I was born sick, but I love it.

I could practically hear Dominic tapping his foot in the other room, my eyes scanning the clock on my phone to see that I wasn't running behind of schedule. Not too far behind at least. “OLIVIA!!!” He yelled out, his voice echoing through the loft as I peeled the fourth dress I'd tried on off my body and grabbed something simple instead, plain and boring, covering all of my best assets. I stepped into lucky number five and zipped it up by myself, examining myself in the mirror before running my fingers through my hair to give it some volume. 

“Jeez, relax Mr. Boss-Man. I’m coming," I said back as I left my room, heels clacking against the floor as I walked towards Dom and Carl. 

“Finally," He told me with a stare as I smirked at him, realizing that he wasn't a morning person.

“You look beautiful Miss Lawson,” Carl offered as he grabbed my purse, something I would never get used to. Men never did things like that just for the hell of it, they always had ulterior motives. Then again, he really had no choice since it was part of his job. 

“Thank you," I grinned brightly, “Now that is a gentleman.” I glared at Dom as the three of us headed towards the town car.

We took our seats in the car as we headed towards the office. “Alright, I have a few things for you," Dom got to business and I raised an eyebrow, wondering what the hell he could possibly give me. He pulled out a credit card from his briefcase, “This is a company card. Use it for anything work related, please keep the receipts. Now this is a new phone. All important contacts are already in there.”

I smiled, “Wow, great perks… So if I went out to buy clothes for work?”

He nodded, “Work expense.” He raised a brow, “Don’t go overboard.”

I bit my lip, kind of excited for the job since the last job I had included changing diapers and tutoring a little brat. “I could get used to this.”

He smirked, “Just because you’re getting all these things doesn’t mean you can slack off."

I rolled my eyes, "What makes you think that I would be the type to slack off?"

He gave me a blank stare, "Because in the time you've been staying with me, you haven't once looked for your own place."

I returned the blank look, trying to pretend that I didn't care when I really did. I'd spent my whole life supporting myself, even putting me through college. I didn't take handouts from anyone... mostly because I had no one to rely on. "How do you know what I do during the day?" I retorted flatly. 

"Because in the time you've been staying with me, I haven't once seen you wearing pants," He said matter of factly, referring to the way I preferred sleeping in long t-shirts and going out at night in short dresses. 

I rolled my eyes again, "Just because I'm not a fan of pants, it doesn't make me less of a person." 

He snorted in response, "I'll remember that."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes yet again and forced a smile instead, "So what is my position?"

"You're the assistant to my assistant," He replied and I kept staring at him, confusion showing in my face because I was pretty sure that was just a bullshit made up position. "What? My assistants a very hard worker."

I shook my head, "And what will I do? Coffee runs all day? Pick up some college kids clothes from the dry cleaners? I graduated top of my class and I might dress like I'm using my assets to make up for what I'm lacking, but I'm smart, I can do more than that."

Dom sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, "Receptionist? I can't give you more beyond that. Not until you prove yourself at least."

I pursed my lips together and imagined sitting at a desk all day, answering phones, transferring calls and being the gate keeper to Dom's office. It sounded awful. "Fine," I said finally. 

“Don’t sound too enthusiastic.” He sighed, “I could be accused of nepotism.”

“It’s your company," I crossed my arms over my chest.

He sighed, “Don’t worry. I think you’ll do well.” 

I widened my eyes, “Did you just say something nice?” I gasped.

He rolled his eyes and smirked back at me, “I won’t admit it.”

I smiled, “Thank you for taking a chance and letting me prove myself.”

He repeated my earlier action and widened his own eyes, “Did you just say thank you?”

“Shut up," I said with a small smile as the car slowly came to a stop and our door opened.

“Have a good day sir,” Carl smiled and nodded to the two of us as we headed inside towards the elevator, everyone greeting the two of us.

I smirked as we rode the elevator to the top of the building, “Man it’s nice to know the boss. The first time I came, everyone gave me the stink eye.”

“They could tell you didn’t belong," He smirked back as we headed towards his office, “Jane?” 

“Yes Mr. Reid?” She said, walking up next to him, not sparing me even the slightest of glances.

“Today is Miss Lawson’s first day, please show her the ropes," He told her.

