say? - What... - I exhaled through my mouth, feeling a ton lighter. - That I don't want anything else. CHAPTER 1 - "The beginning of the damn cataclysm" MICHAEL SWARTZ - To the new banker! Smiling, Theo lifted the empty champagne bottle to the side of his head, pointing the neck at me. His blue eyes mirrored the golden glow of the candles, making them even clearer. Yes, the CFO of Swartz Bank looked like a damn movie heartthrob. The three of us grew up together. Theo, Gabriel and me.

Our parents, Jacob and Abraham, belonging to two traditional Jewish families, were best friends, which made our closeness almost inevitable. We attend the same schools, the same colleges and, as adults, the same professional environments, not to mention social events. Like the anniversary of that night. White candles, silver candlesticks, fresh flowers and crystal vases decorated the center of the large round table, its glass top covered with a fine linen tablecloth. Carolina has always had good taste in decoration. Everything was extremely neat, with the dim lighting making the environment even more refined. The red roses in the arrangements were the icing on the cake, matching the fiery tone of her hair, tied in an elegant braid. - To the new banker! - Carolina repeated, the delicate glass raised in the air. The bubbly drink also reflected the candle flames, boasting an almost mesmerizing flicker. - And the birthday girl. Congratulations, Carol - I said with a half smile on my lips, raising my glass towards her. Everyone around our table repeated their congratulations, celebrating the birthday. There were six of us: Carolina, Theo, her companion, Lia, Gabriel, me and Cleo, my companion. In the background, a voice and guitar duo played soft songs. Among them, Adele's songs, as the birthday girl loved so much. Baby, let me in Go easy on me, baby (Baby, let me in Go easy on me, baby) For her birthday, Carolina had booked the best party room in Mistral, a five-star hotel with a magnificent view of the Park Ibirapuera. Maybe it wouldn't be appropriate to attend a party twenty days after my father's burial. Maybe I should "live the mourning" by retreating to my home. But there I was. And how was it? Quiet. Very peaceful. I dare say, almost excited. If animation were one of my qualities. The naked truth? He didn't "care" about the mourning in respect of Abraão Swartz. - Thank you, Michael... - Carolina smiled, raising the glass to her red-painted mouth. - "Thirty"! Let's drink! Health! The redhead took another sip of the drink and we all followed suit, tasting the very expensive Veuve Clicquot Brut. I blinked my eyes slowly, savoring the coolness of the liquid that bubbled on my tongue. Carolina was from the traditional Castro de Andrade family, in the construction industry. It followed the "old money" line, with fortunes passed down through inheritance from generation to generation. We met at school, and soon she became the only girl in our select group of boys. My father's icy eyes even sparkled at the idea of ​​uniting the Swartz and Castro de Andrade families. How much he tried to push Carolina on me years ago... That's why I never wanted her. Anyway, starting a family wasn't in the plans. "Excellent champagne," I commented, placing a hand on Cleo's soft thigh. Through the slit of her green dress I caressed her, moving up and down slowly, enjoying the contact of her fingers with her smooth skin. That woman was worth every damn penny. - Not just the champagne. The party is excellent - Gabriel praised, looking around the room. - Thank you, dear ones. I swear I thought about postponing it... - said Carolina. - Celebrating my birthday a few weeks after your father passed away. You know, Michael, he was like an uncle to me... Maybe it wasn't a good idea. Even more painful death, after that horrible cancer. Poor man, he suffered so much... - she completed in a lament, unnerving me. I looked to my left side and saw that Gabriel also seemed uncomfortable with the subject, pressing his lips into a thin line. On the opposite side of the table, Theo and Lia remained silent, their faces calm, just waiting for my answer. To my right, Cleo was distracted by her nails, studying her red nail polish like it was a fucking Van Gogh painting. Yes, Gab was the uncomfortable one. Not as much as me, obviously. With my jaw tense, I swallowed the words: "he suffered little." - Do you know what's not good form, Carolina? Continue talking about death when celebrating a birthday. Shall we turn the record over? - I twirled a finger in the air, fed up with that topic. - Excuse me sir. I need to go to the bathroom," Cleo whispered as she got up, leaving the table. I nodded in response and turned my head back, following the sway of her hips back and forth with my gaze. The green silk fabric delicately hugged the curves, marking every inch of them. I couldn't wait to take her to the suite on the twentieth floor that I had reserved earlier. With her dark hair cascading down her back, she looked like that hot actress who... What was her name again? - Megan Fox. The Transformers actress. She is identical. - Gabriel does that annoying thing of completing my thoughts again. The "joys" of being twins. -Uhm - I murmured, taking another sip of my drink. - I remember her with Yuri, last month... You know I'm good at keeping faces - she commented with a false innocent air. - At the cocktail party at that startup that... What was it called? About the disposal of business documents. - "SafeD." I didn't go," I replied through gritted teeth. Damn, I had only one demand. A single damn demand made to Valentina years before: "Never send girls who have already been hired by other Bank employees." Yuri was the Bank's Accounting Director, whose name I only knew because he appeared in my office once a month, taking my signature on that pile of useless papers. Or useful, from a tax point of view. - I was, I remember. She wore a black dress that was very low-cut in the back," continued Gab, amused by my irritation. - You could even see a tattoo on the lower part of the spine, at the level of the lower back. A blue moon, if I'm not mistaken. That pimp wanted to demoralize me or what? He probably underestimated me, thinking that I wouldn't find out about Cleo and Yuri because I didn't go to the startup cocktail party. Whether intentional or not, that was unacceptable. - Valentina dropped the ball, huh... - Gabriel completed my thoughts once again. - What are you going to do? Return the toy without playing? - No. I need a good fuck. But if Valentina doesn't want to lose me as a client, she'll have to reward me. It wasn't a blue moon. It was a damn green dolphin. Standing next to the bed, I covered the crude tattoo with my left hand, pushing the woman's back lower, spreading the dark locks across the white sheet. - There! - Cleo screamed with each thrust of my hips against her soft ass. Pounding hard, I shook her slim body on the bed, without holding back during the anal sex session. - Quiet. I tangled the fingers of my other hand in her soft hair, pulling her head up, arching her spine more. She obeyed me, falling silent in the same second. Fortunately. Her screams were discouraging me. Adjusting the fit, I thrust three, four more times until I exploded, ejaculating heavily into the condom. - Fuck... - I slid out of her, discarding the condom in the trash next to the minibar. Breathing heavily, I grabbed a bottle