The Opium Room Read Online Free Page B

on her inside Get it While it’s Hot Bake Shop , home of the sexual organ–shaped cakes, down at the shady edge of town. And God knows what she was doing there—Fox didn’t like to think about it, but presumed Karrigan was more sexually active than him and his brother put together. Erickson didn’t have time to date, spending all day going back and forth between the two on–site restaurants; Fox managed his time running the day–to–day operations.
    “Jill’s wrong. I don’t need a secretary. I’m perfectly capable of handling my own affairs. And if you ventured down into the lobby yourself on occasion, you’d see that Karrigan is asking for trouble. She’s in with the wrong crowd and could really use some fatherly guidance.” Talk about a stretch—Roman had never taken a fatherly role in any of the kids’ lives. Why should it be any different now?
    Truth be told, Fox couldn’t care less about taking up Karrigan’s slack; he spoiled his little sister as bad as anyone. Their mother had passed away from an infection when the twins were just a few weeks old, and Fox sympathized with both Erickson and Karrigan. But his heart went out to Karrigan the most; girls needed their mothers.
    “I value your feedback,” Roman said. “I’ll have to take a look at the security footage and see what Karri’s up to.”
    Fox looked up to the ceiling. Oh, right, pull the footage. How idiotic of me to suggest that you drag your old bones downstairs and personally interact with your daughter.
    “Now, let’s get right down to the matters at hand,” Roman said. “Two things. First—Jill audited the expense reports from the last year. Somehow they’re not adding up.”
    “What do you mean—not adding up?” Fox had a degree in Finance and he meticulously prepared those reports himself. There’s no way he’d made a mistake. And all the money coming and going from the business account was personally handled by yours truly, right down to Roman’s paycheck. With the economic downturn, Roman had lost the tile business that had made him a wealthy man. Fox had given him an office job and a computer to sit in front of here at Hypnotic. That way he could at least feel like the almighty businessman he once was.
    “She said it’s off by a huge amount,” Roman added, “but she’ll go over all the numbers with you later.”
    Fox blew out, ran his fingers through his hair. One more thing to add to his to do list. “What else?”
    “She wants to spend the night in our hotel. Says she needs to evaluate things from a guest’s perspective.”
    “Are you serious?” Jill wasn’t worth what Roman had Fox overpaying her. This cemented Fox’s notion that she conjured up unnecessary recommendations simply to stay on the payroll.
    “Yes, and she wants to stay right here on the fifth floor. Starting tonight. I already spoke with Erickson, and he said she could use his suite.”
    Fox stood, and his chair rolled back. “What the hell? The fifth floor is exclusive to the Kemp family.” Even the elevator to that floor was private. Although they had their own houses, on occasion, any one of them might work late and wind up staying at the hotel.
    “She said it would make it easier to quickly report her findings to either you or me.”
    “And you’re okay with that? Absurd as it is?”
    “Why not?” Roman said flippantly.
    Fox sensed there was something more to it. Roman was slick, underhanded at times. Could he have a personal motivation? It certainly wasn’t because Jill was a professional dresser. Her business attire was about as subtle as the sun, more body parts exposed than covered. The woman was a beast, completely ridiculous looking with her flaming red hair and matching lipstick, liposuctioned–too–many–times waist, and breasts so enlarged it was a small miracle she stayed upright.
    And then there was Lea. He wanted her to stay so badly. He needed to make a better second impression. But how would he accomplish that