“Yes sir.” She smiled at me, “All your messages are on your desk and your morning coffee and bagel is all ready.”

“Thank you," He turned towards me, “Please listen to Jane, she’s actually a very good assistant. She’ll be of help.”

“Yes sir," I smirked at him before he turned around and headed to his office. 

"So what did you do to get on the first name basis with Mr. Reid?" I smiled at Jane, feeling silly as it was just referring to him as that. 

She took her seat and motioned at the desk next to her which would be mine, sorting through papers and making me wonder if she had heard me. Eventually she glanced up with a shy smile on her face, "He can't pronounce my last name, so he calls me by my first."

I stared at her for a moment before we both started laughing, being louder than I thought because the next thing we knew Dom was standing in the doorway with a glare on his face. "Miss Lawson, can I see you for a moment?"

I glanced at Jane who had composed herself quickly, typing faster than anyone I had ever seen type before. "Sure thing boss," I replied and followed him into his office, letting the door close behind me. "What can I do for you? Spread the cream cheese on your bagel? Blow on your coffee so the temperature is just right?"

He sighed and took his seat, keeping his eyes on me with a borderline glare, "What were you two laughing about?"

I lifted an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because in the three years Jane has worked for me, she hasn't cracked more than a smile yet you come in and all of a sudden you're best friends?"

"Jealous?" I said with a fake pout before grinning at the glare stuck on his face. "I'm joking. Don't make anyone laugh, got it. Should I get back to work now or do you need anything else?"

He eyed me, “Thank you for your sarcastic comments. I was going to say that was nice of you… Honestly I think Jane is scared of me.”

I rolled my eyes, “Can you blame her? I mean you’re not exactly Mr. Snuggles. You don’t have to be so serious all the time.”

He sighed, “I have to be. People have confidence in me that way. Otherwise they’ll just look at me as the orphan son of James Reid, the man who drove this company into the ground.” 

“Come on, you’re successful now. You don’t have to be an a.ss to the employees that keep this place running.” I sighed, “Now is there anything else I can help you with Mr. Reid?” 
He nodded, “Do you want to join me in a conference? See how I run this company? I would need you to type up a transcript but it will give Jane a break.”

I nodded, “Sure.”

He stood up and I followed him to the conference room, “There’s a computer waiting for you all ready to go.” She nodded, “Oh and this client is…” He trailed off thinking of an appropriate word, “Incredibly friendly.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Friendly?”

He nodded quickly as he opened the door to conference room. “DOMINIC!” Someone said with a southern drawl.

“Mr. Ingram," He smiled as he put his hand out for the other man, but instead he pulled Dom into a great big hug.

“And who is this beautiful lady?!” He pulled me into a hug too as my eyes widened as his hands inched down my back, closing in on my ass, “Where is the other girl? Jane?”

“She’s taking a much needed break, Olivia here is helping out.”

“Beautiful! Like all the women in this office,” He bellowed, sitting down.

“Olivia, this is Danny Ingram…” Dom smirked back at me.

“Nice to meet you sir," I nodded, looking back at Dom and not knowing what to say or do. He probably just wanted me to sit there like a pretty prop.

“You should be thankful for this man! He took my little old oil company that was on the edge of bankruptcy and fixed it all up. He’s a genius!”

I smirked, “A genius?”

Dom nodded, “Yes, now let’s get this meeting going."

"Being a little modest now are we?" Mr. Ingram grinned at Dom who looked like he'd much rather get down to business than be praised by the man. He shook his head and laughed while looking back at me, "How long have you been working here sweetheart?"

"Well Mr. Ingram -"

He shook his head quickly and reached for my hand, giving it a little squeeze, "Call me Danny. We're all family now!"

I smiled at him, knowing the effect I had on men. I could already sense that I was winning this man over. "Would you believe that it's my first day Danny?" I leaned into him a little, his cologne too strong, almost overwhelming. 

He moved his hand back to my lower back, inching closer to my ass by the second. "How about we all take a seat?" Dom cut in, motioning towards the seats. 

"After you," Danny pulled a seat out and I could practically feel his eyes on my ass the entire time, them moving to my chest once I sat down. "The seat with the best view," He added, taking the seat across from me while Dom sat down beside me. 

