Free Sweet Seduction Sayonara by Nicola Claire

Nick’s door and a muffled reply to “Hold on a minute” comes through the wood, we both know there’s no chance of it ever happening.
    Especially when the door opens and a decidedly rumpled looking cowgirl stares out at us from the other side.
    “Perfect timing,” she says, slipping her hat on her head and giving Nick a sultry wink over her shoulder. And then she slips past, singing softly to herself in the sweetest, sexiest voice I’ve ever heard.
    “Finn,” Nick says. “This is a surprise.”
    Is it? I don’t often come here, but I have been here before. Many times. Granted it’s usually for a piss-up or something special, like Charlie getting initiated into the fold. But me being here now is a surprise?
    I guess it is, really.
    I nod my head at Jason, who hesitates, his eyes darting to Nick. They share a look. Fuck knows what that’s about. And then Jason slaps me on the back and retreats. Job done.
    I stand there for a moment like a fucking idiot, until Nick finally says, “Have a seat, Drake. I don’t bite.”
    I let out a breath of air, shut the door behind me, and walk toward a seat opposite his desk. There’s a whole lot of shit on the floor, papers, pens, stapler, calculator, and I stare at it for a moment and then at the top of the desk. Nick smiles.
    I know that smile. Dom was wearing one when I walked into his office yesterday. What is it with these Anscombe men? I vow not to touch Nick’s desk.
    “What can I do for you?” Nick asks.
    “I need some security for my place,” I say, getting right to the point.
    “You don’t have an alarm?” It’s an old house in a good neighbourhood and so I’ve never thought about it.
    I shake my head.
    “OK, I can have Eric hook you up with something simple.”
    “I don’t want simple,” I say.
    “Oh? And why not?”
    Nick is not stupid. In fact, his mind is as sharp as his brother’s. He sees everything just like Dom.
    “I want cameras and full monitoring. Here,” I clarify, as if ASI outsources their work.
    Nick watches me for a moment and then rocks back in his seat, crossing his ankle to his knee.
    “What’s going on, Finn?”
    I concentrate on breathing normally for a moment and then notice I’ve clenched my fists. I don’t think Nick can see them, in his current pretend-to-be-relaxed stance. But I force myself to release them before I speak.
    “My house was broken into last night.”
    “Anything taken?” Nick asks.
    “No. Not a thing.”
    “Damage?”
    I wince. “My office was trashed and um, my bedroom was…”
    “Was what?” Nick demands and he’s no longer sitting back in his chair, he’s forward, elbows to desk top, eyes locked on my face.
    “Someone left a gift on my bed. Shit,” I add. “They shat on my bed.” As if I need to say the last.
    Nick stares at me for a long moment and then says, “Anything else?” As if leaving shit on someone’s bedspread isn’t bad enough.
    “A message was carved into my desk in hanzi.”
    “You need Charlie to translate it?”
    “No, it’s a pretty common one. A proverb.”
    Nick arches his brow. “A proverb?”
    “Yeah. ‘If you walk on snow, you cannot hide your footprints.’”
    “Fuck,” he says.
    “That mean anything to you?” I ask, surprised at his reaction.
    “Not a fucking thing. But what the hell, Finn? Who have you pissed off?”
    I close my eyes. This is going to get complicated.
    “I might have had a run in with some of the 14K.”
    Silence. I open my eyes.
    “Do you want this kept confidential?” Nick asks. “As in just you and me?”
    I go to nod my head and then stop myself.
    “Who were you thinking of bringing in?”
    “Charlie.” Of course. Not only does Charlie speak Mandarin, but she was a former Major in a highly specialised arm of the Secret Service simply called The Department. She’d know all about the 14K Triads.
    “OK,” I say. “But no one else.”
    Nick gives me that Anscombe stare, the one that says he’s seeing more than he’s