She looks up at me with her big hazel eyes and I lean over to her.

It feels like there's a magnet pulling us closer to one another. I want to pull away, but the gravitational pull is too strong.

Suddenly, my lips are on top of hers.

Her mouth feels small and soft. When our tongues touch, a chill runs up my spine. I cradle her head with my hands and kiss her again and again.

She kisses me back with equal ferocity.

“I'm sorry about everything,” she says, pulling away for a moment.

“Don't be,” I say, kissing her again.

I shouldn’t be doing this and she probably shouldn't be doing this either, but when our fingers intertwine with our palms pressed against each other, it feels like the rightest thing in the world.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, pulling me out of this trance. I remember that I have my appointment with Alex and I can't miss it.

“I have to go,” I say.

“We have so much more to talk about,” she says.

“I know and we will, but Alex doesn't have any other time today and I really need to get this done.”

“You’re really putting your money in with him… Despite everything?”

“Why, do you think I shouldn't?”

“No, that's not what I'm saying,” she says, thinking about it for a moment. “He's really good at what he does and I think your money will be safe there.”

“I'll call you afterward,” I say.

“You promise?”

I nod and give her one last kiss before walking away.

I shouldn’t have kissed her and I shouldn’t have promised to call her, but as I walk up to Alex's office, I can't help but lick my lips.

She is the first woman that has made me feel this excited about life again.

Maybe everything that I have been through has been worth it? I don't know.

When I walk into Alex's office, he gives me a warm hug and an embrace. His office is bright and spacious. He immediately goes to the liquor cabinet to pour us drinks.

I'm tempted to say no, but I can see how eager he is about it so I bite my tongue.

“So, how are you? How's everything going?” Alex asks.

“Fine, everything is good,” I say.

I don't know the extent to which Emma has confided in him, but he doesn't seem like he knows very much at all.

I decide that this is not the time to bring it up.

“So, are you still thinking about investing the two million?” Alex asks.

I nod. “Are your returns as good as everyone says they are?”

“Of course, nothing is guaranteed. The market can be unpredictable and you should never invest with anyone who will give you a guaranteed ten percent return. As far as our hedge fund goes, yes. We have a history of producing an average of about eight to nine percent for our clients.”

“Good, that's safe. I like that.”

I keep expecting Alex to bring up Emma, but he doesn't.

We go through all the paperwork and he explains about all of the different investment vehicles that they offer and then discusses the various risks associated with each one.

I decide to go on the safer side and invest a large portion in bonds and only devote about thirty percent to tech companies.

I'm pleased with the fact that he isn't interested in investing in volatile and unpredictable ones, but instead focuses the bulk of investment on giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple.

We talk a lot about investing and I ask him a slew of questions that I have come up with ever since I started doing research into this. He has quick answers and thorough explanations for all of my concerns.

I appreciate that. What also strikes me as interesting is that he doesn't go out of his way to throw fairy dust in my eyes. He's careful to warn me about the risks and he doesn't make any extensive or grandiose promises.

This is exactly what I'm looking for in a hedge fund and an investment manager. I want them to be aggressive, but not such a risk taker that I stand to lose everything.

When I agree and we finish our drinks, the office manager shows up with a folder of paperwork.

When she turns around to leave, someone else comes in.

“I want my money back, Alex. All of it,” he says sternly.

“Jackson, what are you… I'm in a meeting right now. You have to make an appointment.” Jackson's tall, broad shouldered, and dark-haired. He exudes confidence and yet there is a darkness to him that is difficult to describe.

“Mr. Ludlow.” The office manager starts to say, but he cuts her off.

“Alex, I need my million dollars back. You promised it to me on the phone. He said that I could take my money out at any time. There was no cap or limitation. Well, I want it out now.”

“I'm in the middle of a meeting right now. Can you just wait until we're done here?”

Suddenly, Jackson turns to me.

He extends his hand and says, “I'm Jackson Ludlow. This asshole took one million dollars of my money and said that he was going to invest it in risk-averse investment vehicles. I've been trying to get it out and get him to answer my calls for two months now.”

I nod.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up since I see that you have the intake paperwork right there.”

“Listen, can you stop harassing my client?” Alex asks. “I have your money. I was going to send you a check today.”

“Yeah, right,” Jackson says sarcastically.

“I was,” Alex says.

Finally, I see him rattled. The casual tone in his voice disappears and new anxiety sets in.

Is he really not giving him back his money?

“Why don't you pay him back now?” I ask.

Alex glares at me, narrowing his eyes.

“Hey, you said you're going to. I just figured we could defuse this whole situation right here and right now.”

“Yeah, why don't you?” Jackson asks, holding his hands across his chest.

“It's not that simple,” Alex insists.

Jackson smiles out the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, it's not that simple because he needs your money to pay me back, isn't that right?”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“He's running a scam,” Jackson says.

“No, you can't believe him,” Alex protests.

“This whole thing is one giant pyramid scheme. He signs on new clients and he pays back his old clients with those proceeds. That is not how this hedge fund makes money. What he is doing is illegal.”

“Get the fuck out of my office!” Alex says. “Marie, call security!”

“You know that it's true and we’re not going to let you get away with it.”

“You have no proof.”

“Maybe not yet, but I will.”

“Get out of here!” Alex yells.

35

Liam

Jackson leaves on his own accord right before the security guard shows up.

I decide to stay, not entirely sure why. Suddenly, things start to make sense.

Alex must know what happened between Emma and me, at least on the surface, because of her article and yet he did not bring it up. Why?