I let out a soft laugh and kept smiling, Dom's face more serious. "So how's the company?" He asked Danny who was still looking at me with an intense gaze. I knew the type; married with a couple of kids. They got bored fast and money kept young women interested in them, girls young enough to be their daughters. 

“Amazing!” Danny bellowed once more, still not taking his eyes of me. “You should know, Olivia, this man is a great employer and incredibly smart. You are definitely a lucky lady and you sir, lucky man!”

Dom smirked, “Thank you Danny, but we should really get back to business.”

He laughed and turned to Olivia, “The only complaint about this man is he works too much. Work, work, work. You are going to drive yourself into an early grave sir!”

“I’ll agree with you on that one Danny. Always so serious," I smirked back at Dom, knowing it was annoying him.

He shook his head, “I just like to finish work first… The fun will come later," He stared at me and I swallowed, thinking about him between my legs. “I just want to see how the company is doing…”

“It’s fine. We’ve finally made more than you put in to fix the company. We’re starting to give shares of stock to employees! We’ve also were able to give benefits."

He nodded, looking through the files, “I want to put in a bit more money for the shares, but I’m pleased with all the reports. It was a good idea to invest in your company Danny.”

“Alright, now that we have all that hoity-toity shit figured out, can I take your beautiful assistant and you out for a nice lunch?” He offered.

Dom laughed, “That’s very generous, but actually we have a catered lunch all ready for you and all the employees here.” 

"Hopefully you're the generous one and there will be more than finger foods. I'm going to need more than a little sandwich to hold me over," He leaned back in his seat to pay his stomach, shooting me a grin. 

I laughed softly at his joke since that's what men liked, a woman who laughed at even their stupidest jokes. "I don't know about you, but I could definitely go for steak and potatoes right now," I winked at him. 

"A girl after my own heart," He smirked and shook his head before pointing a finger in my direction, "This one's a keeper. Hell, if I wasn't married? I'd be on my knees right now begging you to leave with me."

I set a hand on my heart and faked a pout, "Now you're just breaking my heart."

Dom faked a laugh and stood up, "We just might be in luck with that steak and potatoes."

"There's a reason why I always schedule meetings with you around lunch time," He joked back as he got on his own feet.

I stood up and kept my lips shut, only smiling back and forth between the two men since I'd already said enough. I let them lead the way out of the conference room, wondering if meetings were always that easy. I could handle that no problem. We passed by Jane who noticed Danny and instantly put her head down, pretending to be too busy reading the papers she had in her hands. "Hungry?" I asked her and she almost jumped while looking at us.

"No," She said quickly and quietly. "I need to get these papers scanned and set out immediately." 

Dom cleared his throat, “Thank you for that. I’ll make sure to set a plate aside for you Jane.”

She looked up at him  kind of shocked that he would make such a nice offer. “Thank you Mr. Reid," She said quietly, getting her things and going into her office, shutting the door behind her.

I let Mr. Ingram lead the way as I leaned closer to Dom with a smirk playing on my lips, “Did I just witness you being nice?”

He rolled his eyes, “I can be nice. She doesn’t exactly care for Mr. Ingram after he slapped her ass.” He winced as he whispered, “I give her a pass when he comes in.”

“Such a good boss," I smirked.

He eyed me as we headed towards the food in the large dining room, “Feel free to gorge Mr. Ingram and your assistants can help themselves as well.” 

“I’m way ahead of you sir,” He chuckled out as he filled his plate to the brim.

Dom and I followed suit, helping ourselves as Mr. Ingram already began digging into his food. “Delicious!” He mumbled through a full mouth, “Olivia, one thing you should know for your future is that a way to a man’s heart is definitely through his stomach.”

I smirked, sitting down next to Dom, “Really? I always thought it was something else…” I trailed off, giving my boss/roommate a seductive look as I inconspicuously ran my hand across his lap, landing on his dick.

He cleared his throat, “So I’m assuming you’re enjoying this meal?” 

He nodded quickly, “Almost as good as what you’d find in Texas.” 

“It’s California, but we try.” 

“You know, you should make it out to Houston, see the office, how we run things and I can show you two how Texas is the best. You should bring Olivia,” He smiled at me, eyeing me like I was a piece of meat that he wanted to devour. 

Dom smirked, “Maybe…"

"I've never been to Texas," I told the older man, moving my wrist to let my fingers run along the length of Dom's dick. 

