Free The Opium Room by Charisma Kendrick

outsider. We’re going on a date Friday night, and I need you to help me find an outfit. Something you know your brother would love.”
    “Oooh, sounds juicy.” Either she had spit out, or finished, what was in her mouth. “When do you want to meet up?”
    “Tomorrow during the day I’ll be at the convention. How about six–ish?”
    “That’s a plan… What’d you say your name was?”
    “Lea.”
    Silence. Then, “Sounds familiar. I’m trying to place—”
    “Remember, we had dinner at Remedy and drinks at Dilemma yesterday.”
    “Oh, that’s right. Yeah, I remember, hon. You’re the one Fox was hanging with before Father summoned him to the attic. That’s what I call Roman’s office—the attic—because nobody likes going in there.” She went to chewing again.
    “All right, well, I’ll call you tomorrow when I’m ready.”
    “All righty.” Another smack. “Hey, which brother you got the hots for?”
    Lea had a delayed response. “Fox.”
    “Oh, okay. Erickson’s cooking is so good he makes women melt, and I thought since you ate the spaghetti… And Fox—that’s understandable, too. He’s a chic magnet.”
    “Oh,” Lea said, defeated. “Really?”
    “Mmhmm. You wouldn’t believe all the women who walk by making googly, sex–me eyes at him. Even the ones he already took to bed do.”
    Lea tried, but couldn’t find the words. Silence filled the line. And some crunching.
    “You know what I just thought about?” Karrigan said. “If the women Fox took to bed still look at him that way, he must be an okay guy. I mean, they wouldn’t even smile at him if he’d been a complete asshole, right?”
    Lea giggled. “You do have a point there, Karrigan.”
    “Later,” Karrigan said, and the line went dead.
    Lea had been pacing, holding the phone with one hand, the other hand stuffed in her pants pocket while she was talking to Karrigan. That’s when she’d felt the flash drive and remembered.
    She powered on her laptop with the quickness. She had to pee really bad from drinking so much coffee at the diner; they left the carafe on the table for goodness sake. But the two–gig portal to her humility now took precedence.
    She popped it in the slot, sat back in the hard wooden chair, held her bladder…and her breath.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    —Fox

    “No, Jill needs to recheck her math,” Fox shouted at Roman. “I’ve reviewed the reports more times than I can count and everything balances to the penny.” Fox massaged the back of his neck. He was barely awake. He’d slept maybe four hours last night; it was too early for this shit. Roman paced the marble floor of his too–large office. For the amount of work he did, he could have used a space the size of a public bathroom stall. “And would you be still already?”
    “Fine,” Roman said. “But you need to check the reports again. Jill is a valuable asset to us. We need her.”
    “Like a hole in the head. I still don’t understand why you can’t reschedule her week–long “stay” for another time when we’re not so busy. She has no business on the Kemp floor. Period.”
    Roman sat in the chair behind his desk, lit a cigar, took a long drag. “I’m an old man. I’m getting tired. And all you want to do is give me a hard time.”
    “Oh, don’t even… I’m not buying into that old–and–feeble guilt–trip bullshit. It’s not working anymore.”
    “Foxworth, I’m being honest this time. Something is very wrong with me.”
    “You got that right, although we might be talking about different things.” In fact, Roman’s steely eyes had lost some of their vigor. They were dull, glazed. And he looked somewhat thinner. But Roman was a chameleon, transforming day to day to manipulate, twist things in his favor. “Look, Roman, I know you have a personal interest in keeping Jill around. What is it? She blowing you?”
    Roman responded with an evil laugh. “Keep on, son, and I’ll amend my will today, taking you out of