The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (3 page)

Mutual satisfaction.
The words echoed
in Melissa's mind.

"Am I right in thinking you are trying to
intimidate me Mr. Demovic?"

"An offer of one hundred thousand dollars per
year is hardly a threat. However, I should warn you that I will
only make the offer once. If you refuse it then there's no going
back. If it's a question of the amount then there is room for
negotiation. I'd be willing to go to one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars per annum if that will change your mind, but that's my
final offer."

One hundred and fifty thousand
dollars…
It was more money than Melissa had ever considered in
her whole life.

She took another deep breath but then shook
her head slowly.

"It's not a question of the amount Mr.
Demovic, it's a question of ethics. I can't accept that money in
exchange for lying about your therapy."

"Ethics, Dr. Price?"

His inflection made her uncomfortable, as
though he knew more about her than he was letting on.

"I don't see a conflict." He continued.
"There's nothing wrong with me. I'm an adult and I can decide if I
need therapy myself or not. My decision is that I don't. You are a
highly qualified psychotherapist starting out in your career and
this retainer would be very significant for you and for any
dependents you may have. Besides, if you come to work for us then
you never know if I might have need of your services myself at some
time in the future. It would save me having to find someone
new."

Melissa fixed his eyes with her own, he was
persuasive, the offer was very, very tempting and god but wasn't he
damnably attractive…

She sighed again.

"The answer is no and that's my final word on
this Mr. Demovic. Now either you find another therapist who might
be able to accommodate your needs or we continue in therapy, real
therapy, and I'll be happy to sign off on your twenty four hours
when they are completed."

For a moment a flash of wild anger passed
through the handsome man's dark eyes and Melissa wondered what she
might just have let herself in for. If she said yes and was caught
out then it would be the end of her career. One slip up might be
okay, but two? The ethics committee would never hear of it. On the
other hand, she really had no idea who this Jason Demovic person
really was or what he was capable of if crossed. She didn't want to
waste time thinking about that. Hopefully he would just take his
business elsewhere and not add to the problems she already had.

"It's the wrong decision Dr. Price." He said
and made ready to leave. "I hope you won't live to regret it." He
stood up and pulled his jacket on. Melissa stood up as well and
extended her hand to bid him goodbye. One part of her was relieved
but another was strangely disappointed. Jason Demovic was no
ordinary client and the mystery of why he was giving away so much
of his money and why it was of such concern to his board would have
to remain unsolved.

And she would never see this sexy man again
unless it was in her dreams.

"I'll have my PA book in the next
appointment." He said as he took her hand. His firm, tanned grip
was delicious around Melissa's soft white palm.

"I don't understand." She said. "I just
refused your offer. You're free to look elsewhere."

"You're my third therapist Dr. Price. Three
strikes and I'm out. The board will initiate legal proceedings if
we don't work together."

Stupidly, crazily, Melissa's heart began to
race. She was going to work with him after all. For better or worse
she would be getting to know the mysterious Jason Demovic very
personally and very intimately over the course of the next six
months or so.

"I hope you're going to be worth my time and
money."

She was caught off guard this morning yet
again.

"I'm worth both your time and your money."
She said and then mentally kicked herself in the shins. She sounded
like a cheap hooker instead of a serious Harvard educated Dr. of
Psychology.

Jason nodded his head and then turned to
leave with Melissa trailing behind. Outside in the reception area
her receptionist Sandy was seated at his desk and the homely
looking gay man's jaw dropped as he watched Jason cross the room
without even a nod in his direction.

Once they were alone Sandy looked at Melissa
with his jaw still hanging open.

"Girlfriend." He said, breathlessly, "have I
died and gone to heaven? What I wouldn't give for one night with
that man. Does it get any more perfect than that?"

Melissa rolled her eyes.

"Be careful what you wish for Sandy. That
could be one night in heaven or one night in hell."

"I'll settle for a night anywhere with him
boss lady." Sandy replied. "By the way, you've got mail." He said
in a more serious voice. Melissa returned to the door and saw an
ominously dark envelope on the desk in front of him.

"Is this what I think it is?" He said.
Melissa picked it up and tore it open. Even though she knew it was
coming, still her heart sank to see the actual date set.

"The disciplinary hearing is next week." She
said. "So I guess you'll know if you still have a job by then or
not. I'm so sorry Sandy."

She felt herself begin to tear up. She was
letting everyone down. Her professors, her clients, herself, Sandy
and most of all Suzy.

Before she knew it the tall young man was by
her side and was holding her in his arms.

"It's okay boss lady." He said. "You're only
human too you know. Come on, we'll get through this. And hell if
they take away your license I bet you'll make one great
receptionist. I'll even recommend you myself."

She looked up at the ridiculous expression on
his face and couldn't help but laugh. He was such a good guy and a
great receptionist when he wasn't arriving late. She would miss him
so much if they shut her practice down.

********************

Outside on the street Jason Demovic walked
down the steps of the squat building that housed Melissa's
office.

A limo pulled up in front of him. The window
rolled down and his brother Zach peered out at him.

"How did it go big brother?"

"How did what go?"

"The therapy session? What do you think?
Don't forget that you're on to number three, so please tell me that
you have an appointment with Dr. Price for next week."

Jason smiled. "Just hold on a minute." A
homeless lady with a shopping cart full of garbage bags and three
oddly shaped dogs lay all piled up together on the steps of the
building. He walked over to them and sat down.

"Oh Jesus Christ." Zach muttered.

Jason gently shook the woman's shoulder but
she didn't move. The animals lifted their sleepy heads but made no
move to defend their owner as Jason reached into his wallet and
slid out five new one hundred dollar bills and put them gently
inside the woman's coat together with a card containing the details
of a homeless shelter downtown.

