Lockout (6 page)

"That's fair enough."

I glanced casually at his chest. "How'd you pick yours?"

He laughed and looked a little sheepish. "Honestly? It was just one of the pre-made ones they have in-store."

"Really? That doesn't seem like you."

"What can I say? I wasn't always the pinnacle of sound judgement that I am now. In retrospect, I wish I'd had your foresight, but at the time it just seemed like something fun to do."

His regret sounded genuine.
See, Sophia, just a coincidence. Now can you stop trying to ruin this for yourself and forget about it?

We hopped out of the car. "Go and get some dinner, Joe," Sebastian said. "I'll call you when we're done."

"Of course, sir." He didn't display any hint of embarrassment at what had happened, but perhaps he was simply used to that kind of behaviour.
Business as usual.
That thought brought me back down to earth a bit.

With that same gentle pressure as before, Sebastian guided me into the lobby. A girl buzzed us through and we took the lift up.

Much like Sebastian's apartment, this one was spacious, elegant, and masculine. The entire far wall was sheet glass from floor to ceiling, offering a stunning view out over Hyde Park, and it opened on hinges to one side, leading to a softly lit balcony, complete with its own outdoor bar. There were people milling everywhere, all dressed like they'd just committed a group robbery of the Harrods designer section. "Low key, hey?" I asked.

He grinned. "Do you
remember
the last party of ours you were at? It's all relative."

"Fair point." This certainly wasn't as overwhelming as that first night. More casual richness than unbridled decadence.

Several pairs of eyes turned to us as we entered.

"There he is," said an energetic looking man who broke off from a group near the door. Like most of the men in the room he was handsome and well groomed, with closely cropped golden hair and a strong jaw. In many other circumstances, I'd probably have found him attractive, but watching he and Sebastian shake hands just emphasised how gorgeous my date was. With him in the room, every other man was relegated to second fiddle.

"Thomas, sorry we're late. We had a little car trouble."

I blushed, suddenly very aware that less than ten minutes earlier I'd been having wild, rough, explosive sex in the middle of a crowded road. I ran a hand through my hair, making sure everything was in place. Could Thomas tell? Sebastian had fucked me so thoroughly it felt like it should be obvious.

"This is my friend, Sophia," Sebastian continued.

"Lovely to meet you," Thomas said, extending a hand.

"You too," I replied.

He clapped. "So, what are you two drinking?"

"I'll get something in a minute," said Sebastian, scanning the room. "I want to have a word with Gabriel. Do you mind?" He gave me an apologetic smile.

"It's fine, go play businessman." He nodded thanks, turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, what about you, Sophia?" Thomas asked. "Drink?"

"I wouldn't say no to a glass of red."

"I have just the thing. Come with me."

I attracted more than a few appraising glances as we headed for the balcony. Although everyone appeared to be having a good time, there was a certain cattiness in the air that the men seemed largely oblivious to. I could see it in the girls' postures and smiles and the way they sized each other up when they thought nobody was looking. It was the same vibe I had felt that first night in the bar, that this was all a competition and they were fighting tooth and nail for the best position. Anyone new was a threat. It made me feel decidedly uncomfortable.

"So, you and Sebastian work together?" I asked, trying my best to distract myself.

He nodded. "Locky and I started at Fraiser around the same time."

I snorted. "Locky?" I couldn't imagine anyone addressing Sebastian like that. He didn't seem like the sort of man who people made nicknames for.

Thomas grinned. "Yeah, an old joke from way back when. He hates it, so I save it for special occasions. Use it well."

I laughed. "I'll do that."

I strolled over to the balcony edge while he poured the wine. "You have a beautiful place here. The view is amazing."

He came over to join me, two glasses in hand. "Thanks. I've been lucky. Fraiser Capital has been good to me."

"It seems like it's been good to all of its staff," I replied, gazing around. "No offence, it's just all a bit surreal."

Thomas laughed. "Believe me, I know what you mean. You kind of just get numb to it after a while. To be honest I barely come out here anymore. I know it makes me look like an asshole, but at some point you just start taking it all for granted."

