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Vincent, Buffy and other family matter.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. It is selfish to believe that your family will always love you. At some point you will be asked to earn it The main front was stabilizing. The 2nd Army was in tough shape though all three divisions were still in the fight. The 1st Army's 2nd and 9th Divisions had corked up the advances out of Cambodia. As soon as night fell, they would maneuver the majority of the 2nd Division to crush the Alliance forces north of Bangkok. The rioters would be crushed tomorrow morning. They would survive.This realization came too late to them. The rot of fear had infected the 1st Army, 1st Division and the police force commands. Of more importance, a small group of secretive individuals convinced two senior Thai officers that something had to be done before the city fell, or the Prime Minister reasserted control over the city.Those two conspirators had the same problem as the Loyalists, enemy troops and protestors in the street. Those officers had no way to contact the crucial enemy commanders, but they knew who did, the Indian Navy. Surreptitiously, they contacted the Indian Navy's Expeditionary Fleet. The fleet's Admiral quickly put them in touch with the Alliance Command Authority and within two hours, a deal was made.The Great Khan would stop the Alliance offensive if the King of Thailand made a public appeal, no strings attached. This new group of rebels and the Alliance worked out the path they needed to take to reach the King so that the Alliance forces were out of the way and no planes, or helicopter attacked their formations. They even had a TV station that would broadcast the King's speech ending the conflict. All they needed was nightfall.And that was the true story of how the counter-coup was pulled off, how the King of Thailand was able to talk to the Great Khan and how the Thai government was overthrown. In the final analysis, the Loyalist hadn't fallen before the might of the Alliance. They were done in by a tiny number of Black Lotus operative almost no one knew existed, with a small amount of assistance from JIKIT."No wonder the Seven Pillars has never been able to wipe out these guys," Addison yawned. "They are slippery as eels and thrice as lethal. I am glad they are on our side." Several sets of eyes looked at her skeptically. "I mean, I am glad we are currently working toward the same goals."Thus,"I suggest we all get some sleep," Addison declared as she stood up and stretched.Odette was comfortably asleep, so I curled her up and carried her to the elevator. I wanted to go home and forget that I had lost any semblance of a normal life. I didn't know what was worse; me doing the shit I was doing, or me understanding what I was doing. Juanita had gone down ahead of us to pull the car around to the front.Chaz, Pamela, Odette and I went down in the first wave of the exodus from the workplace. The door opened on the ground floor. I wasn't the first person to notice her. My reflexes had improved to the point I had a moment to recognize her before the people around me sprang into action.Pamela side-stepped to the right, pistol mystically appearing in her two-hand grip. Chaz, Chaz bore Odette and me to the ground. His level of dedication astonished me. He was shielding us with his body. From what, I hadn't been able to determine."Deadman switch," one of my aunts stated. "I want to talk with Cáel." The voice had a stressed tenor to it."Back outside," Pamela simmered."No.""Chaz, what is going on?" I asked him. He hadn't moved and wasn't letting me wiggle around to see."Explosive vest," he responded coolly. That's right. Chaz was shielding Odette and me with his body.That is what I found astonishing, his desire to give his life for me. His expectation that Pamela could kill the threat while he was currently occupied was understandable."We seem to be at an impasse," Pamela edged further away.She wasn't avoiding the blast radius. That was impossible in this lobby. No, if it came to firing, she was making it easier for Chaz to get a shot off since the shooter couldn't cover both angles of attack."Let me talk to him," my aunt insisted. This made no sense."Chaz, let me deal with this," I told my bodyguard."Are you sure?" he questioned."Not really. As Pamela said, she's not going to let any of us leave until she talks to me and if you kill her, she kills all of you." Chaz let me stand.Odette was just awakening to the threat. Chaz rose to stand by my side. (Sadly, Odette didn't rate him dying for her.) I prayed I didn't fuck this up."Cáel, is that really you?" the women with green eyes and red hair asked me. She sounded desperate, which would explain the suicide vest."Yeah, which one are, Mom?"