Page 53 of Greed

“Are you asking me, Sir, or are you venting?”

I looked over my shoulder at Shilo. “I was asking you.”

“May I speak freely, Sir?”

I turned and made my way over to the window across from Shilo, not sure if I wanted to hear what he had to say. The old angel had a tendency to be right more than I liked, especially when I was wrong, which was more than a little irritating. But if I wanted to win Minny over, I needed help. My stomach flipped at the mere thought of never seeing her again.

“Okay, Shilo, speak freely.”

“Sir, please hear me when I say you need to do things differently and that your money is not the answer. You already mentioned she is different, that she is unique, and most importantly, she doesn’t hold greed in her heart.”

I could see Shilo in the reflection of the glass as I stared out at the ocean in the distance. “What of it?”

“Have you considered that lavish and over-the-top gifts are not the way to go?”

I snorted and turned to face Shilo. “Don’t be ridiculous. She may not hold greed, but she is still a woman, and every woman likes to be dripping in gifts from their potential suitor. That is all I’m doing is apologizing for my rude behavior and making sure she knows how appreciated she is.”

Shilo turned his calm stare away from me to look straight ahead. “If you say so, Sir.”

“I think I should call her, but it might seem too desperate.” I stared at one of the other smaller buildings. There was a man and woman kissing, and I was suddenly jealous of them. “I know. I’ll say that I wanted to make sure she received the flowers. Maybe she didn’t go to work today, and some other human got them. Yes, I’ll call her.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed the number that I had spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to locate—stupid cellphones and their unlisted numbers. Hitting send, I waited for the line to start ringing, but it went straight to voicemail. Another brain wave hit, and I dialed 911 and waited for someone to pick up.

“Nine, one, one. what’s your emergency?”

“Yes, good morning. Could you please transfer me to Minetta Johnson?”

“This is not reception. You will have to call…”

I cut the woman off before she could continue. “No, I won’t. I am the Riker Rhodes, and I’m the one who sent the flowers. I respectfully demand that you let me speak to Minetta immediately, or I’ll make sure you never work another day anywhere in this city.” Silence greeted me, and I stared at my phone to see if it was still connected.

“Okay, Sir, I will re-direct your call, but do not call this number like this again. It is for emergencies only.”

No one told me not to do something. What kind of place was this 911 office? If they didn’t know who I was, they were about to when I bought them out. I fumed as I waited for Minetta to pick up. The phone rang twice, and then her sweet voice came on the line.

“Minetta speaking, how may I help you?”

“Minetta, it’s me, Riker.”

“I should’ve known,” she said, her voice sounding annoyed.

I wasn’t sure what she meant or why she’d be annoyed but continued on. “I wanted to know if you received the flowers I sent?”

“You mean the jungle that greeted me this morning? Yes, I received them, and they are all happy in their new homes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”

“Wait, what do you mean by their new homes?”

She sighed like she was frustrated, which was exasperating since I’d gone to so much effort to win her over. “Riker, I appreciate you went to so much trouble to apologize, but I would never want that many flowers, so I sent them to the hospital for those that are ill and don’t have family visiting them.”

“You did what? But I gave them to you.”

“Yes, and I gave them away because they were now mine to do with as I pleased. Now, I’m asking that you don’t call me at work. In fact, I’d prefer if you never contacted me again. I have to go. My boss is paging me. Take care of yourself, Riker. Thank you for the apology.” The phone went dead in my ear, and I stared at it, my mouth hanging open.

“Are you kidding me? Has Michael made that much of an impression already,” I asked Shilo, but the man himself answered.

“Don’t blame me. She cut me off too.” My head snapped up to stare at Michael, who appeared in the doorway. I hadn’t seen him in over a century, and now it was like I couldn’t get away from him. The fucker had turned into my personal stalker.

“What are you doing here again? Didn’t I already tell you never to come back?” I marched across the room to the espresso machine.