NINE
C H A P T E R - - - N I N E - - - - R E I D A N
With his worries somewhat calmed, Reidan entered the office again, closing the door behind him to prevent anybody from interfering with his time with Selena. Reidan apologized, referencing both his brother's behavior and the morning's work's delayed start.
"You simply need to take care of business sometimes."
Selena smiled and responded, "I can understand that."
Reidan believed he could see a hint of interest in her gaze, as if she was curious to hear how the talk with Matteo went, although she appeared less tense now. Reidan, though, was not going to speak. He had to follow the rules he had established the previous evening. Everything else needed to be professional, and any discussion about the playroom had to stay there.
Reidan turned to face Selena's desk and said, "Right." He kept his arms crossed, fighting the impulse to lean over her while she examined the numerous stacks of documents.
"Where shall we begin today, please? ”
Even though his internal organs were buzzing with anticipation, Reidan tried to maintain a regular breathing pattern. It's possible that Selena was unaware that this was the first exam. Was she going to talk about their new "relationship," the playroom, the contract, or something else? Or would she be able to recall the conditions she had consented to? Was she going to establish her worth?
Before eventually clearing her throat and moving one pile of papers forward for Reidan to look at, Selena stood there looking up at him in silence for a while, something unsaid simmering beneath her gaze. She shifted in her seat to go as close to her desk as she could and continued, "I decided we'd start with some of the C-block stuff. We'll be here for a long, so pull up a chair."
Reidan tried to control his smile. She had overcome the first challenge and had shown that she could recall what he had said in the past. She was the boss in this workplace, not him. "What is the C-block? " he ask.
Selena stopped, staring blankly at Reidan for a considerable amount of time as her pen froze in midair. A little later, she murmured softly, "You're kidding."
Reidan said, feeling a bit embarrassed by his own ignorance, "Uh, yeah, genuinely don't know what you're talking about."
Selena nodded while sighing. “Right. That's OK, no issue. I've got this," she said, gesturing to the closest chair across the room. She gave Reidan one quick finger snap to grab his complete attention.
"Pull up a chair. I really really mean it. You will require it. We're going to stay in here for quite a time. In other words, strap up, bud. We're going to order lunch and stay all day."
Reidan was unable to control the smile that spontaneously sprang on his face in response to Selena's instructions. Hearing her order him about sounded so natural and effortless. She genuinely dominated the workplace. If anything, she ought to have been in charge, making the choices while Reidan made the coffee and organized the paperwork. However, his pride and his family's expectations naturally stood in the way of that. Even though he really only felt powerful in the bedroom, he had to be in charge.
He moved a chair to the opposite side of the desk so that he could sit across from Selena as she had asked. "Okay, so what is C-block? ”
Before responding to him, Selena cleared her throat once again. She then reached across the desk for her water bottle and took a sip. “Cocaine. or, more precisely, the route that the cocaine takes to get here from Mexico.”
Reidan should not have flinched at all, but he did. He was aware that his father was involved in selling drugs to consumers in the city and in New York. He shouldn't have been startled, but it felt like a brick had been thrown in his face. It was actual. All of these things hung over his head: the obligation, the power, the responsibility, and the risk. He coughed to clear his throat, forced a grin at Selena, and nodded for her to go on.
"So, for the past six months, we've been operating the C-block in the same manner, using this MC from New Mexico to import the commodities. The only issue is that before finalizing the sale, they personally met with your father. They don't know you, which may be a problem.
"Why do you say that?" Reidan enquired.
"They'll want to talk with you, but it's not like it's a big problem or anything, Selena said. Face-to-face. Bringing the narcotics and the money back and forth over the border puts a lot on the line for them. They want to be certain that they are doing business with someone they can trust because if anything goes wrong, they will be the ones left holding the bag. If you'd like some time to be ready, we may schedule the meeting for a week or so following the funeral."
Under his breath, Reidan spoke the word "Jesus," which came out of him effortlessly like air. What in the name of Satan had he done? Or perhaps it should be said, what had his father pushed him into? He felt like a weary runner coming to a gradual stop as his heart staggered in his chest. The amount and complexity of the work that was spread out before him on Selena's desk truly made him feel afraid and thoroughly overwhelmed, despite his best efforts to keep it a secret from himself.
Selena remarked, extending her hand across the desk, "Hey." Reidan momentarily feared that she might touch him, trying to physically pacify him via genuine compassion, but she refrained, balling her hand into a fist instead. "I have faith in your ability to succeed. It will come together if you put in the necessary time. I will help you survive. I'll keep my word."
Reidan shook his head and stifled a chuckle. "You can't guarantee that I won't completely sabotage this. To some extent, I must bear that burden."
Indifferent to his counterargument, Selena shrugged. "We'll check into it. In any case, I'll remember to take notes regarding the meeting with the C-block residents. Let's see, what comes next, what comes next..." She stared at the stack of papers below and flipped through them for a moment before finding the one she was looking for.
“Here. The Cannavale situation As it progresses through the preliminary hearings, we are monitoring."
"Exactly what is this?" Reidan took a stack of legal documents into his hands and posed the question.
“One of our enforcers. He was basically toast last year after being pinned by a few police officers shortly after making a hit. The greatest defense counsel we could find who was willing to handle the case and who was also completely unconnected to the organization in case the prosecutor became suspicious was chosen by your dad and me."
