“Tell Ria whatever makes you happy. Even though I’m sure she knows when you’re lying.”

“Yeah, every time. She’s got me down. When can you come over?”

I look through my calendar, “This week, I’m busy. Does next Friday work for you?

“Yeah, Christina has a violin recital that night, but it’s at six. After that, she’s going over to a friend’s house for a sleepover. Since Christina is going to a sleepover, Griffin just has to go to one as well. I know you’ll be disappointed not to have the twins there. You’ll come over at eight and dinner at eight thirty?”

“They have managed to grow on me, it will be an oddly quiet evening. Now that you have saved your ass from getting chewed out I need some information.”

Even with his retirement from the financial industry, Drake maintained strong connections within the world he grew up in. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather having owned and run one of the most prestigious boutique brokerage firms in Chicago. With his easy charm, he was well-liked and respected by those he knew and even those he did not. For me, people tend to get nervous and clam up out of fear. I prefer the fear over being liked, so I do nothing to change it. I have come to depend on Drake’s ability to collect information.

“What’s up?”

“Do you know anything about Michael Lynch and or Alexa Clark over at Miller Investments? I know Miller isn’t the best place for employees, I’ve gotten several of their people all the way up to the top applying with me in the past. I’m looking at Alexa Clark as a new personal assistant.”

“Damn man, another personal assistant? You are too damn pretty for your own good. Ria loves the stories. What did the latest one do?”

Rolling my eyes, I am annoyed at the humor he finds in my personal assistant predicament. “The usual, she dropped enough innuendo I was choking on it. After I ignored her telling me she was not wearing panties she decided to show me.

“When I had enough and dragged my head of HR up to talk to her, we walked in to find her naked on my desk. Since she was so fucking immodest, I threw her out of my office without her clothes. Last I heard, she rode the elevator down two floors and walked through human resources naked.”

The idiot is laughing like a fucking hyena. I hope he chokes. “Leo, you are one mean sonofabitch.”

“So I’ve been told many times before. Do you know anything about Michael Lynch or Alexa Clark?”