The Love Of Money - S02 E204

Story 3 weeks ago

The Love Of Money - S02 E204

Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 204

***

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2:12 pm

The whine of the rotors dropped in pitch, indicating that the helicopter was shutting down. I did my best to swallow my nervousness while waiting for Chloe to open the door. As she did, I glanced at Charity.

“Thanks for arranging all of this. The drinks with Karly… and this.” I nodded out the window.

Charity beamed at me, flashing me her brilliant, perfect smile. “Are you kidding me? I just hope you’re happy with my work! This opportunity has been amazing!”

“So, no regrets about moving to New York?”

“Hell no,” Charity purred, unbuckling and climbing out of her seat, only to crawl into my lap. She cupped my face in her hands and pressed her plush lips to mine in a searing kiss. “I’m having the time of my life.”

“Good,” I said and spent a few moments making out with her before the sound of Chloe clearing her throat interrupted us.

While we’d been distracted, my bodyguard had slid open the door and was standing on the ground staring at us from behind her dark glasses.

My head of PR slid off my lap with a mock sigh. “I guess it's back to work.”

She stepped out of the helicopter as I unfastened my own belt and followed suit. I made a face at Chloe while Charity’s back was turned and muttered at her as I descended the helicopter. “You know, if you want to give it a shot…”

“Finish that sentence,” Chloe growled under her breath, “And I’ll drown you in your own blood.”

I chuckled and turned to see Charity already ten feet ahead of us, leading the way.

“This isn’t a little too weird? Being out on a yacht in October?” I called out as we walked away from the chopper's ruckus.

Charity turned around and continued to walk backwards. “No! Not at all! Not when you see the setup!”

Chloe and I glanced at each other and then followed the young woman.

I ran my hand along the sleek paneling of The King’s Quest. It was the yacht I’d rented for two days, already impressed with the craft. From the helipad, the deck unfurled cleanly beneath me—teak underfoot, dark railings, and chrome details gleaming in the early afternoon light. The air carried a trace of salt and citrus from the custom atomizers woven into the deck vents—engineered to add a subtle, pleasant aroma to complement the natural aromas.

As we moved toward the front of the ship, the sound shifted. Slow, rhythmic music pulsed beneath the breeze.

We came to a balcony that surrounded a depression in the middle—a pool and deck that was already occupied, steam rising in a thin veil from the heated water. Loungers framed the perimeter, each one draped in linen… some occupied. Legs crossed and backs arched—there were maybe twenty young, lithe, and exquisite. A few of them looked up as I passed. Their beautiful faces looked up at me with curiosity, flirtatious smiles angling for any kind of attention from me.

“Just look at them… starving for anything you have to give.”

The venom from Charity was uncharacteristic, and I looked toward her, expecting to see her watching the woman alongside me. Instead, she was looking in the opposite direction—out to sea.

Turning, I held up a hand to shield my eyes from the sun as I peered out at the blue-green water to see a handful of small boats in the middle distance. It took me a moment to realize that some of them were encircling the Quest.

“Paparazzi?” I asked, looking at Charity.

“Yep.”

“How did they get out here so quickly?”

Charity smirked as she side-eyed me. “You wanted a positive opinion.”

“I doubt this is going to do it. It’ll just make people think I’m a douche.”

She shrugged. “Some, maybe, but you’re doing a lot of good and we’re working around the clock to find ways of battling the bad press. You can help veterans, save animal shelters, and kiss babies till you’re blue in the face, but if you don’t offset it with something that feels real, then it’s all just going to look staged.”

I hiked my thumb over my shoulder at the dance team lounging on my rented yacht. “And that’ll look real to them?”

“You’re already starting to get a reputation as a guy who enjoys women. It’ll look authentic.” She looked back out at the ocean and waved. “Smile for the camera!”

“What are we talking about over here?” someone purred. I turned to see Rose’s slender form walk over to me with the catlike grace that only years of dancing could grant.

Leaning against the wall, I took the beer she offered me and then the kiss as she pressed her lean body against mine.

Her hair was up in a simple ponytail, and she wore a sheer robe tied loosely at the waist. Underneath was a black bikini that did a passing job of hiding her small assets. Her fingernails raked lightly down my chest as we exchanged enthusiastic kisses before she began fiddling with my buttons, undoing the top three so she could slip a hand inside to slide them across my bare chest.

“The paparazzi,” Charity said, answering Rose’s question.

Rose broke the kiss, gave my nose a peck, and then looked over my shoulder out at the ocean. “Ah… yeah. They’ve been out here for about thirty minutes. They have enough photos by now to publish their own Sports Illustrated.”

She then parted and turned her attention to the much shorter and younger woman. “You joining us, Char-Bear?”

Charity grinned. “Later, maybe. I have some things to take care of first.”

“Mm… can’t wait. You go ahead… I’ll take our man from here.”

Rose and Charity exchanged a lingering kiss before Charity left the two of us alone.

“So… care to fill me in on who the ladies are?” I asked.

Wrapping her arms around mine, Rose leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder in a very intimate sort of way. She pointed to a tall, willowy blonde with ashen hair knotted on top of her head who was sitting at the pool’s edge. “That’s Natashya’s friend, Iryna. She’s from Ukraine. She’s the captain… or whatever the leader of a dance team is.”

She pointed to another girl with olive skin, wild hair that fell to the middle of her back in tight black ringlets. “That’s Milena. She’s fun.”

“That pretty little thing,” she said, indicating a short young woman with a compact, athletic body and black hair cut into a cute little bob. “She seems like a bitch, but I think she’s just shy.”

“That’s a lot of tattoos,” I pointed out, eying the sleeve that went from her ankle all the way to her thigh and the half-sleeve that started on the opposite arm and went from elbow to shoulder. “I didn’t think that kind of thing was allowed in professional dance.”

“Mm,” Rose hummed. “I think they’ve relaxed their standards a bit in the last few years—stage makeup and strategic uniforms do wonders. If the girl’s talented enough…”

I glanced over my shoulder at the boats still encircling mine, then said, “Well, how about you introduce me?”

“Honey,” Rose said, squeezing my arm tight as she flashed me a brilliant smile, “You don’t need an introduction. They know who you are. You basically bought them.”

“What does that mean?”

“Their troupe. You sponsored them for like… the next year.” She looked up through her lashes and poked out her bottom lip. “Wish you’d sponsor me and my girls like that.”

The two of us left the boat railing and descended toward the heated pool to join the ladies. “You mean you want me to basically pay for a year’s worth of lap dances for you and your friends?”

“Or just buy the Starlight,” Rose said as she waved at one of the girls she hadn’t named. “Viktor’s looking to get out anyway. You could buy his part and be a new partner.”

“Hm,” I mused as three of the girls waved us over with dashing smiles and giggles. “I’ll think about it.”

I wish I could say that I kept my focus on the real task at hand, but I’d be lying. After all, it’s a difficult thing to do when you have fifteen professional dancers and two strippers vying for your company.

Natashya was there, yet no Emily due to rehearsals. As insecure as my sister could be, I could only imagine how unhappy she was that her girlfriend was surrounded by more than a dozen stunning women and the man she’d been fucking up until the moment they’d started a relationship. I wouldn’t have blamed Emily in the slightest.