Ambition: A Dark Billionaire Romance Anthology by Lauren Landish, Lauren Landish Read Free Book Online Page A

union ties," Berkowitz said, smiling. "I would advise you to of course use only qualified unionized workers for the renovations. After all, better safe than sorry."
    I nodded, understanding her threat. In addition to the construction union being under her control, Berkowitz was also head of the union that represented most of the city's workers, including the fire department and the city inspectors. If we were going to get our permits, we'd need their approval. "I see. Well, I’ll have to talk this over with Miss Williams, of course. MJT and the Spartans are running things, I'm just providing the political oomph to make sure we get good coverage of this."
    "Of course, Councilman. I mean, such a position could be a coup for you, and turn this, what is it, two year term that you have until the next regular election for another five years? Why, you'd be the sort of young face that the city would love to see climb the ladder of politics, free from the constraints of either the Republicans or the Democrats. I would give you one more piece of advice, for free of course."
    "Of course."
    "If you do decide to turn this into something more than a gig in between bartending jobs, go and get those tats lasered off. Especially the ones that say you used to affiliate with the Confederation. I doubt the state Democrats would appreciate those."
    She stood up and smiled at me, but there was no warmth in that smile, just the bared teeth of a shark that knew it was circling prey. "Good day, Councilman. I'll be in touch."
    I watched Berkowitz go, and drained the rest of my Jolt in one long pull. I looked at the bottle she had left unopened on the table, and with a sigh put it back in the mini fridge. I had to before I sucked the whole bottle down. I couldn't be cruising on caffeine that night, I had work to do, and couldn't afford a caffeine crash at one in the morning. Sighing, I sat back down at my computer, then pushed the keyboard away.
    "Fuck this," I muttered to myself. Reaching for my phone, I at the same time pulled out the card that Tabby had given me with her phone number written on the back. Dialing quickly, I wondered if the increased heart rate I was feeling was due to fear from Berkowitz's visit, the caffeine going through me from the Jolt, or nervousness from talking to Tabby again.
    "Hello?" a slightly musical, sexy as hell voice said in my ear. Damn, I hadn't noticed that the last time.
    "Hello, Miss Williams?" I said, trying to be professional. "It's Patrick McCaffery."
    "Oh, hello Councilman," Tabby replied. "Please though, just call me Tabby. What can I do for you?"
    The potential answers that ran through my mind were staggering, but I kept it professional. "Well, I kind of need your help."
    "What with?" she asked. "If you don't mind, I'm going to put you on speaker. I'm heading home early today, taking some work with me. I'm in my car."
    "All right, I wouldn't want you in an accident," I replied.
    “Okay, so what's up?"
    "I'm drowning in e-mails, and I’m in serious need of an assistant," I said, hoping my real life need would lead to a reason to see her again. "Now, you've been on your job just about as long as I have here at City Hall."
    "About three weeks longer actually," Tabby replied, "but yes, I'm pretty new at this too. You don't have any staff?"
    "None at all," I replied honestly, “but apparently I have the budget for two staffers. I asked one of my new colleagues, one of the ones who will talk to me, and he said that by tradition, the old staff is supposed to help with handover or even fill in until the new staff is hired, but they kind of just quit when Harry Vickers was arrested. A lot of people think they ran out of town before the District Attorney got to them as well. So I've been doing this by the seat of my pants."
    "Ouch. Well, I don't know a lot about it, but I'll talk to my assistant. She's a real pro at this sort of thing, and she probably knows someone in the city who you can bring in quickly.