped with a thin pink sauce, sweet potato puree, and a generous cut of lamb covered in gravy. Astrid immediately began cutting into her food, and I did the same as I considered what Astrid had to say about Hiro.

“I could talk to him for you,” Astrid said after about a minute of eating in silence. “Perhaps I could broker a talk between you on a neutral territory.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course. Hiro respects my father and likes me. I’m sure he would honor any attempt I make to bring peace between you two.”

“Is there a possibility he might take offense… maybe think you’re taking sides?” I said.

“No. Ideally, he would prefer to work with you, but forgiving you without good reason would show weakness. With my family backing a deal between you, there’s more of a chance of him seeming reasonable rather than weak.”

“No offense… why would you do that for me?” I asked.

Astrid had just shoveled a forkful of greens in her mouth and considered my question as she chewed. A bit of the dressing clung to her bottom lip, reminding me of how Erin had gone down on me not long ago, and I had a sudden flash of Astrid kneeling between my legs in place of my assistant. It didn’t help that she reached up with one slender finger, swiped the dressing and popped her finger in her mouth to suck it off.

She swallowed her bite of salad, removed her finger, and said, “I like you. You’re different from most of the people I’m around. I think you have potential and could be good for our community and the world. I think you could also be good for me.”

My face heated at the compliment, and I had to look away. That and the little display with the dressing left me curious, though. “So, are you dating anyone?”

She gave me a pleased smile and said, “Why, Marcus! What a bold question! Why would you ask such a thing?”

“Just getting to know you better,” I said.

“No,” Astrid said, shaking her head. “I’m not. In fact, I’ve never seriously dated anyone.”

That shocked me. Astrid was cool as hell, smart, and stunning. She could have had anyone; was she simply that picky, or was it something else?

She could obviously see the surprise on my face because she broke out in a mild laugh. “What about you? Any girlfriend?”

My thoughts immediately went to Danni, Natalie, and Jessica—the possibility, the opportunity gone, and the past. “I had one. She broke up with me the morning before I found out about my inheritance.”

Astrid laughed even louder as she pressed her pianist’s hands to her slender belly and leaned back in her chair. Her laughter was a lovely, melodic, infectious sound that made me chuckle along with her.

“God,” Astrid said when she settled down a few moments later. “That poor girl… what horrible timing!”

“I think about it every day,” I said. “I know she does, too.”

“What happened to her?”

I recalled passing her around to my friends and then fucking her while she ate out my sexy little assistant, but I wasn’t sure how hardcore this girl was yet, so I simply said, “I hired her to clean my apartment. She starts this weekend.”

Astrid had just taken a drink of champagne and had to press her fingers to her lips to keep it from escaping as she snorted.

“Savage!” She said after swallowing the alcohol. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

“Hey, at least I didn’t have her killed,” I said, referring to Hiro.

“Some might prefer that, I think,” Astrid said. Then she canted her head to the side and watched me. “So… no significant other, then?”

“Some are asking,” I said, “but I haven’t given anyone an answer.”

“Good,” Astrid said with a nod. Her comment was so definitive that it made me wonder if she was about to try to make a claim. I entertained the possibility of dating someone like her, and I didn’t hate the idea.

“You should stay away from dating for a while,” she said, immediately shattering the illusion.

“Why do you say that?”

“So you can take some time to have some fun… sow your wild oats.”

I eyed her. “My dad said that’s not an actual thing and just gives people an excuse to be selfish at the expense of missing out on meaningful growth and relationship building.”

“Your father sounds boring.”

Nodding, I said, “He is, but boring doesn’t mean wrong.”

“Everyone deep down wants to sow their wild oats. Only, some of them never get the opportunity. Either they’re poor and don’t have the opportunities that the well-off do or are burdened with responsibilities. Some of them are scared into not being allowed to experience their baser urges because they’re taught that a man in the sky is waiting for them to mess up so he can curse them with eternal damnation.”

“We’re different. We have the means to do whatever we want. Go sleep with that movie star or model. Go be that mysterious rich person who sleeps with that naive barista in a foreign country. Buy a business and burn it to the ground. Base jump off a skyscraper. Succumb to some of your darker desires. You’re the wealthiest man in the world, Marcus. The world is your oyster.”

