THE BILLIONAIRE'S DIRTY FAVOR

Sienna Rhodes POV New York City 2:35 am Circe Lounge I had never seen a dead man up close before, and I had never planned to. Not on my second shift of the week on a random Tuesday morning. I watched the blood flow down the polished hardwood floor; my heart was beating rapidly against my chest. Who did this? And, who was this lifeless man? And then I saw, standing under the blue lights. Dominic Wolfe This time, it wasn’t through an i********: reel or a t****k ad. In the flesh, Billionaire Tech Mogul, Dominic Wolfe, is standing over the corpse. He moved his gaze from the corpse to meet my eyes. ‘You saw nothing,’ he says, his eyes still focused on mine. I could feel the air in my lungs cease. My feet somehow couldn’t find a way to move anymore. I give him a nod as I say, ‘I saw nothing’. But I saw everything. And, now, I couldn’t unsee it. One Week Later - Manhattan Sienna Rhodes POV I have never been this close to wealth. I was not talking about the fake kind of wealth, the fake designers, and knockoff watches. This was real wealth staring back at me. The kind that made the doorman look at me with disgust as I walked past him with my cheap clothes and thrifted boots I got last December, because it was on sale. The kind of wealth that made me feel like nothing the moment I stepped into Dominic Wolfe’s penthouse. I felt like an intruder who had just broken in. My eyes scanned the hallway of Dominic’s penthouse. My cheap boots suddenly felt out of place as I walked on the marble floors. Black stone floors. Floor-to-floor ceiling windows. And luxurious leather furniture that looked like it could pay my entire two-year worth of salary at the club. My fingers clutched my worn-out purse like it could save me from how poor I felt the moment I walked in here. I didn’t belong here. And yet, here I am waiting. Waiting for a man who had traumatized me and made my life a total mess ever since I witnessed the incident that happened in the club. I had not even spoken to anyone about what had happened, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not even my best friend, Naomi. The NYPD had stopped by a couple of times at the club to question employees about what had happened that night. I had to lie. The last thing I needed right now was to be tied to a murder case. I had so many questions. About the dead man. About why Dominic Wolfe was standing over a dead man with blood-stained hands and looked at her like she was the one who killed him. He knows something. He’s not innocent. I walked quickly around the room, my boots clicking against the expensive marble floors. Maybe I should have taken the money he offered in exchange for my silence, and this would have been over by now. But curiosity got the best of me. Dominic Wolfe had offered me something better than money. Answers. The large wooden door opposite me opens, and right in front of me, Dominic Wolfe stood in his full glory. Today, he wasn’t in a blood-stained suit; he was in a dark blue fitted T-shirt paired with black jeans. He still looked scarier than ever. His presence was still uninviting, just like the first day we met, eyes colder than ice, and looked like they could cut through glass. ‘Miss Rhodes,’ he said as he walked towards me. ‘You’re a bit early’ I glance at my watch. He was right, I was a bit early. It was currently 9 o'clock and I was supposed to be here by 10. ‘You should be glad I’m here,’ I say with a dull expression on my face. ‘I don’t get to meet killers in their penthouse every day, you know. ’ His gaze darkens, and a small smile forms at the side of his lips. Psycho. ‘So when are you going to stop lying to me?’ he says with the dirty smile still on his face. I feel the irritation start to boil up inside of me as I say, ‘Lie to you about what exactly ?’ He folds his arms around his chest, his muscles now very visible against the fabric of his shirt. I silently curse myself for looking. Keep it together. ‘I did some digging, Miss Rhodes,’ he says. ‘And you’re not a waitress’ I roll my eyes at him. I say, ‘Okay, Mr. Detective, so what else did you find ?’ ‘Journalism Major, dropped out before your final year in college, top 5% in your class, five published works in your college newspaper’. I pause a bit as I try to find words to say to him. How did he know all of that? ‘I don’t see why a smart woman like you would settle for being a waitress at a club,’ he says. ‘Unless you had other reasons. ’ ‘What do you want, Mr. Wolfe ?’ I asked with a harsh tone; this time, my eyes never left his. I could feel his gaze burning into my soul. I hated this man so much. He put me in this mess, and now I’m at the edge of my seat trying to save myself. ‘You are here because I made you an offer; all I want is for you to follow the rules so that no one gets hurt,’ he says. ‘You know damn well that was not a good offer,’ I say. ‘You want me to work for you in exchange for silence. ’ ‘Yes, Miss Rhodes,’ he says. This time, his hands are in his pockets. ‘And you will be compensated greatly for it as long as you keep your side of the agreement. ’ I feel a sudden pain in my chest. I hated how controlling he was. Who was he to make major decisions in my life? I am a grown woman, and now I feel like a chess piece on his chessboard waiting to be moved around. I let out a deep sigh and looked up to face him. My 5’8 frame stood no chance against his 6’4 frame. ‘Now, that is out of the way,’ I say, ‘What do you want ?’. I cross my arms across my chest this time ‘Do you want me to keep covering up your murders for you ?’. This time, he stepped closer, and his strong cologne filled the room. He smelled so strong and masculine, ‘I want you close,’ he says, My eyes widen at that statement, and my heart starts to speed up. ‘Close, for what exactly ?’ I ask. ‘I have already promised to keep my mouth shut, I don’t need to be babysat by you. ’ ‘No one is babysitting you, Miss Rhodes,’ he says. ‘I need you as my consultant, you will shadow me and take on tasks that will be too much for me or my assistant to handle. ’ ‘No way, I am not doing any of that,’ I say. ‘You’ll have access to a world that most will never see, Miss Rhodes,’ he says. ‘Also, I don’t remember where I said in that contract that you had a choice over the things you would be doing for me. ’ Heat flashes throughout my body. He was really out of his damn mind. Despite all the red flags this man had, I still needed to find answers. I just had to be very careful about it. Dominic looked like he was too smart for the games I would play, so I needed to think outside the box. ‘Fine,’ I finally say. ‘I will play your sick and twisted game; it’s only a matter of time till the world finds out what you did. ’ He lets out a low laugh. ‘Good,’ he says, ‘Now that I am done answering all your questions, is there any other thing you need, before we proceed to the next step?’. Next Step? As if this weren’t enough torture. ‘If I am going to be working for you, would I be able to go back to working at the club ?’ ‘No, miss Rhodes,’ he says, ‘You will be here, with me. ’ ‘So, when does this, I air quote ‘Work’, start?’. ‘Right now,’ he says, ‘follow me’ as he turns his back and leads me through the wooden doors he came out of. So, this is my life now. Like a puppet on a string, Dominic Wolfe became my puppeteer. ***************************************************** One Hour later - Wolfe Enterprises, HQ. I still couldn’t believe I was here. I looked at my new desk with my name sitting pretty on the plaque in front of me. Sienna Rhodes in gold letters written boldly across the black nameplate. So, this was my life now. I didn’t belong here. All of this wouldn’t be happening if I had not seen that body that day. And if Dominic Wolfe thought I would let him play smart and let him put everything on me, then he had no idea how dangerous an ex-journalist could be. I looked at the blue file that lay on my table. Dominic had requested that I take a look at this before I started any work. I opened up the file, and I could swear that my heart stopped beating for a second. My father, Malcolm Rhodes, stood next to Dominic, a large smile on his face. He was in a black tuxedo, and Dominic had a blue tuxedo on. What the hell was going on? And just like that, the entire game had changed.