down her spine at his slightest touch. It worried her so. Ushering her inside the restaurant with a gentle nudge, he held the door open as she walked through. She waited as he communicated with the host. As she watched, she was hit by a feeling that agreeing to meet with the monster would turn out to be one of the worst mistakes of her life…
CHAPTER FIVE
An Offer You Can’t Refuse
“Good afternoon.” Nixon’s voice was low, gravelly, sexy, so much so that the mere sound drew people’s attention. “I made a reservation for two. Last name, Rossellini.”
“Ahhh, yes, here you are, Mr. Rossellini. Thanks for dining with us again. Your table will be ready in just a moment.”
Nixon nodded and tapped his fingertips against the host’s podium. They waited in silence, the awkwardness thick and sticky like a glob of slime. She took note of his well-made black briefcase.
He took it out of the car. Maybe he has important work stuff inside. But why bring it with him for lunch? Odd.
Once at their table, they picked up their menus. She hid behind hers as she perused the selections, though she practically knew them by heart.
“I’m going to order the most expensive thing on this menu, you son of a bitch. Twice.” She fought a smirk. He burst out laughing at that, then shrugged as if he didn’t give a damn. “I have a question.”
“Yeah. What is it?” He continued to scan his menu.
“I didn’t call you. I didn’t send for you.”
“Yeah, we’ve established that.”
“You gave me your card at,” she looked around and whispered, “The Cage.’”
“Why are you whispering?” he asked with a tilted grin. “Nobody knows what the hell you’re talking about. It could be Tweety Bird’s fuckin’ cage for all they know. I thought, I thought, I taw a puddy tat!” He cackled. “I did, I did!”
“Lower your voice!” She sucked her teeth. “This isn’t funny!” He leaned back in his seat, a big ass shit-eating grin on his face. “You have to tell me, I’m curious. Why did you decide to contact me after two months, Nixon? And I want the truth.”
“Why did you say, ‘And I want the truth’? What was the fuckin’ point of adding that?”
“Because you are a con-man. A charlatan.”
He sucked his teeth and looked away as if she was boring him to death.
“I’m as real as they come. Look, I have no problem giving you the truth, Yasmine, but the truth is sometimes vile. It can be dirty and rotten. The question you asked doesn’t require anything complex though,” he placed his menu down. “but just know this: you’re in no position to know everything about me. You haven’t earned that privilege yet.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just answer the damn question.”
“I’m going to enjoy breaking you.” He smirked and blew her a kiss, while she averted his gaze for a moment, needing to breathe. “All right. Answer time. Here we go… Why I contacted you… First, I will preface this by saying that this is a meeting. I brought you here to conduct some business, to put everything out on the table. To answer your question, Yasmine, let me set the scene. Every morning, I work out inside of my home.” He plucked his glass of water from the table, took a sip, and set it down. “I have a routine. It gives me time to meditate, to think. I also read quite a bit. Got that from my mother. She always had a bunch of books ‘nd shit lying around. Anyway, after that, I shower. I listen to music… I love music, especially the kind that gives a good vibe, relaxes you, or makes you wanna fuck.” His eyes narrowed on her and she grew hot in an instant. “I smoke a little, all before starting my work day. Back to the reading, though.” He scratched the side of his nose and leaned slightly forward. “I read a daily affirmation each and every morning.” So do I sometimes, but I am not telling him that. “I write them myself, the year prior, then pull them from a big vase I keep in my closet. It gives me insight into how to handle my day, if you will.”
“You write your own affirmations?”
“Yeah. Who better to do it but me?”
“Isn’t that kind of… I don’t know, strange to you?”
“No. Why would it be? I know myself better than anyone else and besides, what I get each day is a surprise. So I write