grand, maybe, not much. Just a little thank you bonus when we got the contract.”
“Well, we can hope he was smart enough not to deposit it in a bank. You should be fine. The worst that could happen is they link the contributions to you and make a big smear campaign out of it. But that’s more a problem for the mayor than you and it’s nothing for the Feds to chew on.”
“Thanks for the heads’ up.”
“No problem. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything else.”
“Okay. Get back to that pretty wife of yours. Isn’t it past midnight?”
“Yeah. Goodnight.”
He hung up and sighed. Feds. They always came sniffing. Just to be safe, he’d better change out his phone again.
* * * * *
She plopped down on a barstool at Plush and waited for Gina to come over.
“Well?” Gina prompted.
They had texted each other since she left last weekend with Bobby, but Gina wanted the full scoop.
She smiled. “Yeah, it’s the real deal. Total sugar daddy. He’s great.”
Gina beamed. “I thought you guys would be a good fit! How was the sex?”
“Honestly? Amazing. I’m supposed to be at his beck and call, but I haven’t heard from him in four days, and I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m almost ready to call him!”
“Oh my God,” Gina said in shock.
“Well, I’m not falling for him or anything,” she said, a little too peevishly. “Is that what you believe?”
Gina held up her palms. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. I’ve just never heard you talk this way about a guy before.”
“Well, you were right. He’s hot.”
“Like what? What’s so hot? What’s he do?”
Her face grew warm remembering how he bent her over the sofa and spanked her. “He’s rough. Totally demanding. But in tune. Does that make sense?”
“Not really.”
“I mean, he knows when I start getting nervous and slows down, but if I’m on board, he’s the type to throw you up against the wall and fuck your brains out.”
Gina raised her eyebrows. “Did he do that?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what’s the scoop? How often do you see him? When do you see him next?”
Her belly clenched. She hadn’t heard from him in four days, even though she’d texted a couple times. She feared her family drama had turned him off. Maybe he didn’t find her sexy now that she had worn her old pajamas in front of him. And she needed to see him, because the manager at the salon told her she had to pay in full by the end of the week or she’d find a new renter for her chair. She had all the money she’d made that week, but it wasn’t enough. She had hoped to see Bobby a couple times to supplement the income enough to at least pay one month’s rent and get the manager off her back.
Before she could answer a skinny blonde waltzed up and took the barstool next to her. Gina shot her a meaningful look, which she did not know how to interpret.
“What can I get you?” Gina asked, sliding a cocktail napkin in front of the blonde.
“Cosmo. Were you talking about Bobby?”
Lexi whipped her head around to look at the woman.
She shrugged. “I saw you leaving here with him last weekend. Is that who you’re talking about?”
Gina clamped her mouth shut and got busy making the drink.
Lexi realized this must be the ex-girlfriend. Or ex-mistress. Or whatever. Well, hell. She could use some more information about the guy. “Yeah. Did you used to date him?”
The blonde nodded. “I still do, sometimes,” she said. “I’m Stacy. Did he mention me?”
Gina shook her head when the blonde wasn’t looking, rolling her eyes.
“Um, no.”
“How about you? Have you seen him since that night?”
“Uh, yeah. A couple times. He’s letting me stay at his apartment for a while.”
The blonde’s lips tightened. Gina set the drink in front of her and Stacy drained the glass. “I’ll have another, please.” Turning to Lexi, she smiled. “I lived in that apartment for six months,” she said. “But,
Learning to Kill: Stories