The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,12

not fishing.” I sober up, not that I’m drunk, not the slightest, but the more I meet with her and get to know her, the more I keep wondering and waiting for a flash of desire to scorch my already cold heart.

It hasn’t so far, and I tell myself it’s because Jessica is composed and self-assured, that she’s elegant and refined, and that tearing-one-another’s-clothes-off sex isn’t how this relationship will go.

I found her on a list of the most eligible and successful women in Chicago. What struck me was her quiet beauty; perfectly coiffed chestnut brown hair, swept back ‘50s style. She’s more polished than voluptuous. Physically and otherwise, she is perfect and she ticks all the boxes for the type of woman I envision my future with; a future which will involve society parties, gala evenings, fundraiser events. I need to be with someone like Jessica.

I tell myself that the desire and lust will come later. She has made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want to rush into anything either, having come out of a relationship that ‘trampled her heart to shreds’. That sounds brutal, and she’s had a hard knock, which means she must have loved hard and fiercely. I can’t remember loving anyone like that. I don’t let go of my emotions or give up my feelings. Being vulnerable is not a state I allow myself to be in.

“You’re successful, powerful and rich, of course you’re going to have impeccable taste.” Jessica leans across slightly, so that her lips are harder for me to ignore. I dip my head, analyzing the order of her words. Women want a man who is rich and powerful. She and I are looking for the same things and we couldn’t be more right for one another.

“I don’t want to rush anything,” she says as an afterthought, and the fact that she has mentioned this before makes me wonder if she also doesn’t feel that bolt of desire shooting through her.

For all our fancy dinners, and polite and refined conversations, often taking place while we admire various works of art in her gallery, there is the niggling feeling that the chemistry is lackluster. My father had a string of mistresses, and perhaps that is how things will be for me later on.

The server brings over the champagne and starts to pour.

“To the good things in life,” I say, when both our glasses are filled.

Jessica raises her glass to mine. “To all the good things.”

I chuckle to myself, thinking about my interview with Kyra Lewis. Now that is one woman I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, even if she were the last woman left on Earth. There is nothing sleek or polished about her. No admirable qualities that I can discern and, given her desire to make life better for the losers of our society, I struggle to understand her.

“What’s so funny?” A questioning twinkle in Jessica’s eyes loosens my guard. I have told her about my next ambitious project, of my desire to turn Greenways, that dumpster fire of real estate, into something that will make money, instead of bleed money for useless causes, but she doesn’t know of my ploy, or the pathetic attempt I made to infiltrate Lewis’s outfit.

“I’m not sure what to do about Greenways. One of the business people there, a woman, runs a nonprofit organization and she’s going to be a thorn in my side.”

“You must be referring to Kyra Lewis.”

“You know her?” This surprises me because the two women might as well be from different galaxies for all that they have in common.

Jessica looks visibly disgusted. “People like that? God, no. She feeds homeless people, and I … don’t.”

I sit upright. “How do you know?” This catches my attention like a bolt of lightning. I casually skimmed over the file that Emma had prepared for me on her. I didn’t take her seriously before, but maybe I should. The fact that Jessica knows of her is a testament to Lewis’s draw.

“She’s the city’s newest icon, aside from Elias Cardoza.” Jessica’s voice drops an octave. I don’t like that she’s talking about that boxer guy as if she’s in awe of him. Cardoza is the toast of the town. The King of Chicago. He used to be Chicago’s New Hope when he first came on the scene. The city loves him. Even when he lost the fight to defend his title, the people didn’t give up on him. There’s a rematch slated for next month