Page 20 of Bolted

Well this should be interesting. I haven’t been alone with him since our bathroom encounter. We’ve been working together but it’s been professional. To be honest, it has left me feeling a little disappointed.

Sasha is no longer with Bolt, I didn’t ask why, but Kaz had alluded to a “management decision.” Since her departure, he’s kept his door open more, which has made me a little relieved.

I walk in, knocking lightly on his open door. “Hi,” I say. “Sir.”

He smiles. He seems to really get off on that power thing. “Riley, I have been doing some work for a longtime client and friend of ours. He’s been wanting to pursue a case against a financial firm he had invested in. According to this client, he was taken advantage of to the tune of almost eight hundred grand. I’ve hesitated to represent him because the financial firm has been known to be a powerhouse and tied up in some high level associations. The client also has other business I’m not too fond of.”

This is all sounding very mysterious and I have no idea why he’s telling me any of it. “Uh, ok..” I stammer.

“The point is he’s come across some seriously incriminating evidence and he wants me to come review it with him.” He pauses and looks at me blankly. “I will need you to join me.”

Join him? Why me? I wonder.

“Is this not documentation that can be emailed or uploaded to a secure portal like our other clients do?” I feel stupid asking what seems like such an obvious question, but I don’t understand why he, or we, would have to travel just to retrieve information.

“It’s highly sensitive,” Sebastian says. “Our client is not in a position to share this info where it can be discovered. He is also a tiny bit paranoid.”

Well this is very interesting. First of all, this sounds like something out of a TV drama. Highly sensitive documents that can’t fall into the wrong hands? What kind of clients does Sebastian deal with?

“When will he be expecting you? Or us?” I feel weird saying “us” when speaking about Sebastian.

“Tomorrow.” Sebastian looks at me and smirks looking devilishly handsome. My legs get a little wobbly. He’s sitting in a way that I can’t see below his waist, yet I am somehow convinced he’s sporting a hard-on underneath the desk as we’re having a casual work discussion.

I come to, my brain catching up with his words. “Tomorrow?!” I ask. “What about the ParkerCo case?”

“Jamison will manage it with his team,” he says, as if I haven’t been spending the entire week working on it.

“Okay.” I stammer again. Pull your shit together Riley. “I can be ready, Sir. Where will we be traveling?”

“St. Thomas,” Sebastian says. “All expenses will be covered…Don’t forget to pack your swimsuit.”

With that, he turns back toward his computer. “My driver will pick you up at 7:00 tomorrow morning. I’ll send you the details.”

I turn around, feeling dismissed. Just when I think Sebastian had lost interest in me, he’s included me on what seems to be an important undertaking. And managed to elicit a response from my pussy with the casual mention of a bathing suit. Thoughts of seeing him in nothing but a pair of swim trunks flit through my head. What am I getting into?

I message Kaz when I get back to my desk. Hey. Can I borrow some clothes this evening? I don’t think I have time to go shopping.

She immediately writes back. ‘YESSS. My place, 6:00. I’ll open the wine!’

Kaz opens the door with a huge smile. “Tell me everything.”

I laugh. “If I knew what to tell you I would.”

“Well,” she begins, “you haven’t mentioned much about the holiday party, or Nate, since then.” She eyes me curiously as she grabs my bag from me and sets it on the counter. I follow her around to her kitchen island. I have been here a few times now and every time, I notice something different about her decor. Kaz has a flair for the finer things but also manages to decorate in a colorful, passionate way. The art on her walls comes from galleries but also street vendors. It’s like a hodge podge of the city throughout the apartment.

“I’ve been staying with my sister a little bit,” I admit. “Just trying to understand what’s best for me.”

“Oh wow!” She looks shocked. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s kind of mortifying, not knowing if you want to be living with your own husband..” I trail off remembering how livid Nate was when I stayed with her the first time.

“If anything,” she says, “I think it proves how strong you are.”

I smile, Kaz has always been a friend to me since I started. I’m so grateful that she brought me into Bolt.

“Well, Nate’s been weirdly kind,” I start. “Which makes things feel wrong. Like I’m in the wrong for questioning our relationship. He’s been taking me out on dates, and asking me things. Like last night he asked how I have been feeling, and essentially begged me to start staying back at the house.”

“How does that change things for you?” she asks. “I know you’ve kind of mentioned his drinking before… and then the whole Sasha thing at the event, that was strange…”

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