Chapter 13
SAMAIRA
D ominic worked fast when it came to contacting the suspects. Considering his influence in the city and the number of investments the Park Real Estate Group made in the government, his words carried weight.
He secured appointments with both our suspects just two days after our meeting.
Our first appointment was with Brian Montgomery, the steel industrialist. I was meeting Dominic in the lobby of Montgomery Steel’s office building at two o’clock.
Since I would be pretending to be Dominic's assistant for the day, I wore a brown turtleneck blouse tucked into matching brown wide-leg pants, with pretty, lace-up, chunky office heels. My hair was tied in a professional ponytail. I’d removed all my jewelry except for the gold necklace that rested on my chest.
I looked extremely professional and exactly like someone who worked for a man like Dominic, if I do say so myself.
Sloane had been hell-bent on making me wear a blouse and a pencil skirt, but I’d put my foot down.
I loved dresses and skirts just as much as the next girl, but a pencil skirt showed off my legs a bit too well and didn't project the professional, innocent image I needed for the role.
The moment I entered the lobby, my gaze collided with Dominic’s.
He was back in his three-piece black suit and charcoal shirt, his hair styled so a single lock fell perfectly over his forehead, giving him a lethal edge.
A dangerous aura seemed to swirl around him.
The man was a personification of power and sex.
My heart took flight in my chest as his lips curled into a smile, his deep, lickable dimples popping on his cheeks. One day, I was going to eat those damn things for dessert. His eyes raked over me, starting from my eyes all the way to my heels, leaving sparks of electricity racing down my body.
“Hello, Samaira,” he greeted me the moment I reached him.
“Dominic.” I nodded at him. “Do I look the part of your assistant?”
“You look perfect.” His eyes smoldered as they met mine. Time seemed to stop as I looked at him, the world around him becoming a blur as my eyes only saw him.
A loud ding of an elevator brought the world back into focus. “You ready?” I asked him.
He nodded and led us to the reception area, where he got us the guest passes.
I noticed the exit stairways on the west side of the lobby.
Once we were in the elevator, he pushed the button for the top floor.
As the elevator moved up, I stood beside him, his large presence and sinful cologne pushing my senses into overdrive.
I wanted to step even closer to him and run my nose along his throat, lick his Adam’s apple, and fucking drown in his scent.
So I deliberately took a step away from him and said in a low voice, “Remember, we’re only here for your business meeting.
The party is just an afterthought. Do not lose your cool. ”
He simply nodded, his jaw clenched as he righted the shirt at his wrist .
The elevator dinged open to reveal a massive office space with another reception area on the side. The office was a bustling space with all-glass walls separating the different spaces. There was only one exit aside from the elevator.
A petite woman in a pretty, pink, knee-length dress led the way to Brian Montgomery’s office.
She opened the door for us as Dominic entered first, with me following.
I could feel the way she looked at me, something between awe and fear.
I gave her a quick smile as I entered the office, without waiting for her response.
The door shut right behind us as a man with a small potbelly sat behind the desk in a blue suit. He got up as we reached his desk and shook hands with Dominic. He sent a quick, dismissive glance my way but did a double take when he actually saw me, his eyes deliberately moving over me.
Dominic let out a sharp cough. “Brian, how are you?”
“Surprised to hear from you, actually,” he said, taking a seat in his chair as we did the same.
I opened my handbag and pulled out a small iPad, ready to pretend to take notes. Dominic’s gaze fell on the iPad as he talked to Brian about a project of his, but I could feel his amusement at my pretense.
I continued to take notes as Dominic and Brian discussed the bylaws and building codes that would affect the building, the steel quantities he would need, the demand and supply timelines, and so on. I remained silent, occasionally looking up between the two of them.
At one point, I “accidentally” dropped my iPad pencil. Both of them turned to look at me, and I waved my hand for them to continue. “Please continue. I’ll just quickly grab the pencil.”
I bent down to pick it up. As I straightened, I surreptitiously stuck a small recording device to the underside of his wooden desk. We could listen to the live audio feed through this device. It would also automatically upload the audio recordings to the cloud every hour.
