Don't Ever Stop: A BDSM Billionaire Romance by Vivie Rock Read Free Book Online Page A

and Redmond Cooper reached out his hand.
    ‘Welcome aboard, Rose,’ he said.
    ‘Thank you, Mr. Cooper,’ I replied, teeth chattering.
    ‘Please,’ he said, with a smile. ‘Call me sir .’

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    A Wish
     
    As I walked out of the building, onto the busy sidewalk, among the hustle and bustle of New York City, I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I was in a dream. Me! Rose Smith! A journalist at Global Media! I almost felt like skipping.
    I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the next part, going back to work and telling Christina the news. She’d had her suspicions about me before I went today, and heavens knew what she’d think once she discovered I’d been ‘poached’ by a rival paper. But before going back to the office, I decided to treat myself with a little walk to the plaza. It wasn’t far from here, and I hadn’t been there for a couple of years. Amid the screeching sirens, reversing lorries, crying babies, and strumming buskers, there was a large square. At one end of the square stood the Natural History Museum; at the other, there was the cathedral. In the center, in addition to a number of pigeons, there was a huge fountain, with ten tiers of ornate leaf designs. I loved the sound of the water rushing down each tier. Even above the ever-changing chatter of the city, you could hear it. The one constant.
    As I approached it now, I decided to do something I’d never done before. I decided to throw in a dime.
    I’d always considered it vandalistic to clog up such a beautiful architectural structure with coins; not to mention a waste of money. But people had been throwing in their loose change for many, many years, rubbing the coins for luck. Sometimes they did it with a loved one, or children did it with their parents. Occasionally, you’d catch an elderly woman, standing alone with tears in her eyes, giving the coin a kiss and then throwing it in. Each one of them making their own personal wish. Today I was going to become a part of this old tradition.
    I walked right up to the fountain, and looked into the pool of water at the base. There were so many coins in there. Enough to buy a pretty decent day out, if you were to scoop it all up. I wondered how often the homeless people of New York had done that very thing. Or if they feared picking up all those scattered wishes. Perhaps taking other people’s wishes seemed too much like bad luck, even if it did buy you dinner.
    I fumbled around in my handbag for my purse, and then took out the shiniest dime I could find. It was dated 2013. I looked at the picture on the back of the coin. The torch, olive branch, and oak branch. Symbolizing liberty, peace and strength. Liberty. Peace. Strength. It suddenly made me think of the phrase ‘peace through strength’. An ancient phrase used by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, among others, I seem to remember. I took a History minor in case you’re wondering. I’m not some kind of genius.
    I thought about what I’d told Redmond Cooper. That I was looking for peace. And I thought about what my dad kept telling me. ‘Be strong to get along.’ Would there ever be a way to achieve both? Is the combination of both peace and strength what leads to liberty ?
    I brought the coin up to my lips, gave it a soft, quick kiss, making sure no-one was watching me in my bizarre private act, and then I threw in the dime.
    I knew, as it plopped into the water, that somehow, the magic had already begun.
     
    *
     
    I’ll spare you the details of my goodbyes at The Chronicle. Let’s just say that Christina was shocked, pissed, suspicious, all the stuff I’d been dreading. She told me if it all went wrong then I could forget my old job at The Chronicle. Anyone who only stayed three weeks, and didn’t even serve out their probationary period, ‘didnae deserve a place on the team’. But she ended the meeting with a surprise wink, adding, ‘I dinnae blame you, hen. I’d have done the same