Darker (The Dark Billionaire, #3) (3 page)

What personal plans? Another secret?

Bruce kept silent for a moment and nodded. “I see...”

Kenichi suddenly stood up. “You don’t have to give me your answer tonight, Bruce. Think about it and call me whenever you’re ready. Sorry, but I have to fly to Pattaya tomorrow so I better go to bed early. It was a pleasure meeting you again, Jennifer.”

Kenichi left, and Jennifer was more confused than ever. “So what does he want from you? I don’t get it?”

“Wealthy clients. People who can afford to lose huge amounts of money.”

“Who can afford to lose huge amounts of money on this planet? Look at the economy. That’s ridiculous! Why would these people come to you guys and pay a high commission? You think Kenichi’s team can generate that much profit to entice rich clients?”

“No. I think he will probably lose most of their money.”

Jennifer was speechless. “What? Wait, hold on a second. Are you serious? I really – I mean REALLY – don’t get it.”

Bruce sighed and seemed reluctant to tell Jennifer what it was really about. “Kenichi is going to use this company to launder money. And he’s going to attract clients by helping them.”

“Helping them... do what?”

“Tax evasion.”

“Oh my God, Bruce this is CRAZY! Money laundering? Tax evasion? What are you guys talking about... my God, Bruce, look at me. He’s a nice guy, but seriously; he’s a bad influence on you. Don’t do it. Are you really going to do business with him?”

Bruce looked straight in her eyes. With total confidence and an evil smile that frightened Jennifer, he said, “Absolutely.”

O
n the way back to the hotel, Jennifer kept silent. Her first day in Thailand wasn’t as perfect as she had expected.

Bruce had been very cold since their meeting with Kenichi, and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Consequently, she didn’t feel very comfortable being involved in his business anymore. He looked different, as if he were another man. She didn’t know if she simply lacked self-confidence due to her inexperience, or if it was Bruce that made her feel that way.

“Bruce, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Is it about tonight?” Bruce said, turning to look at her.

“Yes, I...” Jennifer started to say when Bruce took her hand and put his finger on her lips, telling her to stop talking. Surprised, she saw him making a move with his head and his eyes in the direction of June, Kenichi’s driver.

“Not now. Wait a minute, we’re almost there.” He whispered in her ear.

Ah yes, June can speak good English...

The car parked in front of the hotel, and they walked straight to their room. Jennifer continued.

“I don’t understand, Bruce. I’m trying to imagine why a man like you would ever risk everything to be involved in such a venture. To me, you have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Why are you even considering doing it? Don’t you have enough money, seriously?”

Bruce had his back turned, getting undressed and walking towards the bathroom. “It’s not about the money.”

“So what is it?” Jennifer said, following him and removing her ear-rings in front of the mirror.

Bruce got in the shower. “It’s a bit complicated. Let’s say that... it’s personal.”

“So what does it mean? You’re not going to tell me? You can share it with your Yakuza friend, but not with me, your wife?”

Bruce turned off the tap and looked at her. “What did you say?”

Jennifer’s face became hot.
Bruce noticed I called myself his wife
. “I said
your wife
. I know we’re not married, but...”

Bruce shook his head and interrupted her. “No, no. Not that part. Before that.”

Disappointed, Jennifer thought for a second. “Oh... Err... Yakuza friend?”

Bruce looked incredulous. “You think Kenichi is a Yakuza? You really think he belongs to the mafia?”

“He looks like it to me. Plus, look at his plans. Excuse me, but he’s not exactly planning to start up a charity!”

Bruce laughed at her. “You watch too much fiction! It’s time for you to get back to reality, Jen. He’s just a businessman, and he’s keen on acting on new opportunities. That’s how it works.”

Jennifer didn’t reply immediately – it’s not what she expected to hear, and she was a bit upset. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue the conversation and discover Bruce’s true motivations. Yet, she said almost automatically - “Anyway, I think you’re making a mistake. I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

“Based on what? Your feminine intuition?”

“Very funny...” Jennifer felt more and more frustrated by Bruce’s attitude, but didn’t bother fighting.

