Under Wraps: A Secret Baby Quarantine Office Romance (Love Under Lockdown Book 7)
had put a lovely linen tablecloth over the already beautiful table. It was white, of course, which seemed pretty counterintuitive to me, but it stuck to the theme and was quite nice in its own right.“What’s on you mind?” I asked, taking the bottle of ice wine from the silver bucket.
“How did you know?”
“I can read people. How do you think I’ve won all my cases?”
“Deep researching and supreme oratory skills?” Emma asked.
“Well, yes, that too, of course. It’s also being able to read people, particularly in judge trials. Those are best because there are fewer variables. Juries can be harder; too many individual egos. It’s hard to go wrong with judges. I’ve only gotten it wrong once, though even then I still won on the strength of my research and oratory skills.”
The cork finally came loose, and I filled each of our glasses to the halfway mark, or at least thereabouts. Best not to over do it.
“So, out with it. I can see you thinking from over here, and I will not have someone I love in distress if there’s anything I can do about it. Even if there isn’t anything I can do about it, I’ll still give it a try. I’m a bit of a romantic that way.”
“Love?”
“Sorry?” I asked, taking a sip of ice wine.
“You love me?”
“Of course I do. Were the giant rose petal hearts not a hint?”
“Well, yeah, I guess. I was kind of distracted at the time, what with your massive, beautiful cock and all, but now that you mention it, I suppose that could be considered an ovation.”
“Considered nothing. It was the most romantic thing I have ever done!”
“Because you love me,” Emma said, by way of clarification.
“Yes,” I said. “I love you, more than I have loved anyone.”
“Wow.”
“And yet, you still look concerned.”
“You’ve actually hit the root of it,” Emma said.
“How so?”
“It’s just so weird, how fast things went. I mean, I love you too. Have for months, if I’m honest. I was sure you would never notice me. Anyway, now we are together -”
“And how!”
“- I just worry.”
“Worry about what, my sweet pet?”
“About you, about work. I don’t mind if I lose my job. I can get another one. Besides, Faust & Moore are kind of notorious for their purges, particularly of lower positions. I figured I wasn’t long for the firm to start with. But, you’re on your way to partner and I would hate to jeopardize that.”
“I assure you, my darling, I am perfectly safe. They are going to make me a partner because of how effective I am and how much money I make for them. Do you know how much money I brought in for the firm last year alone?”
“No.”
“I don’t either. Not exactly. It is so hard to keep track. I just know it is a very large number with eight zeros in it. The firm gets forty percent of everything I make, not to mention the clout my high-profile cases bring them. There is no way they are going to risk that because I didn’t follow the rules to the letter.”
“But, the handbook says that there is a zero-tolerance policy for, y’know, dipping the old pen in the company ink.”
“What a charming euphemism!” I said, loving it when Emma got all folksy.
“Thanks.”
“There is indeed a rule, a very strict rule, against office dalliances. However, there is always an exception to every rule, and no inherent reason for things to be as they are at any point in time. I think you will find the old goats to be quite tolerant indeed, when there are literally millions of dollars and the reputation of the firm on the line.”
Chapter Nine Emma
The defendants settled. The lockdown went on a good deal longer than anyone expected, and the trial was at risk of being rescheduled. Damien, genius that he was, wasn’t going to let that happen.
Breaking the rules, not for the first time in his life, he emailed a copy of his argument to the opposing council. There were three of them, as it turned out, all from Faust & Moore’s archrivals Swaggart & Falwell. They folded faster than Superman on laundry day. Admitting to all wrongdoing, the defendants agreed to pay damages and vowed up and down to cease all production based on licenced material, obliterating more than half of their upcoming projects and costing an estimated $50 million in losses.
We celebrated in some style, Damien making another of his beautiful meals before taking me into the bedroom and fucking me until the sun rose. I’m not quite sure exactly how many orgasms, including multiples, I had in that twelve-hour period, which included about three hours of sleep; I lost count somewhere around 150.
The partners were so happy with Damien’s performance, despite missing out on the publicity the trial would have surely brought (avoiding a public flogging was one of the main reasons the defendants had caved in so readily), that they wanted him to get started on another case right away. The lockdown had already been going on for a month, but it was expected to end soon, and the trial wasn’t supposed to be for another six months.
“What do you think, pet?” he asked, looking over at me.
I gave a thumbs up, my mouth somewhat occupied by the ball gag. My enthusiasm was partly because, if we timed it right, there wouldn’t be time to get another case before the end of the lockdown, giving us some downtime while we still staying together in the hotel, before real life could come back in full force.
The new case was probably going to be even quicker than the last one. At least, that was what Damien said. Even I could see that the evidence was overwhelming,