The Love Of Money - S02 E182

Story 1 month ago

The Love Of Money - S02 E182

Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 182

Tara managed to recover before stumbling to the ground, turning her recovery into a graceful follow-up attack, delivering a roundhouse kick to my head.

I managed to bring my forearm up just in time to block, flinging the offending foot away from me and then stepping out of her range of attack.

Instead of following me, Tara backed up a couple of feet and said, “Good! That was a first! You’re getting better at countering.” She smiled at me. “You’re improving.”

“Thanks,” I said. I glanced at Natashya, who tossed me a towel. I caught it and scrubbed the sweat off my face. “Given enough time, I’m bound to get at least a little better.”

“Glad you have so much faith in me,” Tara said dryly.

“Honestly, I’m impressed you’ve gotten me this far," I replied. “I was never much of an athlete, and I don’t think my reactions or reflexes will ever be to your level.”

“Wouldn’t think it to look at you,” Tara said, giving me an appreciative once-over—the first time she’d ever approached flirtation with me.

The sound of Helen clearing her throat interrupted me before I had the chance to respond.

“I think that means we’re done for the day,” I said, dreading the idea of ending our session, because it meant I had to face reality. Hearing how badly I’d fucked up the world with my feud wasn’t my idea of a great way to spend a Saturday.

“Sounds good,” Tara said.

She looked like she wanted to say something else, and that feeling was reinforced when she glanced at Erin, then at the rest of the women in the room, and finally back at me. The meaning was clear — I want to talk to you, but not with so many others around.

I nodded, and she seemed to understand that I knew she had something important to say. Had it been any other time, I would’ve cleared out the room just to hear her out. Erin had been working on my personal trainer for a long time, wearing her down. Considering her subtle attempt at flirting, I couldn’t help but wonder if her efforts were starting to pay off.

But not today.

“Tomorrow morning?”

Tara glanced in Erin’s direction again, then nodded. “Tomorrow morning. Leg day.”

“You really had to go make my day worse, didn’t you?”

Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked toward Helen. “What do you have for me?”

“How did Tara make your day worse?” Helen asked.

“Now I have to worry about tomorrow being leg day,” I said. “As if today didn’t already suck.”

“You hate leg day that much?”

“Everybody hates leg day that much,” Natashya said, smirking.

“Seriously, Helen,” I said. “What have you got?”

“Don’t worry about the suits right now,” Helen said.

“What do you mean? They’re just going away?”

“She means,” Erin said, falling in beside us as we left the gym, “that you have plenty to worry about without adding lawsuits to the list. Let Helen and Karl worry about that.”

“Okay… then what do I need to worry about?” I felt the pit in my stomach gnawing at me.

“Well, first of all, you need to worry about your public image,” Erin said. “That, and the business decisions you need to make.”

“It’s bad, isn’t it? The public perception?” I’d been afraid of this.

Erin nodded. “I won’t sugarcoat it for you — it’s awful. I mean, there were always people out there who were jealous of you. You’re the everyman who got lucky. Now, not only did you get the fantasy, but you’re the bad guy who’s stepping on everyone else’s reality.”

“The charity stuff—”

“Doesn’t mean much,” Erin cut in.

“That’s not true,” Helen countered. “Several organizations are backing Marcus. Almost any veteran you talk to holds him in very high esteem, and that translates into a lot of support. At the end of the day, regardless of how our country has treated them, veterans hold a lot of sway in public discourse.”

That made me feel marginally better. Not that I was doing the charity work just for PR purposes, but it was helpful in a time like this.

“Is there any way we can do more right now?”

Erin shook her head. “Charity’s working on a strategy, but funding is limited. Never thought I’d hear myself say that while working for you.”

Erin’s words from last night suddenly came to mind for the first time since I’d woken up. I’d asked her if she would still be with me even if I lost all my money. Her response?

I don’t know…

Those words would be haunting me for a while.

“Any idea what you’re going to do about Hiro?”

…the million-dollar question. If only I knew.

“I have no fucking idea,” I said. “Half of me thinks I should just give him what he wants.”

“You can’t do that,” Helen said.

I grabbed her arm and stopped in my tracks. She did the same and turned to look at me. Beneath that icy exterior, there was a flicker of deference — something new swimming just beneath the surface.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the world is falling apart. While I might have some support in America, I don’t have nearly that in the rest of the world, and their opinion matters too.”

“I’m aware that the rest of the world exists, Marcus,” Helen said. “But you have to understand… if Hiro smells blood in the water, he will take everything.”

“There’s already blood in the water!”

Erin’s phone rang. Neither one of us even flinched.

“Hello?” Erin said, answering.

Helen sighed. “Marcus, it’s your decision, but I can’t emphasize this strongly enough — Hiro Tanaka is a predator. Don’t ignore me on this.”

“Sachiko—”

Helen cut me off. “—is also a predator.”

“She seems reasonable, Helen.”

Helen looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “She was raised by Hiro Tanaka.”

“She was groomed by Hiro Tanaka,” I retorted.

“Same thing,” Helen said.

“Marcus?” Erin said, cutting both of us off. She sounded genuinely spooked.

That got my attention. Erin rarely ever sounded anything other than confident.

She stood there with her phone pressed to her chest, the color drained from her face. 

My heart skipped a beat. “What is it?”

“It’s a detective from the New York Police Department. He wants to speak with you.”

I started to reach out for the phone, but Helen beat me to it and took it from Erin. “I’ll take it.”

“Helen?”

She gave me an imploring look. “As your lawyer, I’d advise letting me take this call.”

Helen never sounded like that. I glanced between the two women, and then I put the pieces together, realizing what the call was about. I decided to trust my lawyer.

***