Bruce sighed. “Jen, listen - I appreciate your concern, but I didn’t ask you to come here to give me business advice. I really don’t need you for that. You’re very sweet and all, but you’re just a secreta...” Bruce didn’t finish his sentence, probably realizing how rude he was being.

Jennifer’s face turned red immediately. His words felt like a razor blade cutting through her ego and her pride. “A secretary. Yes say it, Bruce. So what should I understand? That my opinion is worthless?”

“It’s not what I meant...”

Jennifer put her hands on her hips and faced him. “Tell me what it means then. I’m dying to know.”

Bruce took a towel and got out of the shower to take Jennifer in his arms. “Jen, I’m sorry. It was mean, I know. Listen, why are we fighting? Can’t we just enjoy being here? It’s our first night in Bangkok. Don’t you think we have better things to do?”

Jennifer felt the urge to keep fighting – knowing Bruce was trying to avoid the conversation – but at the same time, she also knew he was right; it was useless to have an argument. Instead, she tried to calm down.

He’s not going to change his mind that easily anyway, no matter what I say. I’d better just go to bed and try to talk again tomorrow morning, when we’re both rested.

Jennifer pulled away from Bruce’s arms without looking at him and got in the shower. “I’m not going to bother you with my questions anymore for tonight Bruce, but don’t do that again. Don’t disrespect me, especially because of my job position. I’ll probably never be as successful as you are, I’m sure you’re aware of that – but it’s not a reason to talk to me like that.”

Bruce looked embarrassed and shrugged. “I don’t know why I said that, Jen. I’m really sorry. Maybe I should have taken a nap this afternoon, just like you did. Maybe I’m just tired. We should go to bed and forget about all this, okay?”

Jennifer couldn’t help but think the situation was a waste of time and energy. The very first night she was in an exotic place with Bruce, they were fighting. Great! Jennifer couldn’t sleep because of the nap she’d taken earlier and probably the jetlag. Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, the same question kept coming back to her mind:
why does Bruce want to get involved in this kind of risky and illegal business?

It didn’t make sense. Another question directly related to the first one was starting to take form in Jennifer’s mind – however, she didn’t want to admit it at first. The more she thought about this whole venture, the more she had to ask herself:
Can I really trust Bruce for business advice?

It seemed so wrong to Jennifer to even doubt Bruce’s ability to show her how to live a more successful life that she felt guilty.

Come on Jen, be patient. Bruce knows what he’s doing. He’s a smart guy. Maybe I should stop second guessing everything he does and start listening. I’m the one without a job at the moment after all... so I’d better pay attention to what he says instead of trying to be right.

Jennifer finally fell asleep at 6:30 AM. Two hours later, Bruce’s alarm was ringing.

Oh no... why so early? I feel like crap, I have this fog in my head, Jesus...

Bruce came close to her and kissed her. “Good morning. Time to wake up, princess! We have a long list of potential business partners and key contacts to visit today.”

“What?” Jennifer thought she was in the middle of a bad dream. “Baby, what did you say?”

“I said we have a lot of important people to meet. We need to do our due diligence, understand the local mindset, become friends with the right people. Policemen and politicians mostly.”

Jennifer was incredibly disappointed. It wasn’t what she had expected at all. Plus, the lack of sleep wasn’t helping – she was in a terrible mood. “Baby, you said we’d be here for about a month. There’s plenty of time to do all this boring stuff...”

“Boring? This is the fun part! This is when you actually assess the situation and build your strategy.”

Jennifer wasn’t convinced. “Don’t you want to visit the city? There are so many places to discover, so many restaurants to try!”

Bruce chuckled. “That’s a waste of time. We’re not here to act like tourists. We have more important things to do.”

“Are we going to spend the whole month doing that? I mean, shaking hands, going to meetings, and listening to power point presentations? I could have stayed at the office in that case.”

“Should I remind you that you resigned? There’s no more of this waiting for you in New York.”

Jennifer felt uncomfortable. Her fears and concerns about her future and the choice she’d made to quit her job suddenly triggered a defense mechanism. “I resigned because I have ambition and bigger dreams than to be an assistant all my life. I’ve worked hard for many years and I deserve to enjoy a nice trip once in a while.”

