Chapter 46

John was walking into my office. He was here to give me the latest report about Simon and his men. After what I had learned from him and from Hana yesterday, I wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Boss, I don’t have much to tell you. Mr Hunters is staying put, there was no pizza delivery yesterday or so far today. The two men are hanging low in an abandoned building on 5th street and Amber is living her life as usual. I put one of the men on tailing the woman Mr Hunters is living with. In case she will act as a go between,” John told me. He has stopped using Simon’s first name and referring to him as my son. I appreciated it.

“Thank you. Good thinking. Go down stairs and get some of Chef’s cooking. Then go home and get some rest,” I told him.

“Yes, boss. Thank you.”

“Oh, on your way to the dining hall, could you ask Laurence to come up when he has time,” I asked him.

“Sure thing.” John left me with my thoughts. I had given up on working about half an hour after arriving at work this morning. Usually work distracted me from everything else, but now I found I couldn’t focus on it. My mind would wander to Simon. I had known he wasn’t the person I had hoped he would grow up to be. But learning he had gone after Hana, for no apparent reason, and then listening to what Hana had told me, it filled me with a rage that scared me. It almost made me rethink my request that we wouldn’t go scorched earth. It was a way to say that Simon would be left alive when we were done. Had he not been my son , I wouldn’t have asked for it. After what he had done to Hana, and I had a feeling she still left out the worst details, I didn’t know if I felt he deserved the kindness I was showing him. But he was my son and despite the man he had become I didn’t want to see him dead. I was getting a headache from trying to figure out what my part in him turning out the way he did was. I sighed and forced myself to stop thinking about it. Instead my mind wandered to my second distraction of the day, a much more pleasant one: Hana. She had been awake when I got downstairs this morning, making me a breakfast burrito that I could eat in the car. It moved me that she remembered my habits and that she made an effort to improve my life. I wouldn’t have minded sitting down to eat with her. I was getting addicted to her company. Especially now that I was allowed to touch and kiss her when I felt the need for it. And the need was almost constant when I was with her. After what she had told me about her life with Simon, I was honoured that she let me get close to her. She had been so brave when she had told me everything he had put her through. Well, most of it. But I respected her need to keep some things private. When she had told me she wasn’t good at sex, I had wanted to ask if he had forced her against her will. But I hadn’t been brave enough, I wasn’t ready for the answer I would most likely get. Despite that, she had let me close, she had responded to my touch in a way I had never experienced before. The image of Hana spread out half naked on my kitchen island flashed before me. It made me instantly hard and I could almost feel her taste on my tongue. She was amazing, every part of her I got to know was more brilliant than the last. The way she had given in to her desire and had come undone had told me everything I needed to know about her former lovers. If she felt she was bad at sex, they must all have been complete idiots that knew nothing about how to please a woman. I would make her see how wrong she was about herself. It would be my absolute pleasure to make sure she knew how perfect and desirable she was. I also needed to figure out if she would be open to move into my room, to share my bed. I had been honest when I had told her that I wouldn’t have sex with her until I knew she was comfortable with it. But last night it had felt strangely empty to go to bed alone, despite her being on the other side of the wall from me. I wanted her next to me, snuggled up like she had been on the couch. That reminded me of a thought I had earlier, I called Clair through the intercom.

“Yes, boss?”

“I want you to get me some blankets,” I told her.

“Blankets?” she asked.

“Yes, you know the kind you can have on a couch,” I explained.

“Sure, I’ll get right on that. Any special kind?”

“Special kind?” I asked, not knowing what I was doing.

“Yes, boss. Like knitted, wool, fake fur, fleece, thick, thin and so on,” she explained.

“Eh. I don’t know, what is the best choice for like watching a movie or an everyday evening at home?”

“How about I get you a couple of different ones and you can send the ones you don’t like back?” she suggested.

“Yes, that sounds good,” I agreed.

“What colour?” she then asked and I had to groan. How was this so difficult? I was happy I hadn’t gone out shopping for the blanket on my own.

“I don’t know. Pink or soft lilac?” I told her.

“Pink or lilac. Yes, boss,” Clair confirmed and I could hear a suppressed laugh in her voice. Maybe I should have gone out to buy them on my own. I had a feeling this would be a story that would spread like wildfire in the office. “Was there anything else?” she asked.