Mr. Ingram's head snapped up as he took a break from his food, "Never? Now where are you from sweetheart? Australia?"

I wrinkled my nose and shook my head, "Liverpool."

He tossed his head back to laugh, "Sorry. I always get the two accents confused. You Brits hate that, don't you?"

"I've been to Vegas and seen the Thunder Down Under show. Their men are definitely more attractive than ours," I said seriously, smiling at him as he laughed again.

"Bad teeth," He nodded understandingly while Dom's body was still frozen beside me. I hadn't stopped touching him and could feel him growing beneath my palm. My own body was reacting too, still wanting to finish what we had started nearly a week ago. "Your teeth are perfect though," He added, telling it to my breasts.

"Thank you," I smiled wider at him before glancing at Dom, giving him a firm squeeze. "You're suddenly very quiet. Are you feeling okay?"

 

He cleared his throat while staring at me in the eye, “I’m fine… Sometimes it’s better to sit back and listen…” 

“I know what’s behind that stare,” Danny chimed it, “It’s the quiet genius at work! I’m sure he’s already thinking of another plan to make me another million.” He smiled, oblivious of the location of my hand on Dom's groin.

“I’m starting to realize you might be right Danny…” I grinned, “He should relax though. He’s going to get frown lines.” 

“A handsome rich young man like yourself should take a nice long vacation with a beautiful young woman,” He grinned suggestively.

“I’ll take your advice Sir," Dom told him honestly, “Not yet though.” 

“On the subject of that… you do like women, correct?” He asked, making Dom cough.

“Yes.”

I laughed, “I’d have to second that Danny. He definitely has eyes for women and women only.”

“I was only making sure…” He sat back in his chair. “So what’s the story? Has no girl caught your eye? There are so many beautiful women around!”

Dom sighed, “It’s going to take a lot more than just a beautiful woman to catch my eye…” 

My head tilted in the direction of the man sitting across from us, "He's looking for a woman who will keep his apartment clean, cook his meals, satisfy his needs in the bedroom... all while never breaking a sweat. Basically, he's looking for a trophy wife."

"That's not true," Dom said from beside me, setting his hand on top of mine to stop me from stroking him. 

"No?" I lifted an eyebrow, trying to wiggle my fingers but he had such a strong grip on them. 

Danny laughed, "I'm picking up on something here. Is there a history between you two?"

"No," We said at the same time.

I broke my hand free from his grasp and winked at Danny, "He wouldn't know how to handle a woman like me."

“I think the problem is that you’d be too easy to handle," He smirked, a dark  glint in his eye that reminded me of the day in his kitchen. 

“So should I play harder to get?” I winked at him.

“So you’ve really never had history?” Danny raised a brow once more, eyeing the two of us.

Dom shook his head, “We just have personalities that click… That’s why I hired her.”

Danny smirked back at us and I knew he was doubting the story, but he ignored it, “Well, if you two did have a history, you would be a lucky man Dominic.”

I grinned, “You hear that? Lucky.” 

“Don’t tell her that… It’ll go to her head.” 

He laughed, “She deserves it…” He trailed off, his eyes not leaving me and kind of making my skin crawl. I mean, I had slept with much worse before, but still. 

One of the receptionists slowly and quietly walked into the room and over to Dom, whispering something into his ear. He nodded, clearing his throat, “Can you excuse me for a minute, Olivia, please join me…” He stood up walking out of the dining area and went into his office. I followed behind him, curious what she said that would require me being there. “I didn’t want you to be in there alone with him," He told me, as if reading my mind. “I need to take this call.”

I eyed him as we went into his  office, I remained silent while he walked over to the phone. “Hello?” He spoke into the receiver. listening to the other line and then sighing, “Maybe he should have thought of that before he drank his liver to shit.” I blinked at the brutality of his words, having an idea of who he was talking about. I knew very little about Dominic, but I knew enough about where he had come from and how his dad lost custody of him when he was younger. “I’m sorry Doc, but after all he’s done to me… he doesn’t deserve to be saved," He said after a moment and ended the call there, hanging up. 

I watched as he ran his hands over his face, looking a few years older than he really was. He looked nothing like the little boy I had known years ago. “What was that all about?” I asked and he nearly jumped, not realizing I had followed him into the office. 

