HIS GUILTY PLEASURE

CHAPTERTWO

But contrary to my wild imagination, it did happen. The vivid image of my sister walking down the aisle still haunts me to this day. The weather was perfect-perfect for running away. But prior to this moment, I tried all within my power to convince my sister not to do this- but she did, and with good reason to. Her excuse was the prenup; I had to admit, it did give her the upper hand.

The actual guests at the wedding were far less than the press outside the event. The wedding was strictly on invitation, so strict that I didn’t see any of our distant relatives, not even Nico’s daughter. And yes, Nico has a five-year-old girl, but only a few people have actually seen her. The day was over before I knew it, nothing romantic, just smiles and business.

The ride home after the wedding dinner party, which was obviously crowded, was over, and was quiet. Nico, obviously occupied by his thoughts and realization, suddenly rushed over to Lee. The gates to the mansion swung open, and it took minutes before the car parked in front of the house.

When they were inside, Nico finally turned to her, ‘To the left is your side of the house. Feel free to use it however you like. As for furniture, you can tell the butler to provide whatever you like’

‘Yes’, she answered simply, and followed the butler to what she would now know as her new home.

The next morning, Lee was woken by the sound of a car outside. She peered into the darkness. It was just four in the morning. Where he was headed to, she wondered. Well, it was too late to go back to bed, so she got ready for work. Among other good traits, Lee was known for her taste for fashion. She donned a red body con dress showing off her curves, a darker shade blazer with red heels. Making a statement was the key to a new work environment.

When she stepped out, just outside the door was what seemed like an animal crouched beside her door. After the shock came the realization that it wasn’t an animal but a person- a little girl. Lee crouched beside her.

‘Hi there’, she said in a low voice, ‘you must be Camilla’. Lee hadn’t had the chance to see her before the wedding, coupled with the fact that Nico kept her hidden from even Lee.

The small child looked up at her, her green eyes teary, ‘I couldn’t sleep. There's a monster under my bed’

‘Is there now’, Lee asked rhetorically, ‘what did it look like?’

‘It was this big and this wide’, she demonstrated with her little hands, then fell into Lee's embrace, ‘I’m scared.’

‘Okay dear, but you have school today, don’t you?’

She nodded, ‘but my teacher comes here.’

‘Oh does she?’, Lee said as she stood. She didn’t like the idea of homeschooling one bit. ‘Let’s go get you something to eat’

Breakfast was chatty, Camilla went on and on about her toys and school and things little girls fancy. Lee loved every little bit of it. When she had handed Camilla over to her nanny and bid her farewell, she headed over to the office.

***

Now here’s the thing about my sister, she’s actually my step-sister, same dad, different mum, unfortunately. I was Latin-American, she was Korean-American. Lee was a different kind of pretty. One could tell she was an Asian by just looking at her. She was pretty and young, her lips were full and up turn, her eyes were large and blue, the bridge of her nose was perfect, and her skin was pearly white.

I didn’t look like my sister one bit, but I was a different breed of pretty if I do say so myself. The good news was, none of us resembled my father. Now, from this description, it goes without saying that on the first day of work, Lee was turning all the heads at the office. She was their boss’s wife after all.

‘Good morning ma’am, I’m your secretary’, a blonde young lady said to her as she got out of the elevator.

‘Secretary? I already have-‘, she stopped mid-sentence. She had a personal assistant, Riley. Why wasn’t she at the company? This had Nicholas Moretti written all over it and, as fate would have it, my sister had the temper of a one-year-old. She got back into the elevator and headed to Nico’s office.

The receptionist bowed, ‘Good morning, ma’am’

Lee walked right passed her, her target was straight, letting of some steam on the way wasn’t going to do it.

‘The CEO is busy,’ she heard the receptionist shout behind her.

She slammed the door open. Behind the desk, Nico peered up from the papers he had in front of him and took off his glasses. Nico had a gentle expression on his face, that was his default. But behind those wicked eyes was a criminal master mind. I got to find that out for myself, you see. He took a moment to savor the outfit on her, decent but yet enticing. He arched his brow, ‘yes’.

‘A fine morning isn’t it,’ Lee said with every ounce of self-control in her voice, but the anger was sounding loud.

‘Indeed’, he agreed.

‘Riley, my personal assistant, ‘the prenup specifically said to keep her. The prenup you signed’.

‘Yes. And?’

Lee scoffed and rolled her eyes. Now, this would have been the perfect moment to curse him out - which was a hidden talent my sister had, but she held back, breathed out some steam and crossed her arms, ‘I don’t see riley anywhere’.

Nico walked around his desk as if counting seconds, but as these seconds passed, Lee was getting a hold of her common sense-she didn’t like that one bit. He sat at the front of his large desk, just beside a plaque that read his name.

‘Now, it did say you could keep her but not in my company. The company affairs are strictly for family’, he walked up to her, and when he was just inches away from her towering her small statue, ‘now I remember that I married you, not her’.

She laughed heartily at that, but not once did she take a step back, ‘it’s called one plus one Joker. Riley stays and I mean it’.

She turned and walked away. It took all the self-control in the world for Nico not to hold her back. When she was out of his office, this secretary, Kim, walked it, ‘Is everything okay sir? I heard there was a ruckus’.

Nico's hand was over his face. One would think he was a sullen husband, but no, a smile was peeking behind those hands, and after that came a chuckled and then a full-blown laugh. Was he enjoying this? The truth was, yes, he was. He enjoyed seeing a side of her he could never have thought of unlocking. Could this be his new hobby?

***

Well as for me, my day began with a hot cup of coffee and bad news.

‘The warrant for Perez was rejected’, our intern, Stanley, announced to us as he sat at the desk.

I rolled my eyes. The fact that I was expecting something better from our criminal justice system was wild. The city was streaming with thugs, and some of them had their own offices and places in government.

The case is, a few days back, some unidentified men were burnt to ashes in the heart of the city. It led us to believe that this was one of those mafia rivalry standoffs and, lucky for us, they did leave evidence behind- an unlicensed gun that had an emblem engraved on it. Everyone in the force knew the name of this gang-the Vipers, hence the snake embroidery.

And the source of their power seemed to come from an office in one of the largest service corporations in this city. Now getting Mr. Perez to come to the station for questioning was an impossible task, but getting a warrant for his arrest was somewhat higher than impossible- it was not done anywhere.

‘The good news is we have a lead’, Charles, our team leader said, ‘don’t slouch guys, we need to catch these guys with our heads up.’

‘Our leads are just a few’, Macey said, ‘if it not Mr. Perez, it’s finding other people from his gang.

‘Which is possible because we don’t know where they operate’, Zayn cut in, ‘so what now?’

‘A rat always goes back to his whole’, Charles totted, ‘Now, we stalk Perez. I’m talking, twenty hours for seven days. Kiara, draw the roaster and put me on it’.

‘Yes sir’, I answered.

‘I’m heading out, Zayn, get clearance for guns and back up in case well be needing them. Stake out starts at four-thirty sharp. Perez would be getting off work then.’

‘Yes sir’, we all echoed.

And as the day went by, I kept asking myself how my sister was doing.