The Sandstone Affair (An Erotic Romance Novel) by Priscilla West

you.” “Oh really?”
     
    “Since Lucy Conway got married, I contracted
a wonderful ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ to do the cleaning and that is not my
bedroom. That’s my playroom.” “Well I must say, Mr. Stone, I do enjoy the
game.” I give him the most dazzling flirtatious grin I have and it works. He
looks up from the grill and winks at me then walks over to give me a kiss. “Salmon and salad in fifteen. Would you like
more of the Riesling or want to switch to something different?”
     
    “You choose,” I say with open arms and an
open heart. I can tell by his body language he likes that answer a lot. We sit down to dinner at a small table in the
kitchenette, although I can see a much larger ornate dining room through
another door. The food is delicious and the company charming. For a few moments,
I almost forget what I’m doing here in the first place. “Where did you learn to cook like this?” I ask
hoping he doesn’t find that too intrusive. “My mom, actually. As you’ve previously pointed
out, I am the second son. So Dad spent most of his time focusing on Blake, and
mom spent her time with me. She taught me how to cook, sew, read poetry and
listen. While my father taught my brother how to rule the world, mom taught me
how to thrive in it. I think I turned out the better man.” “On that point, Mr. Stone,” I raise my glass
in a mock toast, “I absolutely agree. Speaking of which, what was it you needed
to tell me?” Mark takes a deep breath and both of us know
that question has changed the entire night. I regret asking it, and yet I need
to know. “Venture capital is a risky business. I know
you think all of this was handed to me on a silver platter with a love note
from my parents, but the truth is my father left us a company and not much
else. The money I have is the money I’ve made. Some of it comes from Sandstone
Ventures and the rest comes from investments and personal ventures. But, it’s
important to know that my father left us with some very sketchy accounts and
we’ve both worked our way to where we are.” “Okay, so you and Blake aren’t trust fund
babies. Your point being?” I want to kick myself for being so forward but Mark
wants to stroll down memory lane and I simply want to know how I’m getting Lynx
back. “We both went to NYU. We both studied business
and finance. Blake was two years ahead of me, so I had the advantage of seeing
a lot his books and coursework for classes I ended up taking later. We weren’t
any closer then than we are now, but we pretended better and helped each other
more. One day a professor asked to see me after class. When I got to his office,
he told me I needed to do better and he was surprised I was so much worse than
Blake. “I asked him from clarification. I mean, Blake
is not an academic or even a good spreadsheet reader. But, he sure knows his
way around the fine print. Anyway, he pulled out a paper Blake had turned in
years before and showed it to me because he had been using it as a class model.
Blake didn’t write that paper. He cheated. I found out later he had paid
someone to write most of his work. So, he got better grades than I did—which
made my father trust Blake with a larger share of the company, even though we
are both co-presidents. But, I just bit my tongue. Because I knew he cheated,
and I knew someday the company would be rightfully mine.” At this point we had finished with dinner and
he walked me over to the couch, refreshing our drinks. I want to speed him up
but can’t find the words to ask him to get to the point of this story. I try to
prod him along. “So, what you’ve discovered to help my case is
that Blake has always been a lying dickhead?” “No, Julia,” Mark says with a heavy voice. “I
discovered Blake is cheating again. Only this time the stakes are much higher
for everyone.” “Cheating? What do you mean?” “I’m doing pretty well,” Mark said as he
gestured around the lush apartment.