We sat with him and talked for another half hour. As the meeting came to an end, Dominic said, “Oh, by the way, my father was at the gala for the Healing for Survivors charity and was hoping to meet you there. But he didn’t see you.”
Brian waved a hand. “Oh man, say hi to your father on my behalf. I had a meeting in Abu Dhabi and couldn’t go. I gave the invitation card to my younger brother.”
“Ah. Did he have a good time? I hear these gala events could get wild toward the end,” Dominic said, his tone casual as he leaned back in the chair.
Even I stopped taking notes and pasted a polite smile on my face as if his answers meant absolutely nothing to me.
Brian guffawed. “Eh, he said the event was a dud. He’d taken two bombshells with him, so I think they left early to party at his bachelor pad.”
My lips threatened to curl in disgust, but I kept the polite smile on my face as Brian winked at me.
Dominic was quick to pull Brian’s eyes off me. “Yeah, I didn’t go either. I’m not a big fan of these galas.”
He glanced at his watch. “Anyway, I should be on my way. I have a meeting at four. Right, Daisy?”
It took me a second to realize he meant me, but I quickly looked up and nodded.
As soon as he rose, I was out of my seat too. After he and Brian shook hands, we left the office, walking side by side out of the building.
“Did you drive?” he asked, already typing something on his phone.
“Took the subway. Parking downtown is impossible.”
“Right. We can just head to the senator’s office together, then. I’ve texted Maxim that we’re ready.”
He started walking toward Park Avenue, and I hurried to keep pace. “By the way,” I said. “Sloane is going to an exhibition next weekend. Zarine is going to be displaying her jewelry there.”
“That’s good. Let me know if she needs additional funds to catch Zarine’s attention.”
“Sloane doesn’t need anything to catch anyone’s attention. She’s skilled at making people notice her.”
He gave a soft chuckle at that. “I noticed. By the way, I also contacted Sheila Bastion. She said that the man she hired was from an escort agency. She also confirmed that he’d been by her side throughout the party.”
“That’s great. Could you ask her to send you the details of the agency and the guy she hired? I would like to have Tara confirm her story.”
He gave me a small smile, his eyes shining with a hint of pride. And why did that just make my knees weak? “I’ll give her a call.”
A light breeze of wind blew some of his hair over his forehead, and my fingers ached with the need to push them over his head. I clenched my fingers into a fist, afraid they’d form a mind of their own. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
I had barely finished my sentence when Dominic suddenly stopped walking. My body went fully alert, trying to figure out if there was a threat somewhere.
But I stopped breathing when he dropped down on his knees in front of me—hold the fucking reins—and started tying up the lace of my heels.
When the hell did the lace get untied? And what the fuck was going on with my heart?
Something extremely warm was exploding in my chest at the way Dominic’s large hands were holding the thin, delicate laces of my heels in his fingers, uncaring of the fact that a crowd of people was passing by us.
We were literally in the middle of a New York City sidewalk and getting dirty looks from people around us.
No, the man did not care about any of it.
His sole focus was on tying up the delicate lace of my heels.
My hand trembled with the need to run my fingers through his thick, lush hair.
I tightened my hands into fists, my nails digging into my palms. My stomach was twisting and turning as if I had indigestion.
But this wasn’t an acidic burn. This was the glowing warmth of a million butterflies fluttering and taking flight in my stomach, making me feel as though I were flying.
My heart was gushing, and my cheeks were on fire.
Has anyone ever done something like that to me before?
When was the last time I felt this way? So soft on the inside, I feared all my organs had decided to melt out of my body, leaving me in a pile of goo in the middle of the sidewalk.
I felt…special. That was what this was.
His fingers barely brushed my heels, but just that minuscule touch reverberated through my bones. Every cell of my body screamed at me to grab his hair, pull his head up, and slam my lips against his.
As if Dominic Park hadn’t just shifted my entire world on its axis, he casually rose from his knees and gave me his killer dimpled smile. “There you go. Can’t have you stumbling on your lace.”
My cheeks blazed, and for the first time in a long while, my words stumbled. “Uh…yeah. Uh…thanks.”