Reidan looked over some of the papers and thought, "Fucking Christ." Even though his father's group had a history of violence, he wasn't at all startled by it, and the old man had actually told his assistant everything. Selena could no longer be dismissed because of the current situation. She was too knowledgeable. She may go to the federal authorities at any time and reveal enough material to put them all in jail. Reidan knew with a sobering dose of truth that made him feel like all of his bones had turned freezing cold that if she ever attempted to stop, I'd have to murder her.
In an effort to compose himself again so that she wouldn't figure out what he was thinking, Reidan cleared his throat and shifted his sitting position. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. But she should be scared of me, Reidan thought sadly as he watched Selena flip through another thick stack of papers. She should be very, very scared.
“Anyway,” Selena said, tearing Reidan back away from his ever-darkening thoughts, “Cannavale’s trial should be next month, if all goes as planned. We’re hoping the defense attorney will negotiate a plea deal, and as long as we keep his family fed and protected, he won’t roll over on us. But it’s a concern, anyway, that he might spill some details we’d rather keep quiet if he doesn’t get a good deal in the court.”
We. She kept using that word, as if she were a member of the Bianco family herself, and Reidan couldn't help but notice. She wasn't, though, truly. She might not have been quite "innocent," but she wasn't as deeply entangled in the underworld as Matteo and Mama Bianco were. She might just as easily quit all of this, join the FBI as an informant, and screw them all over. Reidan would be at fault if he kept her around just for the purpose of fucking her.
"You okay?" Selena questioned as she turned to face him and wore a worried expression. "You appear a touch off-balance."
To comfort her, Reidan gave a tight smile while shaking his head. "I'm alright, I assure you. You know, just little unsettled. the untimely death of my father."
Selena bit down on her lower lip and developed an uneasy expression all of a sudden as she slowly nodded. “Yeah. It came as a shock. Seriously, I apologize. "
Reidan spoke the words "Don't be" out of instinct rather than waiting for his brain to process them. "I'm simply saying you were closer to him than I was. I should be offering you my sympathies, not the other way around, in reality."
Reidan was unable to discern anything behind Selena's heavy-looking eyes as she continued to stare at him for a considerable amount of time without responding. His skin was burning from her piercing gaze, and he wanted to wriggle around in his seat, but he restrained himself. He still didn't want her to understand the full depth of her influence on him.
Selena finally lowered her gaze, nodded slowly, and forced a forced grin onto her face. "Are you ready for more? There's still a large pile of folders on the desk between us?" she questioned, pointing to it.
After nodding, Reidan devoted himself to learning as much as he could about his father's company over the course of the following six or so hours. Keeping track of the many names of different drug or gun connections became a bit of a fog at times, but he hesitated to take notes on the lecture. She might use the notes as proof, Reidan reasoned, feeling a cold slowly creep up his spine. She could be compiling as much data as she can to lock us up for retaliation. If she chose to, she could wipe us all out.
Now he understood why he had been so scared of her—or at the very least, of the terrible potential she had to harm his family. However, there was also something alluring about that. He reflected on the fact that he would soon be able to tie her down, punish her, and cause her to crumble beneath him as he watched her sort through the papers with a few hairs slipping out of her tight ponytail. He may be destroyed by her, but in the bedroom he would be in charge. Even just contemplating it nearly caused him to become short of breath.
"What plans do you have for tonight?" As soon as Selena started putting the papers back together to file them away in their proper placements, Reidan questioned.
He thought she would get his meaning and understand that he was talking about the playroom, but he didn't want to define what he meant at the office, so he said, "I was thinking we should have another business dinner, you know, to keep this dialogue going." If the two universes were not kept apart, they would both disappear.
Selena appeared to give his suggestion some thought. Reidan saw that just thinking about what they were about to do in the playroom caused her cheeks to become a faint shade of pink, almost as if she were blushing timidly. Under the desk, Reidan balled his hands into fists to give himself a slight edge of agony to counteract the surge of strength he felt from touching her physically.
"Well, I need to check on my father at home. I've been worried about him recently since he hasn't been feeling well," she said.
"After that?" Reidan inquired, maybe a bit too hastily. Not wanting to appear overly eager, he said, "Fuck it."
She answered slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on the desk rather than looking at him, "After that, I could stop by your penthouse if you want to talk more about things."
Reidan grinned warmly and replied, "Good," before rising from his chair.
His fingers were yearning to reach out and touch her as he circled the desk to approach her. God, tormenting himself in such a way and holding back was unbearable. He was eager to seize her and screw the living crap out of her.
Selena tightly clasped her hands together while grinning a bit sheepishly and peering up at him through her long eyelashes.
Selena tightly clasped her hands together while grinning a bit sheepishly and peering up at him through her long eyelashes. Then I'll see you later tonight. ”
Reidan stated as he left the workplace and hurried home to prepare for her arrival, "Count on it."
Selena would eventually need to be handled, either directly or indirectly. Simply put, that much was becoming more and more obvious. Reidan thought to himself, feeling a bit chilly and numb as he realized the truth of the situation: either she lives with us for the rest of her life, or... her life needs to be drastically cut short.
But for the time being, at least, he could enjoy spending time with her in the playroom. He would disassemble her piece by piece by piece to discover her true nature.
