“I’m a very boring man,” I said, glancing toward Millie, who had a smile painted on her lips. “What do you think? The SPAC’s going to be successful, and if it weren’t for the bad publicity—“
“Yes, yes, I know,” Mirko said, waving me off. I hated to be interrupted, but I held my tongue. “I thought about it, spoke with my lawyer and my investment manager, and I think I can write you a check. Really though Rees, you should hire better people. Letting something slip like an affair with a pop star, it’s a very bad look for you.”
“It wasn’t true,” I said, but he didn’t seem like he cared.
“Come up to my private table in an hour,” Mirko said, waving at someone across the crowd. “I’ll write you a check.”
I wanted to tell him to write it now, but he was already walking off. He hugged and kissed a big woman in a sparkling black dress, and I was left grinding my teeth.
“What did he say?” Millie asked, coming close again.
“An hour,” I said, “and he’ll write a check.”
She made a face like, that’s pretty good, right?
I shook my head, moved my lips to her ear. “That’s one whole hour in which he could get too drunk, or he could change his mind. It’s not good enough.”
“Want me to talk to him?” she asked, putting a hand on my arm.
“No,” I said quickly. “No, it’s fine, we don’t need that.”
“Let me give it a try,” she said, slipping past me, moving toward him through the crowd already.
I cursed and went to follow her, but she seemed determined. Maybe it was the glass of wine she drank, or maybe it was the comfort of being in a packed room, but she didn’t seem to hesitate this time, despite how uncomfortable Mirko made her.
I was slightly proud, and more than a little horrified, but she reached him as he broke off from the big woman and started away again, touching his arm, and tugging him back.
I watched from afar, like a passenger on a plummeting jet. The room continued to move around me, but my world was sucked into one small moment: Millie, standing close to Mirko, saying something.
And Mirko’s hand moving up to her arm, then around to the small of her back. He leaned in, said something.
She smiled, an awkward, tense smile, and her eyes darted to me. I took a step closer.
But too late. Mirko’s hand moved down and cupped her ass, and he said something else. Her mouth fell open as he squeezed, his face turned up into a horrible sneer.
The problem with Millie’s plan was, Mirko didn’t give a fuck if he sexually harassed her in public. He was rich, and this was his party. Nobody would say a word, or even consider throwing him out, and if Millie follow through on her plan to slap him, then she’d get blamed for the whole thing.
I stormed forward, rage moving through me like a thundercloud. His hand lingered on her ass, and she seemed frozen between disbelief and disgust. He said something again, still grinning, and I grabbed his arm, wrenching him away from her.
He seemed surprised when I punched him in the face. My knuckled cracked against his teeth and sent him sprawling. The big woman screamed, and someone else shouted, and people scrambled to get out of the way. Mirko stared at me from the ground, leaning up on one elbow, his other hand dabbing at his lips, and coming up red. The music continued to pulse and thump, and Millie put her hands to her lips, mimicking Mirko’s gesture out of surprise and shock.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her away. I led her along, shoving through the crowd, and nobody stopped me.
Outside, the night seemed dead silent, and my ears rang from the music. I kept going, not caring which direction. I wanted to put distant between myself and what just happened, even though I knew it’d haunt me for a long, long time. Mirko might’ve been a sleazy bastard, but he was a well known sleazy bastard, with a big bank account and a long memory.
I wouldn’t live that down anytime soon.
“Rees,” Millie said after a block, the first word we’d spoken. I turned to face her and grabbed her shoulders, looking into her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded slowly. “You punched him.”
“He grabbed your ass.” I clenched my jaw, reliving the moment again, the way her face looked when he touched her, and the way his face looked from the floor.
“He told me that if I slept with him tonight, he’d write you a check for fifty million dollars.”
I tightened my grip on her arms then released her and turned away before she saw just how pissed I was. Not angry with Mirko, although that too—but mostly angry with myself. I knew this would happen, and I let it anyway.
“I’m glad I hit him then,” I said.
“He’s not going to invest now.”
I looked back at her and she tilted her head, staring at me, and something broke. I laughed, unable to help myself, a stupid, giddy laughter from my chest. Mirko was a piece of shit and deserved to get hit, and I didn’t want his money, not tainted by his stink. I could do better, and I would.
“No, he’s really not,” I said, grinning.
She didn’t seem to think it was funny, though. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll figure it out.” I leaned my head back, craning my neck to look up at the buildings around us. “There’s more money somewhere.”
“Is that going to have repercussions?” she asked, and I knew what her tone meant. She was a clever girl, way too smart to be in this with me.
God damn, she must’ve really wanted to avoid taking the bar.
“It might,” I said, then shook my head and started walking again. “Come on, let’s go back to the room and get some sleep. We
