Dirty Playboy - Alex Wolf Page 0,1

at the Chicago Performing Arts Center. The way her eyes lit up when she said it… The memory is cemented in my mind.

This is my big moment. I already have the tickets, conned Donavan out of them to investigate his now fiancée, Paisley. It’ll be our fifth after-work outing, and first official date. All I have to do is stop being a pussy and ask her out, for real this time. No games, no bullshitting. I haven’t put in seven months of reading Jesus books and volunteering at her church to be denied. Oh no, my friends. Mary is going. I don’t care if I have to tie her up and haul her ass there myself.

“Close the door behind you,” Decker says as I follow him into his office.

I do as he instructs, walk to the chair opposite him, flop down, and kick my feet up on his desk.

He glares at my shoes, as if I just sullied his desk, but he manages not to say anything, despite the fact a blood vessel might burst on his forehead. Why, you ask? Because I’m the best goddamn private investigator on the planet and he knows it. The shit I do for these pricks around here, nobody else can do. So, I get to do whatever I wish, and I enjoy wearing Led Zeppelin tee shirts to work and propping my feet on their desks.

Decker swallows his pride, and his jaw sets. “I need a favor.”

I hold my arms out to the side like I haven’t a care in the world. “What does’t thou need?”

He shakes his head. “Fuck.”

I laugh my ass off. “Sorry, still in King James mode from being enraptured with the good book earlier.”

“First, I’m pretty sure you just butchered whatever language you were speaking, and second, you don’t know what I’m going to ask you yet.”

I grin. “Sure, I do. And it’s a yes.”

He shakes his head, too stubborn to ask how I figured it all out.

Knowing what people want is simple, you just need to have Holmesian skills of observation. People will tell you everything, if you know what to look for.

Decker huffs out a sigh. “Go on with it. Get this shit out of the way.”

I drop my feet and lean in, like I’m seriously staring into his soul. It’s nothing but a performance. I bring my hands in front of me and steeple my fingers.

“Goddamn it, just spit it out, Lawrence. How do you know?”

I break into a laugh. “How about I just ask you the only question I have?”

He rolls a hand forward like get on with it.

“Is Dexter gonna lose his shit on me if he finds out?”

Decker sighs. “I don’t know how the fuck you do this.”

“The question, sir.”

“He can’t find out. I need it kept secret.”

I click my tongue a few times and stare off at the wall. “Gonna cost you.”

Decker’s face tightens. “I shouldn’t have to barter. We pay you a goddamn salary better than half the partners here.”

I hold up a finger. “As the Joker quipped in the masterpiece that is The Dark Knight, ‘If you’re good at something, never do it for free.’”

“We pay you a fucking salary for you to do the shit you’re good at. You aren’t working for free.” He’s about to explode.

Fuck, this is fun. I lean back and fold one leg above my knee, like we’re getting down to the negotiations. “Semantics, synergy, core competency, paradigm shifting…”

Decker cuts me off. “Those are just popular corporate buzz phrases. They don’t even make sense. Cut the shit.”

“Bears’ suite.” I grin at him.

He finally glances off at the wall then back at me. “Fine. We already secured a second one because of all the new hires anyway.”

“Consider it done then. Pleasure doing business.” I stand up.

“You don’t even know exactly what I want.”

I don’t look back. “Sure, I do. You want information about Wells Covington’s new holdings, specifically Pacific Imports.” I glance back to see the shocked look on his face.

“How the fu…”

“A magician never tells,” I say, as I stroll out of his office.

It’s not that difficult. Like I said, watch people and they’ll tell you everything you need to know. When I got to work, he came out of a meeting with Dexter. They both turned the opposite way with red faces, when they’d usually go to the break room and get coffee together per their usual morning routine. The seeds of dissent were sown. An hour later Decker’s new secretary walked by my