10 You turn me on

After spying on Philip's evening engagement, Sofie fell asleep confused and disappointed. He had called out her name while being intimate with another woman, but he also destroyed the main camera, stopping her from collecting more intel about his other clients. She woke up to the SIM from her broken camera ringing her.

"Miss Carter." Sofie instantly recognized Philip's voice on the other end. It was deep and low, creating an intimacy that matched her dark cosy bedroom.

"You bugged my room!", he continued.

His voice did not sound angry; it sounded disappointed, like he could not believe that the gloves had come off in their little game.

"Philip," she rasped, still groggy from waking up. "How did you get this number?"

"I took your camera apart and found the SIM. It's the number the camera communicated with last."

Damit! She dialed into it from the car to check it was working.

"But how did you find the camera in the first place?"

"My stereo system sounded odd. Only for a second, though. But such a thing has never happened before. And today, I noticed it twice. First a couple of minutes after you left and then again when I got back into the room with my client. I had a closer look at the system and there it was."

Sofie knew that the cameras created a small power-surge when switched on. It was only for a split second and hardly noticeable. But apparently noticeable enough for Philip's uncanny senses.

"How did you know it was me, though?"

"No one else would dare."

It was hard to tell whether he thought her singularly brave or stupid. "You are playing a dangerous game here. And I think I've given you the wrong impression. You don't seem to realize how powerful Elandra is."

Sofie did not give a reply to his subtle warning. She leaned back into her plush pillows. This time it was her being comfortable with the silence.

No one has dared taking them on, until now. It gave her a smug satisfaction. This is what she did after all. Taking down the institutions that were too big to fail, too scrupulous to yield, too dangerous to bring to justice. These David-and-Goliath fights were her speciality.

"Are there any more cameras", he said sharply, "because if there are, you better tell me right now so I can remove them. Before security finds them and you get into trouble."

"Are you trying to threaten me, Philip?"

Philip took an auditable breath.

"I am trying to help you."

"Of course you are."

"Look," he continued ignoring her sarcasm, "I don't know who you are, but I think you are in over your head. If I can get to you, then security will too. And they don't issue threats first."

"I appreciate the heads up, Philip."

She meant it. If Elandra was as dangerous as he said, he would be in trouble even telling her this. Unless, of course, he was the one in charge. Playing the protector to lower her defenses and lure her in.

"You are not taking my warning seriously, are you?" The frustration was clear in his voice. "How do you know that we are not tracing you right now? Finding out where you live? Sending someone to resolve this little issue? Someone might already be at your door, Miss Carter. Entering while we speak, to ..."

"Philip," she interrupted, cutting his intimidation short, "I am touched, but there is really no need to worry."

She snickered at the thought of them really trying to geo-trace her. Her mobile rerouted calls and she would show up in Tunisia or Korea right now. Being in this business for a long time, she knew the tricks. Like never to disclose her mobile number. In fact, her number was virtual and automatically changed everyday. Philip got lucky. Reaching through the maze in the brief moment in time when it was possible. Tomorrow everything would reset and there was no way to reach her again.

But he did not know that; did not need to know. He was a pawn in her game and it was time to return to playing.

"You know what else touches me, Philip?" She said, not even hiding the satisfied grin in her voice, "You calling my name when you come."

Her statement was met with silence. It was a low blow but she could not resist the smell of blood in the water.

"I see." He took a deep breath. "We are still playing. Very good. I almost believed you really were the controlled professional, who knows when to cut her losses. But you are not, are you? You like this game way too much; maybe even more than I do."

Bastard. His confidence was infuriating, it seemed nothing could ever faze him.

"But what puzzles me," she pressed on, "is that you made such a big deal about not enjoying yourself with clients. But tonight you broke your own rule. Why is that?"

Instead of being embarrassed, Sofie heard him chuckle.

"You are jealous." he finally said, the smile in his voice auditable.