I decided that I liked him. His self-deprecating humour was refreshingly different from the sort of stuffy, self-important conversation I'd been expecting. He felt like the sort of guy who'd be more at home in a local bar than a ritzy penthouse apartment.

"I don't think you're an asshole," I replied. "It's just hard to get your head around, you know?"

He nodded. "I know. When I first started actually making real money, it took me a solid year to adjust. I spent the first six months living off spaghetti and toasted sandwiches like I always had. I couldn't believe that people lived like this. Sometimes I actually think it might all be too much. Then again," he held up his glass, "it does have its perks.

I took a sip of my own wine and swished it lightly in my mouth. It was delicious, a cavalcade of flavours I didn't have the vocabulary or palate to identify. I had to agree; I wouldn't be complaining.

"So you weren't born into all this?" I asked.

He laughed. "Hell no. I grew up in a shitty little two bedroom fibro house down on the outskirts of Melbourne. I never had more than a few hundred bucks to my name until I started at Fraiser."

"Sorry. I just kind of assumed this was an old money sort of crowd."

"Oh it is, for the most part. But a few of us worked our way in from the ground up. Sebastian is one of them actually."

My eyes widened. "No way. Really?" Thomas nodded. "But he seems so... comfortable here. So in control."

"He's always been like that. But yeah, he comes from some little town in Europe somewhere."

"So how did he wind up here?"

Thomas shrugged. "Not sure exactly. Fraiser Capital is multinational. We've got branches all over the place, so I assume he got recruited by one of them, but beyond that I don't know. He doesn't talk much about his past. He's kind of a private guy."

I laughed. "I'd noticed. He's got the dark and mysterious thing down to a T."

Thomas studied me for a few seconds, his expression growing sober. "You haven't been with Sebastian long, have you?"

I shook my head. "We only met a little over a month ago."

"Right. Well, can I offer you a piece of advice?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Try not to get in too deep."

I shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean by that?"

He sighed. "Look, I don't know what sort of relationship you have with him and I don't want to know. It's none of my business. I'm just saying, be careful. He's a great guy, but he's also not the sort who stays put for very long, if you catch my drift. You seem like a nice girl and I'd hate to see you get hurt."

He was the third person tonight who'd seemed to think that maybe my feelings for Sebastian ran a little stronger than a casual fling. It made me uneasy. I'd thought I had a fairly good grasp on what our relationship was, but now I was starting to question that.

"I can take care of myself," I replied, a little more forcefully than I'd intended.

He raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I don't doubt it."

At that moment, we were approached by another man. "Hiding all the beautiful women outside again, Thomas?" he said, with a friendly grin. He was incredibly young looking, with a smooth round face that barely seemed like it should be out of high school.

"How else am I meant to protect them from the likes of you?" replied Thomas.

The stranger gave a little laugh. "Hi, I'm Trey," he said, extending his hand.

"Sophia," I said.

"Lovely to meet you. Please don't tell me you're here with this lout."

"Actually," replied Thomas, "she came with Sebastian."

"Ah," said the other man. "Well that makes more sense."

"Trey here is another of our illustrious colleagues," continued Thomas. "He's what you might call the baby of the group."

Trey sighed good-naturedly and rolled his eyes. "I'm twenty six," he said to me. "Thomas here is just threatened by my youthful exuberance. He knows it's only a matter of time before he's the one answering to me."

"Yeah, that's definitely it," said Thomas.

"Does that mean you're his boss?" I asked, spotting a chance to learn a little about the company.

The two men shared a glance. "In a manner of speaking," said Thomas. "Fraiser has a pretty loose hierarchy. Most of the time everyone is working on their own projects and can pretty much do what they want, but when push comes to shove there's a certain order to how we operate. It helps keep the ship on course."

"Makes sense," I said with a nod. "Although it's funny, I can't really see Sebastian taking orders from anyone."

Thomas smiled wryly. "Most of the time he ends up giving the orders, even if he perhaps shouldn't"

"Now
that
I can see."

