I Never Liked Playing Dirty

“Is there a reason why you don’t want to meet in the normal briefing room?” I ask, raising an eyebrow softly as Ramon starts to lead me into his private office. It was rather nice, definitely nicer than my office, but he made a show of showing off all of his awards and diplomas which, in my opinion, made the place look a bit tacky.

“I just thought you would prefer this meeting to be a bit more private.” He says, motioning for me to sit, as he walks around and sits behind his desk, and opening his computer. “Given the circumstances of this case, it is quite unlike any of our other match ups, yes?” He says, raising an eyebrow a bit as he starts typing.

“How do you figure that?” I ask, raising an eyebrow slightly as my confusion only continues to grow. It was obvious Ramon was looking for something specific in his files, which is weird because at this point neither of us should be ready to present evidence to the other.

“Oh! Well, you know.” He says, his voice calm, yet almost playful as a huge smirk grows on his face when he pulls something up on his computer that I can’t see. “The fact that this case is almost purely sexual in nature. The fact that our clients have clients whose privacy is of the upmost importance.” He says, right before his smirk fully grows. “Not to mention your own personal stake in the matter?”

I raise an eyebrow again, somewhat confused at his words. I lean in slightly, trying to get a glimpse of what he had pulled up but it was no use, he was keeping it well covered. “What do you mean personal stake?” I ask, leaning back slightly as I start to pry.

“Oh? No reason. I just… had this sent to me by one of my friends over at X-Change Corp.” Ramon says as his big toothy grin only grows more. He turns his computer around, and I was faced with something that made my stomach and heart start doing summersaults with each other.

“What… what is that?” I ask, trying to act surprised and even disgusted by the screen, without giving too much away and making myself seem even more suspicious. Though, my words were already making Ramon let out a hearty chuckle.

“Oh! Nothing. Of course. Just security tape of a blonde woman having quite a fun time with Mr. Mancini… timestamped at the time when you were supposed to be having your meeting with him.” He says, leaning in slightly, as another chuckle left his lips. “Now, I know that I play dirty but this? This is a whole other level, don’t you think?” He asks, pushing the screen closer to me so I could get a better view and… seeing it from this perspective does make it seem very ****.

My gaze moves from the screen to him, and a cold glare grows on my face. “What do you want Namor?” I growl, my legs tense, and my hands balled into a fist as I have to fight the urge to knock his fucking lights out here and now.

“I want…” he opens a drawer of his desk and puts a paper towel on top of it, and when it opens a bright pink pill is revealed to be hidden inside. “The full. Fucking. Package.” He grins like a madman, as he pushes the pill closer to me. “If you take this pill I will delete this footage and it will be like it never existed. No one will know except you and I… and my friend at X-Change of course.” He says with a quick smirk.

“All I have to do… is take the pill?” I ask, raising an eyebrow softly as I stare down at it. “Nothing else? You… you don’t want me to-“

“You won’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do.” He says, raising his right hand to the sky while his left touches his heart. “Hand to God. I may make some extra requests, but the footage will be gone at that point, and you have the full freedom to choose to comply or not.” He pushes the pill closer still, until it was at the very ledge of the desk, threatening to fall to the floor. “Either take it, or I send it to the judge and get this case dismissed very quickly.”

I glance down to the desk, and the first thing that comes to my head is Autumn at home, cleaning my house, after almost a full week of passion and love between us. It would be a betrayal of trust to her… but at the same time if I lose this contract I am ruined and my whole firm will go down.

“Fine.” I growl as I snatch up the pill and raise it to my lips, but Ramon quickly grabs my arm to stop me.

“Hold on! Hold on! Not so hasty.” He smirks as he leans back in his chair. “I don’t want this to ruin the surprise. Go change in the bathroom, I had some clothes brought in there in your size.” He waves his hand to the adjoining door to his office. “Please.”

I just growl and grumble as I stand up, grab the pill, and without another word I head into the room. Talk about deja vu, huh?