His brother rolled his eyes.

"Are you booked in for next week?" he called
out.

Jason moved slowly and gently so as not to
disturb the old lady and then walked back to his waiting
brother.

"Don't worry. She's the one." He said.

Zach looked at his brother with deep
suspicion.

"Come on." he said. "Get in."

Jason complied but Zach felt ill at ease;
somehow, he just couldn't imagine that his brother would go into
therapy, no matter the amount of pressure on him.

Jason Demovic's lips pressed against Melissa's and
his hands searched lower. Finding the top of her panties he slid
them off her ass and left her fully exposed. He was barely clad
himself with his shirt hanging open to reveal his ripped, movie
stars six pack and tousled 'I'm ready to fuck you now' hair.

"So what would you like to talk about today?"
David's voice was soft, unhurried, gentle and wrenched Melissa back
from her reverie into reality. She looked at him as though he had
just appeared out of thin air before her. Since the news of her
disciplinary hearing she had been meeting with her counseling
supervisor at least once a week just to keep her on track. He was
the only person who knew how deeply the whole ethics committee
thing was getting to her.

The highly experienced psychologist was tall,
good-looking and ruggedly handsome in a blonde blue eyed sort of
way, but Melissa felt no attraction to him physically or
romantically. As a therapist who she respected and looked up to
however, she certainly felt drawn to him and the truth was that
just at the moment he was the support to her that no-one else in
her life could be.

"Melissa. Did you hear me?" He said.

"I'm sorry David." She shook her head. "I'm
so distracted lately and today I had this unusual client--" She cut
herself off. She hadn't planned to talk about her unsettling
experience with Jason Demovic. She had other much more pressing
things to deal with.

"Unusual? How so?" David smiled at her in his
comforting big brother way.

"Not unusual just… different. Look, can we
forget about him--"

"Him?"

"Yeah, it was a guy, just some guy--"

"You said he was an unusual client and you
mentioned him as a reason for your being distracted. I think that
might be worth discussing, don't you?"

"Can we come back to him later? I got the
letter today with the date for my hearing. It's getting to me
David, no matter what I do I just can't shake this anxiety."

David didn't say a word.

"It's next week. and this could be it. All
those years of hard work and dedication, gone. For nothing. Just
because of one tiny, stupid..."

David waited.

"God damn you." Melissa said. "Why are you so
good at this?"

Her supervisor smiled.

She knew he wouldn't let it go and she knew
he was right. Demovic
was
an issue. It was no accident that
she had mentioned him, she knew better than that. In psychotherapy
there was no such thing as an innocent slip of the tongue. Sure she
was worried about the hearing but somehow her encounter with the
incredibly handsome and obviously rich young man was playing on her
mind, unsettling her.

She still wasn't sure if she wanted to tell
her supervisor about it though.

She needed her work than ever and if he
advised her not to take him on as a client then she would feel
obliged to take that advice.

"I'm good with
you
Melissa. I know
you. Now why don't you tell me what's really been eating you
today."

A standoff ensued. Melissa knew the game
well--she had used it often enough herself. The power of silence,
the waiting, the openness and lack of judgment. Worst of all she
knew how effective it was and she could feel it working now. She
felt tears begin to come, as they so often did in David's office;
the tears she denied herself anywhere else in her life.

David pushed a box of quilted, floral tissues
towards her.

She snapped one angrily from the box, wiped
her eyes and then blew her nose.

"Screw you David." She said.

He smiled.

"Come on Melissa, we're running out of time
and you're acting like a new client on the first day. Stop avoiding
and let's deal with this issue head on, whatever it is. Have I ever
let you down?"

"Okay, you win. I got the letter about the
hearing today and--"

"The guy Melissa. Tell me about the guy."

"Jesus Christ almighty, okay, okay. There was
a client today and he wanted to…"

"He wanted to what?"

David watched her like a hungry hawk. He was
an excellent psychotherapist and very well respected in his field.
He could smell a psychological rat a mile off.

"He flirted with me." Melissa cringed inside.
She had never lied to David in all of their time together and it
pained her to feel herself dodging the issue at stake.

David waited for more.

"I had the feeling he wasn't serious about
therapy at all."

"I'm not getting why this is so upsetting
Melissa. Why don't you tell me about the flirting?"

Melissa bit her lip as David fixed her in his
gaze. She didn't feel like going into detail but it would be better
than coming clean and talking about the offer of a retainer to sign
off on fake therapy sessions.

"He said it was a problem for him that he
found me attractive."

David made a note in his pad.

"He said he knew I was one of the best new
psychotherapists in the city but that he hadn't expected me to be
the most beautiful as well."

David didn't move, didn’t blink an
eyelid.

"He said my gorgeous green eyes had made him
uncomfortable from the first moment I looked at him."

David's eyes dropped from hers momentarily
but then darted back again. It only took a micro second but it was
like a slap in the face to Melissa. David never reacted that way.
He was hiding something. Or more accurately, failing to hide
something. Talking about herself in these terms was profoundly
awkward for Melissa--she had to force the words out, but why would
David look awkwardly away from her?

Her supervisor cleared his throat.

"Do you want to, uh, tell me why these
remarks made you feel so uncomfortable?"

"I… I guess I'm just not used to hearing
those things and certainly not from a client like this."

There was a short silence.

"Like what?" David asked.

The feeling of being trapped was
excruciating, but she knew from experience that this was often the
precursor to a breakthrough, an insight of some kind. She sighed
deeply and looked down at the floor while she spoke.

"This new client, he's young, extremely
arrogant, good-looking, obviously wealthy--"