“Thursdays. I leave for work early.”
I jotted it down.
He grabbed a stack of papers. “This needs to be mailed. Priority.” Then he grabbed another manila envelope. “This needs to go to my lawyer. Hand-delivered.” He watched me coldly as I took it. “Do you understand?”
I had to bite back my retort. “Yes.” I took the package. “I’ll get the details from Jeremiah.”
“I also need a new accountant here in the city—”
“I’ll get you the best.”
He stared at me like he didn’t believe me at all.
“I know everyone, Mr. Hamilton.”
His stare lingered before he walked away, returning to the hallway and then the dining room.
I noticed he didn’t have any pictures—of anyone.
“I need a personal trainer. Someone who doesn’t talk much.”
Yeah, I figured that out on my own. “Alright.” I followed behind him and watched him sit in the dining chair.
“What else can you do?” He asked the question like I was a circus dog that could do tricks for treats.
I sat across from him. “Anything.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, sinking into the chair with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Anything,” I repeated. “There’s nothing you could ask me to do that a client hasn’t already asked me. I can have any personal chef you want make you meals. I can have your vehicles taken in for maintenance and returned. I can schedule helicopter landings on the roof of the building for pickup and drop-off. I can have a contractor here in five minutes to fix any issues in your home. I can have Chinese food delivered at three a.m. I can do anything you want. I suggest you utilize me, because you’re paying for it anyway.” Their payments covered my services—my fee was mandatory—and he was paying a lot of money to have me cater to him. “I can organize parties, charity events, uniformed drivers. I can even have private escorts delivered to your room with no one knowing.”
His eyes narrowed slightly at the comment.
“I will never discuss anything you tell me, or anything you do, with another client or human being.” I placed the signed NDA on the table, along with a release that took away all my rights to sue him if I ever got hurt on his property. “And this NDA means a lot, because if I ever violated it, you have the power to take away my job…and all the assets I’ve accumulated.” I was paid well to do my job, but I was no billionaire. I made enough to be comfortable in the city, but I wouldn’t describe myself as rich.
He didn’t glance at the paperwork.
“Give me a chance to be an asset to you, Mr. Hamilton. Because I can make your life a lot easier.”
He shook his head slightly, as if he disagreed with what I said but wouldn’t verbalize it.
“A lot of the clients in the building have me do more personal things, organizing their finances, filing paperwork—”
“I don’t need those services.”
I didn’t take it personally. “I can deliver groceries whenever you need them, but most of our clients do a weekly delivery, usually repeats of their favorite items. Did you like the things I picked out?”
He shrugged.
How did this guy run a business when he was so aloof?
“If you give me a list, I can get you anything you want.”
“Fine.”
“Weekly delivery?”
“Thursdays. And if you need to deliver anything else, come on Thursday.”
Because that was the day he definitely wasn’t home—and he didn’t want to see me. “Alright.” I wrote that down.
He continued to stare me down, as if he couldn’t wait for this conversation to be over.
I had no idea why I lingered, why I continued to hope for more when he was nothing but a dick. If I hadn’t known he was recently divorced, I might not pity him. Maybe I also had a soft spot for him because he was young and attractive—and he was too young to be this bitter. “I’m also here to talk…if you need someone.”
That was clearly the wrong thing to say, because his eyes narrowed in offense, as if I’d just slapped him across the face, as if I’d made an insult I could never take back. His arms tightened slightly, a quiet breath escaping his lips that was filled with anger. “You can go.” He straightened in the chair and opened his laptop, returning to work like I wasn’t there at all.
I rose to my feet and gathered the paperwork on the table.
He didn’t look at me when he spoke. “I will call to make sure you followed directions. So, don’t fuck with me.”
I was okay with difficult people, but I didn’t appreciate the harsh disrespect when I’d been nothing but polite to him. “Mr. Hamilton.” I waited for him to look at me.
He scrolled through his email.
“I’m here to assist you. This job isn’t just a paycheck to me. I care about my clients. I care about making their lives easier. Just because they’re rich doesn’t mean they need less help, in fact, usually more. They have more to protect, more to lose.”