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“They don’t have anyone?’
Raina shook her head. “No. No, the only family any of us have is sitting right here in this room.” Her voice was soft but he heard the pain in it.
A small part of him noted that he was sitting in the room with them as well, and he briefly wondered if she had overlooked that fact.
“That has to be tough on you.” Christian said, turning his body toward her. He wanted to reach out and take her small hand in his, but he worried about her reaction.
“Not as tough as it is for them. Only a year ago, they had both their parents and now they only have their Aunty Raina. I’m hardly a good enough substitute.”
“Don’t put yourself down, Raina, it doesn’t suit you. Besides, if you hadn’t risen to the occasion, what would have happened?”
Raina shuddered visibly. “They’d have been split up.” she whispered. “I’d hate to imagine them in foster care.” She squared her shoulders.
“Yes you’re right; feeling sorry for myself doesn’t do any good. Besides, the joy they bring into my life more than compensates for any issues that come up.” Christian shot her a smile and she returned it back. That was the Raina he knew.
The rest of their conversation was carried out in whispers and Christian enjoyed the sudden intimacy but it was also giving him indecent ideas. He followed the delicate line of her neck with his eyes and longed to trace the rich smoothness of her skin with his lips. He would have given anything to take her into his arms at that very moment and kiss her as she had never been kissed before.
His face remained impassive, his thoughts hidden and his desires private. It would definitely not do to seduce the woman who was both his boss and now his landlord.
The conversation returned to work and Raina made him laugh with her descriptions of their colleagues. It was clear that her favorite person was Kelly, the head housekeeper.
“She’s a nice person, she’d give anyone the shirt off her back. Just … be careful she doesn’t take her shirt off and try to give it to you.” Raina winked at him. “She likes you, you know.”
Christian groaned and threw his head back. The last thing he needed was for Raina to think that he had designs on Kelly.
He sighed. “She’s a nice girl but the truth is that I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I have enough on my plate as it is.” Christian said, implying that his financial problems would not allow him the time or peace of mind to date.
Raina nodded understandingly and he suddenly realized his words had also shut the door for Raina to regard him romantically.
He groaned once again and adjusted his pants.
After the kids had been hustled off to bed, Raina and Christian’s conversation had continued long into the late hours of the night.
7
Roger screwed his eyes as he observed the monitors. His eyes were fixed on the camera positioned in the hallway that led to the staff offices.
He noted, with narrowed eyes, that Raina and a maintenance man were standing very close to each other; it looked like they were whispering and Raina reached out her hand to pick an invisible piece of lint from the man’s forearm. Roger frowned when she threw her head back and laughed at something the man said.
Raina had a body he had been dying to get his hands on since the first time he had laid eyes on her. It was a body made for sin and the fact that she wore those uptight professional clothes all the time made it even hotter.
He knew how the game was played—it was the same one all women played. She would make him sweat for it, she would make him pay a pretty penny before she would give in—but like all of them, eventually she would.
Still he was getting tired of that game. He wanted to screw her, pound her, nail her, and get it over and done with. As soon as he had her, Roger knew that he would lose interest and he could finally move on to other pursuits.
It had always been like that for him. A woman would capture his imagination and he would enjoy the sweet anticipation of the chase. But after he got her in between the sheets his interest faded almost immediately. He thought of women as a game of roulette. Except with women, he was never on a losing streak. Roger’s fists clenched when he remembered his loss from last night.
The Orlando slot machines did not favor him like the ones in New York. He had lost three hundred grand that he could not afford to lose. And a week before that he’d lost another two hundred grand; each time chasing wins to cover previous losses.
He had nothing to worry about though. His nephew, Christian was a bleeding heart half-wit who’d gotten lucky in finance. He would never suspect that his own uncle was fleecing the company. Roger’s little money siphoning scheme was going very well. Creating shell companies and submitting false invoices for supplies that were never delivered had turned out to be child’s play. And best of all, since he was the one who audited the books and fielded the complaints, no one would be the wiser.
Besides, Roger figured he deserved the money. Christian had so much; in fact, the least he could do was give Roger one damned hotel of his own. But when Roger had asked, Christian had just put him off.
After all, Roger thought spitefully, he was Christian’s only remaining relative and at the rate each of them was going, neither was likely to sire any children any time soon. Roger because kids were a damned disgusting nuisance and Christian because he clearly didn’t trust women and never wanted to marry. Though, from what Roger had heard, his nephew went through his fair share of stunning ladies. Clearly chasing after beautiful women ran in their family.
He chuckled, prompting the two security men to look at him. Roger snarled at them and turned on his heel. He did not care what “the help” thought of him.
His nephew though? Well, he did care a bit what Christian thought of him—only because he needed Christian to trust him. As it was, his nephew kept him at bay, giving him responsibility, but not a ton of control over Christian’s growing empire.