Bruce stood up and went to the bathroom. “If you think you’ve been working hard, I’d invite you to reconsider your business projects. If you really want to be your own boss, anything you’ve done so far is nothing in terms of efforts and sacrifices. Trust me - time is money. If you want to go out and enjoy yourself, be my guest. But don’t complain that you didn’t learn anything when we go back to New York.”

“What am I supposed to learn exactly? How to build an illegal business and scam people?”

“Don’t start again with that. I told you - it’s personal.”

“Well, you know what? I don’t think I’m interested, thank you. I’d probably do better all by myself. I don’t need you to be successful in life.”

Bruce came back to the bed, an angry look on his face. “You’re very confident and cocky for someone who’s a total beginner in the business world. With an attitude like that, don’t expect to go very far, Jen. You don’t have the right mindset. When I hear you talking like that, I don’t even know if I would hire you back as my assistant!”

Jennifer didn’t control it; it was automatic. Without thinking, she slapped Bruce in the face. “I don’t allow you to talk to me like that. I didn’t ask you for anything, okay? I won’t beg you to take me back as your secretary – don’t worry! I told you last night; don’t disrespect me like that. I don’t know about your previous relationships but I’m not the kind of woman you can look down on easily.”

Jennifer was now out of bed, gathering her accessories in the bathroom and packing. She was furious. “I didn’t come here to be treated like this. If you don’t want to spend time with me, fine. I’m used to it. You’re always too busy for me anyway.”

Bruce was looking at her, shaking his head. “I never said it was a vacation trip – it was clear that I was here for business. Jen, are you listening to me? Where are you going?”

Jennifer was at the door, ready to leave. “I don’t know but I’ll find my way.”

She paused and looked at him. “I’m not like you, Bruce. But you know what? I’d rather be average and happy instead of having all that money and hiding behind a wall of personal issues and secrets. Good bye.”

T
he clerk at the reception of the luxurious Kempinski hotel seemed embarrassed and hesitant when Jennifer asked her where she could find affordable hotel rooms in a lively area. All she could recommend was other fancy hotels in other areas of the city.

After twenty minutes, Jennifer started to understand what was going on: the clerk was probably afraid of insulting her by suggesting anything below a certain standard. “I’m not looking for luxury hotels. I want a simple hotel, okay? Cheap, with many tourists and lots of things to do.”

The clerk nodded. “Oh in that case, I recommend you go to Khao San Road. It’s very lively, cheap, with many attractions for tourists. It’s mainly a backpackers’ area.”

“Perfect! How can I go there?”

“Let me call a taxi for you.”

Jennifer found a decent room in three hours – two hours stuck in traffic and one hour to actually find an available room. She finally felt like she was on vacation – no fancy malls, no prestigious hotels, no high end rooftop sky bars, no luxurious cars, and last but not least, no billionaire to tell her how to behave.

Her hotel was in a small street besides the main one – a
soi
as the locals called it. Bangkok seemed to be made of multiple
soi
and
sub-soi
, where the activity was unreal. The streets were packed with dogs, motorbikes, cars, trucks, tuk-tuk – funny three wheels cars – myriad of street food merchants, restaurants, bars, tattoo studios, and local people selling souvenirs and clothes to foreigners.

Not the kind of place Bruce would take me...

It was already 1:00 PM, and Jennifer hadn’t eaten breakfast yet; she was starving. She decided to try a random food cartwheel and had a
Pad Thai
. The dish was delicious - salty, sweet and sour. It felt like an explosion of flavors in her mouth. The only problem was that the dish was also incredibly spicy, and Jennifer didn’t handle spicy food very well.

Eating spicy food in the street under the burning sun was a very poor choice, and Jennifer was sweating like a soaked sponge. After her meal, she rushed into a bar with air conditioning and sat down at the counter.

Oh my God, it feels good...

The bar wasn’t busy yet. It was probably too early. Jennifer ordered a diet Coke and looked around – there were a few locals, but mostly tourists. After five minutes, she saw another client coming in. Jennifer couldn’t help but notice how different he was; a tall Caucasian man, dressed in a grey suit with a black shirt, with long black hair slicked back and intense black eyes.