My girl. The girl who left me at the elevator, with just a sheet wrapped around that soft, sexy body. The one who left me with a searing kiss loaded with promise, and a raging hard-on.
So, I could really do without being here, sorting out crap that I pay people damn good money to do.
“Jack!” I bellow from my office, not knowing if he’s within earshot, but so fucking what if he isn’t. I’ll just shout louder. “Jack!”
He pushes open the door, his friendly face a picture of calm and says passively, “Yes, sir?”
Fuck, now I feel like a dick. Jack is one of my longest standing employees, but he feels like a brother to me. In fact, he’s the closest friend I have. He always comes to family dinners and special occasions. And for me, it feels like that’s where he belongs. But I’m sure it’s different for him, I can see that he does it as part of his job.
“The system is glitching again. Where the fuck is Dom?” I grate out irritably.
“I’ll have him called, sir.”
“I don’t want one of his fucking monkeys. I wanthimhere in ten minutes. Any longer, he’s fired. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.” Jack nods and leaves, closing the door calmly behind him. I don’t even get the chance to say thank you and it makes me feel like a jerk. I don’t mean to bellow at Jack. He really does put up with some shit from me, but he knows the score, he knows what’s at stake for me. He’s worked for The Kingdom for years, at least fifteen. He was my dad’s right hand man, and now he’s mine. I make a mental note to stop being such an asshole around him. I have nothing to prove to him, and I know he wouldn’t take advantage of me, like some of the other employees would.
I sometimes wish I had a regular job punching numbers in an office or pouring shots in a club. All of them would be a damn sight easier than this. But it wouldn’t be worth anything, it wouldn’t be this place.
Honor and pride have a lot to answer for.
It’s really early to be dealing with shit, and far too early to have a drink, even if I do feel like reaching for one while I’m waitingfor Dom to arrive. So I take my frustration out on my desktop and I smash my fingers down on the keys of the CCTV system, as if it will magically make it work. It doesn’t.
For a minute, I thought the whole system was down. Right now it looks like it’s just the lobby, and the internal elevator and exits, all the way up.
My cell rings just as there is a timid knock at the door, and I flick the cell on silent without even looking at who it is.
“Yes,” I bark.
Dominic gingerly pushes open the door, taking a couple of reluctant steps forward. “You called for me, Mr. King?”
“Yes, Dominic. Come in and sit for a minute.”
I’ve taken a deep breath, restored inner calm for a minute, and thought about my girl. Yes, I would much rather be with her than dealing with this shit. But she’s busy this morning and if I didn’t have something to occupy myself with, I would be whiling the hours away until she came back. So while this isn’t fun, not by a long shot, at least it’s keeping me busy.
Dominic sits in the chair in front of my desk with his legs pressed together and his hands clasped tightly, resting on his knees. He sits with slouched shoulders and there’s just something about him that makes me want to pick him up, shake him and tell him to get his shit together.
“Dominic…do I, or do I not, pay you well?” I ask. It’s not a trick question.
“Yes sir, you pay me very well.”
I stand and walk slowly around the desk. He fidgets nervously as I perch on the edge to his right. “Then please, would you enlighten me as to why the system I pay you, and a team of four others, to run has had nothing but problems every day for the last week?”
“We are working on it around the clock, Mr. King. There seems to be a bug in the system but so far we’ve been unable to trace it.”
“So, would it be easier to buy and install a whole new system?” I ask impatiently.
“Do you have any idea how much that would cost, sir?”
“You’re answering my question with a question,” I grumble impatiently at his avoidance of my question. “Money isn’t the issue here. I want The Kingdom running like clockwork.”
“Sir, I don’t think that’s the solution. We would need to shut the whole system down completely for quite a time before the new one was up and running. Isn’t it better that we have at least some coverage while we figure it out?”
“Fine. Do you need more men?” I ask, surprising myself at the calm way with which I am now dealing with this situation.
“No, sir.”
“Then get your ass out of my office and get on it. You have two days to get it sorted. Or I’ll get another team of experts to take your place, got it?”
