The Book of Rook

Chapter 35

ROOK

             I leave the penthouse with a heavy heart. I hated the look she and Ilya shared. He looked at her like she hung the moon and she just stared at him like he was a mid-morning snack. Yep, big mistake. Then I had to kiss her, hard. I had to show him she's mine. At least for now. Short of peeing on her and marking my territory, I feel like I made an ass out of myself kissing her like that but I needed reassurance. But, she did kiss me back. At least that's something. I roll my eyes. Since when did I become such a sap?

            Since you fell in love with your wife and have no idea if she feels the same.

           Obviously, she doesn't or she wouldn't have drawn up divorce papers. Has she noticed that I ripped them up? Would she even care? We really need to discuss that.

          I'm so wrapped in my thoughts; I almost miss my stop on the subway. I quickly run up the stairs and walk to the office building.

           After I pass the front desk and wink at Clarissa, who's on the phone, I head to Wayne's office. I hope he has answers for me. It would be nice if he could tell me everything about his jackass of a step brother. Do I threaten him or just beat the shit out of him to get the information I need? I take a breath. I need to calm down. Don't need to get arrested. I'm too cute for prison.

          I greet his assistant, Rose. I'm almost sure he's fucked her along with his other past three assistants. Rose has bright red lipstick on her lips and a beige button up blouse with the top three buttons open and the fourth might bust open spilling the huge tits I'm sure Wayne paid for. Her bleached blonde hair is up in a bun and she's wearing too much eye makeup that hide her green eyes. Time to put on my smolder so she'll let me in to see Wayne. I give her my lopsided smile.

          "Rose, looking stunning as always," I say as I try not to vomit at the bullshit I'm spewing. Her green eyes sparkle and her smile widens.

          "Hi, Mr. Raines," she says breathlessly. She's been trying to get my attention since she started here but I refuse to take Wayne's sloppy seconds. Now that I have my Sunrise, no other woman will have my attention.

          "Is the big guy in?" I point my thumb at the door.

         "He was on a conference call ten minutes ago. Let me check if he's off." She dials his extension and waves me by so I can go in. I send her a wink and let myself in.

       He stands and points to the chair in front of his desk. "Come to bitch about losing the VP position. Maybe we should drown our sorrows at lunch."

      I unbutton my jacket and take a seat. "No, I'm actually here to talk about your stepbrother." I decided to just get to the point.

      Wayne sits in his chair trying to school his look of surprise, but I noticed it. "I haven't spoken to that piece of shit in years. How do you know about him?" Wayne asks as he shifts in his chair.

      "It's a small world. You see Brad was married to my Phoenix." I look at Wayne's face. He is actually surprised at that piece of news. No one is that good of an actor. "He's here in New York and paid a visit to my wife." Wayne looks like he's on the verge of a heart attack. "Actually tried to kidnap her after he slapped her around." Just saying those words make me feral.

       Wayne sits up straighter in his chair. "Is she ok? Dear God Rook, I hope you don't think I had anything to do with that. I actually like Phoenix."

       Yeah, a little too much for my taste.

        "She's fine, now and no I don't think you had anything to do with this. But, I do need to know if you know where he could be hiding. I need to keep Phoenix safe and with him running around, I can't keep that promise."