I felt a set of hands slide around my waist. "My ears were burning," said Sebastian. "And it's a good thing, too. I leave you alone for ten minutes and the vultures start circling." Again, there was something so personal, so possessive about the gesture. No wonder people suspected something more serious between us. It was easy to forget the nature of our relationship when he behaved like that.

Tilting my head to the side, he leaned in for a lingering kiss. I could almost feel the testosterone radiating from him. The message was clear:
mine
. These were his friends, but still he couldn't help laying claim to what was his. I don't know why, but I liked that masculine jealousy.

Trey cleared his throat. "Lovely to see you too, Sebastian."

"They're both being perfect gentlemen," I told him. "Are you done already?"

"No, not yet. There's one more person I need to talk with, but he's not here yet, so I came to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine. Just learning a little more about you, Locky," I said, not quite able to contain my grin.

Sebastian's lips tightened, before curling up ever so slightly. "I should have known better than to leave her with you, Thomas."

He raised his hands defensively. "Hey, it just came up okay?"

A man approached from inside. "Gentlemen. Any of you feel like losing a little cash? A seat just opened up in the game."

I shot Sebastian a questioning look.

"Most Fridays we run a small poker game," he said.

"I know a little about poker," I replied. "Can I watch you play?"

As a child I'd spent more than a few Friday nights watching my father and his buddies play cards. Games have always fascinated me. I love the challenge of working out how to beat an opponent within the confines of a specific set of rules. I think that's why I became a lawyer. When my dad realised how interested I was by it all, he took me aside and taught me how to play. Most of the time it was just the two of us, but occasionally he let me sit in with his friends. "The big game," he called it. Over time I learned to hold my own, although I hadn't played for years now.

Sebastian pondered for a second. "Sure, why not. Excuse us."

"Sure. Good luck," replied Thomas.

I leaned in to Sebastian's ear as we were led inside. "Your friends seem like fun. Perhaps I actually might be able to land Ruth a sexy venture capitalist of her own."

He chuckled. "You might be barking up the wrong trees there. Thomas works even harder than I do. He's a company man through and through. Relationships just get in the way, according to him. And Trey has been off the market for the last year or so."

"Pity. Oh well, the night is young. Plenty of time for me to play cupid."

He could only smile and shake his head.

We followed the other man across the lounge and through to an adjacent room. Inside was a group of men, chatting and laughing loudly around a large felt covered card table. The surface was littered with stacks of chips in varying size and colours.

"I should probably fold but... fuck it, I call," said one of the players, as we entered. He was an older man, and his strong features and heavy Scottish accent made me think of Sean Connery. "What have you got?"

The man he was speaking to stared for a few seconds before breaking into a rueful smile. "You've got me." He threw his cards towards the centre of the table.

"I knew it!" roared the Scot. "Don't try and cheat a cheater, Jack, you'll never get away with it!"

A few of the players noticed our presence. "Ah, Sebastian," said the one sitting nearest them, "come to try your luck? Someone needs to break Ewan's hot streak or we'll never hear the end of it." He nodded at the older man, who was now grinning and scooping in the pile of chips from the centre of the table.

"The more the merrier," replied Ewan. "His money's as good as anyone's." He spotted me for the first time. "Is this your secret weapon, Sebastian? Your own personal cheer squad?"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Sebastian got in first. "Settle down, Ewan. She just wants to watch." He turned to me. "Sorry, just try to ignore him," he whispered. "He gets like this when he's had a few."

I still felt like I should say something, but I didn't want to cause a scene, so I let it go. Taking my hand, Sebastian led me around the table to the spare seat. I pulled up a bar stool and sat behind him, my hands resting lightly on his shoulder.

"So, how much you in for, Sebastian?" asked the man who had greeted us.

Sebastian glanced around the table, sizing up the other player's stacks. "Five hundred I guess."

Several towers of chips were cut out and placed in front of him. It wasn't really what I was expecting. I'd had visions of bricks of hundred dollar bills being tossed around like dollar coins, but things seemed to be much more relaxed than that. It wasn't a small game by any stretch of the imagination — by my count some of them had several thousand dollars in front of them — but compared to the sort of wealth I knew they commanded, they were playing what amounted to penny stakes.