“Darker desires, huh?” I said.

Astrid took a sip of her coffee. “Like I said—everyone has them.”

I thought about Bobbi and how I had already explored some of those sinister cravings. I would be lying if I said I completely hated it, but there’s no way I would admit it to anyone other than maybe Helen or Erin. I certainly wasn't going to confide in the classy, blonde heiress sitting across the table from me. I couldn’t imagine a single malevolent impulse hidden away in such a classy woman’s mind. Although, Danni surprised me, so…

“What are some of your darker urges?” I asked.

She smiled at me over her glass of champagne, taking a sip before replying, “You haven’t earned that kind of information yet.”

“So, maybe when we’ve gotten to know each other better?” I asked, taking a few more bites of my dinner.

“Perhaps,” she said. We spent the next few moments in silence as we ate. The waiters, caddies, and bodyguards were just far enough away to give us a modicum of privacy as we had our date.

“Speaking of sowing wild oats, have you thought about having sex with me?” Astrid asked out of the blue.

The question made me gasp involuntarily, which was unfortunate because I was halfway through chewing on a mouthful of lamb. I coughed a couple of times, clearing my esophagus and swallowing my food as I gaped at her. I hadn’t expected that level of candidness.

She giggled. “You heard me. I’ve certainly thought of it.” She looked out at the green. “Would you do it right now?”

“Here?” I asked. “Now?”

“Here,” she repeated. “Now.”

“I…” I glanced at everyone else nearby; the waiters and caddies were quietly talking among each other, while Chloe and the other two security agents with her were silently watching the surrounding area, occasionally glancing at us. None of them seemed to have any clue what we were talking about.

“Oh,” Astrid said, “I would send them all away. Unless you were into that sort of thing.”

“Good luck trying to send Chloe away,” I said. “She hardly lets me leave her sight these days. Anyway, it’s not like she hasn’t seen it before.”

“You mean… you and her?” Astrid asked, her white-gold eyebrows arched.

“No,” I shook my head. “She’s seen me with others, though. Like I said, it’s hard to separate us since the kidnapping.”

“The kidnapping… I heard about that,” she said. “Are you recovering?”

“Yeah,” I said, chewing on my lip as I considered what I could tell Astrid. She’d been insightful regarding Hiro, after all. Maybe she’d have some thoughts on the new developments on the kidnapping that Psalter brought to light. “I think both my kidnappers were at the board meeting.”

“Who?”

“Amber Bell and Roger VanCamp,” I said.

“Seriously?”

I hesitated and explained what I knew to Astrid, leaving nothing out. She was a good listener, paying attention to every word with acute detail and chiming in vocally at the appropriate times. It felt good to tell someone the entire story from start to finish, ending with my confusion that there was evidence of Amber in Alexandria at the exact same time that she was interrogating me in Las Vegas. As frustrating as that was, though, Amber was a mystery for another day. My bigger concern was Roger and how to handle him now that I knew for sure that he was the one who had kidnapped me. After all, not only had he been involved in my kidnapping, but he’d openly threatened me at the party. He was also applying pressure to keep Helen from me and harboring Ashlee, who I suspected still knew more about the kidnapping than I did.

“Well,” Astrid said, rubbing her hands together as she absorbed everything I said. “You certainly can’t have him arrested.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s one of your lawyers. He probably knows where a lot of the proverbial bodies are buried. Roger could make life difficult for you, your company, and everyone you care about. He’s also well connected.”

“What do you suggest?” I asked.

“My father taught me never to suggest anything illicit or illegal,” Astrid said. “That advice has served our family well. All I will say is that you have Hiro Tanaka coming after you. If you can’t handle someone like Roger VanCamp, you won’t stand a chance against Tanaka. He’s probably aware that you’re having issues with VanCamp and may even know that he took you hostage. If you were to take care of Roger decisively, you might make Hiro hesitate long enough to buy enough time to broker peace.”

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion; she hadn’t outright said anything incriminating, but she was starting to sound similar to Psalter and Chloe. “What are you suggesting?” I repeated.