“No, that was all. Thank you, Clair,” I said and shut the intercom of. I had just decided to try and get some work done when the thing buzzed and Claire announced.

“Mr Laurence here to see you, boss.”

“Thank you, let him through.” I stood up and shook hands with one of the best forensic accountants we had. When I had decided to do a deep dive into Simon’s finances, there had only been one candidate for the job. We had hired Anthony Laurence three years ago. Like with all non field personnel, HR had done most of the work. But Jason or I always sat in on the last interview as we wanted to make sure they were the right fit for the company. It had been me that had attended Mr Laurence's interview. He had checked all the boxes, my only reservation was that he had a slight nervous quality to him. But he had been the best candidate and we had offered him the position. Two weeks after he had started working for us, he had asked for a meeting with me. That was odd enough that it awoke my curiosity and instead of directing it to his closest manager or HR, I accepted. He had been even more nervous than when he had his interview. When I asked him why he wanted to meet, he had apologised to me, telling me that he had not been honest during his hiring process and that he needed to come clean. At that point I was expecting the worst. Industrial espionage, a mole planted by some part of the mafia, or something of the sort. It turned out he was homosexual but had never been open about it. His family and fiancee didn't know until the day before our meeting. Mr. Laurence had not been able to continue living the way he was and had confessed. Now he had been cut off by his family and his fiancee had asked him to move out. He knew we were a company that had its roots in different parts of the military and he felt he needed to be honest with us. I had been impressed by the courage to sacrifice everything to be true to himself. For all he knew, I would make up an excuse and fire him. Leaving him homeless, without a job or family. I had told him that we didn’t care what his sexual orientation was. Jason and I had seen too much shit, we knew that love, no matter what shape or form it came in, was something the world needed more of. Then I asked him if there was something we could do for him and offered to let him stay in one of the safe houses we had in the city. He had been overwhelmed and grateful, but told me he had a friend he stayed with. After that day, Mr Laurence had grown into himself and he had proven to be one of our most loyal and hardworking employees. I needed someone like him, someone loyal and someone who understood how complicated family matters could be.

“You have most likely heard about the investigation we are conducting about my son,” I told him as we both had taken our seats.

“Um, I wouldn’t say I have heard…” he started to say. I gave him a short smile.

“It’s okay, Mr Laurence. I know how efficient the gossip mill is in this place,” I told him. He looked relieved and nodded. “The next step I want us to take is a deep dive in Simon’s finances, both his personal and those of his business. I will need your help with that,” I said. We continued talking about the task for a while. I described what the scope of the investigation was and he asked questions when he needed clarifications. All the while he took notes.

“Would it be possible to talk to his ex-wife? She may not know anything specific, but sometimes small things can lead me into new areas to investigate,” he asked. I nodded.

“I will ask her. If she is open to talk to you, would you be available to do so outside office hours? She has started a new job and has a hard time getting away in the middle of the day.”

“Yes, that shouldn’t be an issue,” he agreed. We said goodbye and I looked at my phone. Usually I avoided calling or texting Hana when she was working. It was disrespectful to interrupt her work. But this was important. And maybe I used it as a good excuse to check in with her.

Me: Hi. How’s your day? I have put an accountant to look into Simon’s finances, he wondered if you would be willing to answer a couple of questions? I will be there the entire time.

I sent the text and waited, it took a little longer than usual for her to respond and I had to remind myself she was working. There was no need to panic and turn on the app on my phone that showed the interior cameras of the apartment.

H: Hi. It’s going good so far. How about yours? Sure, I would be up for that. Should I ask my manager for time off tomorrow?

Me: No need, I will bring him back with me when I leave for the day. Is that okay with you?

H: Sure. We at least have some cupcakes to offer and I can make sure to put on some coffee.

Me: No! Those cupcakes are not for anyone else but for you and me. I will see you at half past five.

I felt strangely protective of the cupcakes. Hana had sent some with me to work as a snack and I was hiding them in my desk drawer, out of sight. We had made them together and they felt special. I called Laurence and asked him to be ready to leave at five and that he would get to ask the questions he needed. We met at precisely five and he followed me in his car as I drove home. As we walked into my apartment I felt the scent of freshly brewed coffee and something sweet. Hana had baked, and I smiled as she came walking towards us with a smile. Her focus shifted from me to Laurence and the smile fell and she looked surprised.

“Anthony?” she asked.