She could not tell whether this was because it meant something to him or whether it was simply more information to leverage against her. She reeled from how quickly the tables had turned on her. How she had suddenly lost all ability to keep her thoughts contained, because she was jealous. Jealous of every single one of Philip's clients. Who had the ability to summon him whenever they liked, while she had to resort to trickery to get his attention. It made her furious that he had such an effect on her.

"But," he continued, lowering his voice to a dangerous purr, "to answer your question, Miss Carter. I like you watching me. I like the thought of how it affects you. How you want me. It turns me on. To quite an unreasonable extent."

He cleared his throat and continued matter-of-factly. "And today this affliction of mine has interfered with my work. I cannot have that, Miss Carter. So how about, you and I wrap up our little arrangement, and get back to normal. I've arranged for you to have one more visit, free of charge, of course."

There was nothing she wanted more than to be back in his suite; back in his arms, sampling all he had to offer.

But this was the first real vulnerability he showed her. And there was no way she would not exploit that. MP Kerry was a big story but there were many more in Philips treasure chest. And she wanted them all.

All she needed to do was get past the gigolo and find the man. Wrap him around her finger until he gave up his secrets, for love.

"I cannot do that, Philip."

"Cannot or will not?" A dangerous edge crept into his voice. Like he was secretly daring her to tease on, to stretch their arrangement out longer than need be.

"You might see this differently, Philip, but sleeping with someone is a big deal for me. I don't want to do this in a room where you had sex with hundrends on women before." Any excuse to get him off his home turf where he would be invincible. "How about we meet on neutral grounds instead? Have dinner and see how it goes?"

"Are you asking me on a date?"

Sofie genuinely smiled. She could not help but feel the thrill of asking the infamous Philip out. Seducing him on her own terms. That was a challenge worth accepting.

"Yes, I am."

"I don't date, Miss Carter. Least of all you."

His voice was too curt, betraying that disinterest was not the reason for his direct rebuff. Was she finally getting under his skin?

"Oh? Why is that?"

"You are bad for business."

"Oh c'mon. You are allowed to have a private life, don't you? Where is the harm in having one dinner together?"

There was a long silence on the line. He was struggling with his answer. Not so calm anymore, are you?

"I cannot just leave the compound," he finally said.

"What do you mean? You are going with Ms Hunt to the city."

"There will be a driver. He will be with me the whole time. Until I am back at Elandra."

All the elegance, wealth and power was not something he chose freely, they were the very chains controlling him. The confident and enigmatic player was in fact a caged panther, not seeing the world for all the bars he was contained behind. Was he lonely? Yearning for the endless horizon? Was this the reason he did not want her to leave? Because it would mean having to return to the numb routine of building an empire.

Sofie could not keep the empathy out of her voice.

"You are living in a cage, Philip."

"I don't see it that way. Yes, I have a demanding employer. Elandra requires a more dedicated commitment than a nine-to-five arrangement. But I get paid accordingly. And we've created something that is truly unique. You cannot build a legacy, without some sacrifices."

"Philip, it might be a golden cage but it is still a cage. Especially if you have no ability to leave. Ever."

"Hold on Miss Carter, I wouldn't go quite that far." Mischief played in his tone. "I have my ways of getting in and out unnoticed. I'll send you some coordinates. Let's meet there. Tomorrow. 11pm."

"Coordinates?"

"Yes. I'm afraid it's not a restaurant. But at least it's outside of Elandra. That's all I can offer for now, though."

It sounded so genuine that Sofie could not help but say, "That's ok. I am looking forward to it."

"Great, see you tomorrow."

The line disconnected and Sofie started at her phone. This conversation had turned out to be very different from what she expected. Suddenly her objective wasn't about gaining leverage anymore but getting to know Philip. Maybe it was better to be loved than feared, after all.

The phone buzzed with a text message.

Unknown number:

Coordinates: 51.245410 -0.368096. It's a date.

Her heart leapt at the last sentence, but the excitement was short-lived. The coordinates came up as a meadow in the middle of the woods. It was a couple of kilometers away from Elanda's main building; probably just outside the perimeter fence and the views of the camera.

Oh no!

She was either going to meet the real Philip or get murdered in the process.

Was the price really worth that risk?