CHAPTER 4
Sutton
The two new men retreated to the other side of the room with Dominic and I took a much needed breath.
I hadn’t even realized just how much their presence was affecting me.
They were just so much larger and more virile than any man I’d ever seen before.
Dominic had been a force enough to knock me over but add in the other two, and I was as good as gone.
Leon had just as many tattoos as Dominic but his looked less refined.
In a fitted white t-shirt and worn jeans he should’ve stood out against Dominic’s suit, should’ve looked like the man who’d come to work on Dominic’s car or something, but he didn’t.
He looked just as powerful with his thick arms crossed over his wide chest and a scowl on his face.
His hair was too long on top and messy, his beard was also too long, but he was just as beautiful as Dominic.
Theo was deceptively normal looking next to them.
Still so pretty to me but there was something off.
I recognized the slightly too large clothes and the wire-rimmed glasses as things he hid behind.
I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew. He even stood slightly stooped, like he was trying to disguise that he was just as large as his two friends.
It was strange to see a man doing everything in his power to look…
plain, especially when there was nothing he could’ve done to hide the power of his bright blue eyes.
No amount of khaki would hide those beauties.
Standing in front of the three of them, all unique and sexy in their own way, all staring at me with a mixture of confusion and grumpiness, made me back towards the door.
I couldn’t stand there and face them like that.
I wasn’t strong enough. I just wanted to get away and pretend I hadn’t come so close to the kind of temptation that would ruin a woman.
“Our money spends just like everyone else’s.” Leon’s gaze was hard as he raked it up and down my body. “Or do you suddenly not need the money?”
It appeared I’d upset him. I hated upsetting people. It sent me into a people-pleasing whirlwind of shame and doubt.
“No, no! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to imply I think there’s anything wrong with you all, or your money. Of course, I still need it. And of course, your money is just as good as anyone’s.”
“Then why not work for us?” He was giving me no breaks.
I licked my dry lips and took a much larger step towards the door when Dominic growled.
“I just can’t. I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I—”
“Stop.” Theo straightened and yanked off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. He looked at me without squinting and when I glanced suspiciously at his glasses he smirked and tossed them down on the desk. “Why do you need the extra money?”
I was so confused.
“Why do I need the extra money? Is… Is that something you ask all your employees? Living is expensive, Sir.”
He shuddered and I felt like I’d woken a sleeping monster.
“It’s something I’m asking you. Do you not make enough as a teacher?”
I giggled before I could help myself. I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried to step back again but my back bumped into the door. I must’ve looked so stupid.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. No, I don’t make enough as a teacher. No one does. That’s not why I’m here, though.”
“Then why?” Leon wrapped his knuckles on the desk and frowned. “Why come to this place that has you shaking like a scared little leaf?”
I felt the insane desire to stick my tongue out at him. That was yet another desire I stomped down deep.
“Truthfully…my dad is sick. He’s been sick and he’s not going to get any better. I want to buy him his dream car before…I just want to buy him his dream car. I’ve been saving for a few years but I don’t have enough yet.”
Theo whistled. “I think I’m getting a tooth ache. Are you really that sweet or is this some kind of virgin act?”
My mouth dropped open and my entire body flushed to match my tomato red face.
“Why do people keep asking that? I’m not acting like anything. I was invited here for a job interview. Now I’m politely declining and leaving. If one of you could just help me find the exit…”
Dominic stood up and pointed at the chair I’d fled from.
“Sit, Sutton. This interview isn’t over and I’m not chasing you down again.”
I embarrassingly complied with his demand. I walked over and sat down once more, my hands folded in my lap. I was going to have a lot to dissect later.
“Thank you.” Both Leon and Theo looked at Dominic like he’d grown a second and third head.
He ignored them to stare me down. “Ten percent more than we’ve already offered and I’ll pay for your father’s medical expenses.
If there are treatments he needs or trials he could participate in, I’ll make it happen. ”
My heart thumped harder and harder. I’d never even considered that option.
Dad’s doctors didn’t seem to think there was much to be done for his degenerative disease but I’d always had the feeling like maybe they just weren’t motivated to try harder.
Maybe it was a silly hope but I’d secretly crossed my fingers and hoped for a better, more upbeat report at every appointment we went to.
Like they would’ve discovered some new way to treat him since the last time we’d been in.
It was a sour reality that money could buy you time in our country.
Money meant better doctors, better treatment, better outcomes.
What Dominic had just held out to me was bigger than he could possibly know.
Big enough that I might have cried if I didn’t think the men in front of me would’ve been horrified.
“You’re serious?” My voice sounded quiet and meek, even to me.
“Yes.” He glanced at Theo and Leon and they both met his gaze with a single nod. It seemed as if they were giving their approval.
I squeezed my knees and stared at a spot near my feet.
I had to think. I had to understand what exactly they were asking for in return.
“I would need to meet the kids first. If I don’t think I’d be a positive addition to their lives, I can’t do it.
Some kids and adults don’t always mesh and I would never want to put a child in a position. ”
“You can meet them in the morning. Meet us back here and we’ll take you to meet them.” Leon saw the way my eyes widened and grunted. “Surely you aren’t that scared of this place.”
“Someone asked to see my…chest…and then put me on stage to get people to bid on me. I don’t want that to happen again.”
Theo’s perfectly blank face turned dark. “Who did that?”
“Benny. He won’t be working here any longer.” Dominic saw me start to say something and narrowed his eyes. “I told you I was probably going to fire him. Now that I know he asked to see your tits, he’s being fired with extreme prejudice. It’s not something we’re going to debate, Angel.”
I bit back a sigh and nodded.
“Okay. But does it help if he was just asking to get a better idea of what I looked like? For the bidding?”
Dominic growled and came around the desk. He reached down and gripped my hand.
“Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
I let out a little squeak as the big man tugged me out of the room. Back in the office I could hear Theo’s distinctively accent-less voice.
“See you soon, Sutton.”