“Did I say you could come in?” He asked angrily.

I shrugged, “No, but I didn’t care.” Who were you talking about?”

“Not like it’s any of your business, but it was my father’s doctor. Let’s go back out there," He said, heading towards the door but I stopped him.

“No, you can’t go out there like this. You are obviously affected by something.”

He eyed me, “I don’t want to save my father’s shitty  life. How does that really affect me?"

"Fine then, let him die. It won't effect you at all," I said sarcastically but showing no emotion in my expression or tone. 

"You wouldn't understand," He bit back.

I shrugged because he was right. Technically I had parents. I mean, of course I did. Two people had sex and created me... but it didn't give them the right to be my parents. I was an orphan and that bond between a parent and child was something I'd never experience. "I don't understand," I admitted. "But this is the man who gave you life. All of this is yours now because of him," I motioned around us, his office bigger than any bedroom I had ever had. And I once shared a bedroom with five other girls. 

"All of this is mine now because he fucked up and ruined his life," He said with no emotion, a skill most orphans perfected. 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and shake him because his life had turned out amazing. He had a family now, a woman who adored him, while most kids who grew up raising themselves had next to nothing. Somewhere along the way he had turned into such a spoiled brat. "So let's say that he never started drinking. You two would still be in Italy, maybe life would have brought you here but since he had an eye for gorgeous women? I'm guessing that he'd have remarried a stunning international model. They'd have kids together, all of them would hate you obviously, you'd be the outsider," I rattled off and he groaned. 

"Do you have a point?" He cut me off and crossed his arms.

"Everything happens for a reason and if your dad never would have had his problems, then there's no way this life would be yours," I told him seriously. 

“So what? I just go in and tell them to cut part of my liver out and give it to him?!” 

“It’s a liver, it’ll regenerate," I rolled my eyes.

“How’d you know that?”

I scoffed, “Just because I’m beautiful it doesn’t automatically mean I’m an idiot. I have a degree dammit. This is the point where you are just being a selfish brat. You aren’t giving it to him because of spite.”

“Of course I am! The reason I ended up in foster care was because he beat me so badly I was throwing up blood! I was in the hospital for days and he never once showed up. The only information about him was that he was no longer my guardian and that I was going to an orphanage. I was eight years old!” I said angrily and for the first time I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t control my emotions.

“That sucks, but it made you stronger! Look at you now. You turned his failure into something amazing! You are a multi-billionaire. He should be alive so you can rub it in his face," I replied as I crossed my arms over my chest.

His lips curved into small grin, “What is it with all you women and trying to cause envy?”

“It might be in our genes.” I smirked, “But before you decide that you’re going to single-handedly kill your father, you should go see him. Get to the bottom of this whole liver failure thing. Afterwards, if you want to walk out of there with all of your liver, at least you spoke to him.” He eyed me, didn't speak. “Don’t act surprised!” I put my hands on my hips, “I think you underestimate just how smart and logical I am. There’s a lot behind these perfect tits.”

He laughed, “I’m not going to indulge you."

"That's fine with me," I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm no longer going to indulge you either. Apparently I'm too easy and need to work on that."

His lips quirked into a wider grin, "Of all the advice you can take from me, that's what you're finally listening to me on?"

"Yes," I kept my face serious. 

"Why are you pouting?" He asked with his smug grin still in place.

"I'm not," I replied and lifted an eyebrow. 

"But you look so upset," He kept annoying me. 

"Oh I'm devastated," I  said sarcastically. "I was looking forward to a quickie with you. Do you last longer than five minutes now?"

He smirked and raised a brow, pushing me against the door, “You have poor memory obviously. You know I fucked you long and hard for hours.” 

I shrugged, looking up at him while he pressed his hard body against mine, “I can’t recollect.”

He smirked, “I can refresh your memory.”

I sighed, “I can’t just slack off because I’m your friend… and we slept together. I wouldn’t want you to be accused of nepotism…”

He chuckled, “I think a genius once said that.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “I thought it was some self absorbed asshole.”

“Ha.”

“Now, your new assistant needs to go finish her work. I think some plump Texan was about to propose marriage to me. I’ll get half of that by the end of the week," I smirked as I pushed Dom away and opened the door, walking out.