{9:10 pm, Tuesday, September 2nd ~ 6 Days to go}"Yes, I'm Sibeal. Are you my son?""Do you mean   No! Grandfather Cáel hasn't supplanted my spirit with his own," I took a deep breath. "I'm not sure how I can convince you of this.""Do you miss your Father?" she queried."Yes," I murmured."Ahh Cáel, you are still my son. Thank all that is divine," she sighed."Care to deactivate the vest now?" Pamela suggested."Do you promise not to shoot me? You two, and the one sneaking up on me from behind." She meant Juanita, who had sensed the danger and exited the car."You are three kinds of crazy, so I'm not making any guarantees," Pamela answered."Pamela   Chaz, I really think she is my mother. And I assume she is here to kill Cáel O'Shea, not me," I interjected. I still wasn't leaving Chaz' side. "Please don't kill her.""No guarantees," Chaz affirmed."She's his mother," Odette chimed in. "If it was anyone else, they would be in a cloud of bodyguards, not alone.""Here is the deal, Mom. You deactivate the vest, then we will talk. Otherwise, I'm taking my security's advice and backing the fuck out of here.""Okay," she nodded. "It's a fake. I'm upset, but not enough to be suicidal. I wanted to see what you would do. Father would have sacrificed everyone else. You got tackled and you obeyed the man who was trying to save your life.""Chaz, what do you think?" Pamela asked him."We could hold her here until Virginia shows up. That would give Cáel a few minutes to reminisce before she gets dragged off to the looney bin." (That would, of course, lead to her death while in Federal custody   so that wasn't happening, period.)"I concur," Pamela agreed. She still had her gun out and aimed. She went to a one-handed grip so she could motion Juanita to come inside.I took the opportunity to walk around Chaz, though I only advanced half way."I think it is asking too much from my bodyguards to walk up to you with that vest lying at your feet," I pointed. "You know   just in case you are lying." She nodded, smiled and came forward. A hug was in the offing. I almost missed Odette coming up behind me."I'm on a timetable," Mom murmured into my shoulder. "You know why.""I am afraid I do," (my pheromones were already affecting her). "What brought this on? How long can you stay?""The kidnapping made it imperative. But this has been my first opportunity to get close enough to you to determine if my father had won, or not," she confessed."I'm not sure how long I can remain ~ maybe a day, or three. I have heard you have an upcoming ordeal you must go through for your Amazons." Odette again by way of Delilah. I decided to give Delilah the benefit of the doubt and just accept that she did what she did because she was worried about me."Oh. Mom, this is Odette Sievert, my roommate and all-around better friend than I deserve." Odette extended her hand. Mom reached past me and shook it."Nice to finally meet you in person," Mom smiled."Nice to realize you aren't as nutty as the rest of the bunch,and considering you came at Pamela and Chaz with a fake suicide vest   that is saying something," Odette grinned."My son is all I have left of Ferko (my dad)," she grew grim. "If my father stole him after killing my husband   I wouldn't know how to carry on.""Aaahh," Odette stammered through this tense family moment. "You are about to be a grandmother in a serious way," she tried to turn things around. "How does a dozen grandkids sound?"Operational security and secret information were concepts Odette was aware of. She simply refused to use either one."Really?" Mom looked from Odette to me. "How serious?""How about we get out of here before the FBI shows up," I began directing my mom out the doors."Cáel?" Chaz questioned."Hey now, I never agreed to hand my mom over to Virginia. The vest was fake. Let's not dwell on this," I urged Mom and Odette out the door."Ishara," Juanita repeatedly prayed, "why do you test me so?"Chaz and Pamela showed their faith in me and my decision-making ability by tagging along. For me, what does a son who hasn't spent any time with his mother since he was seven (because she was supposedly dead for the past fifteen years) ask first?Actually, we waited for Chaz, who had the presence of mind to ensure the vest was truly a dud and then called Virginia so she could clean up one of my messes   yet again."Thank you, Color Sergeant," Mom looked toward Chaz as the GL 550 pulled away from One Mi Ma1 Tower. Unfortunately, the look he sent her way wasn't friendly."Thanks for reminding me," I nodded to Mom. "Chaz, what in the Hell possessed you to jump on Odette and me? I appreciate it,""Me too," Odette chimed in."But please don't do that ever again. Of all the, let's just say I have too many deaths of people I like on my mind. I don't want you added to that list.""Tough.""Well, thanks for considering my request," I groaned."Chaz, three nights ago our boy learned that one of the women he knocked up is going to die and no one will intervene to save her life and they won't tell him where she is," Pamela let him know."Who do we talk to?" he asked me. By 'talk' I assumed he meant torture until they coughed up a viable location/suspect."The Goddess Ishara.""Fuck. I apologize, Cáel. That is hard news for a young man like you to take. As for my jumping on you   suck it up. It is my job to make sure you can do yours.""Juanita," Pamela called out. "Stop driving to Havenstone. Take us back to Cáel's place. He won't let the Amazons take his mother, which means I won't let them, which means Chaz won't let them. Besides, Odette could get killed in the cross-fire and too many people like her for that to be safe for any would-be assassin.""Really?" Odette perked up. Of course she wasn't worried about being killed. Odette was fascinated that people found her valuable   enough to kill anyone who killed her. She'd more fully grasp that curse later on. She was a genuinely nice person. What Pamela left unsaid was that if 'people' thought someone might kill Odette, they would 'proactively' protect her. Too many people she now hung out with were of that stripe of crazy."Pamela, would you miss me if I got killed?" Odette turned to the most dangerous person in the car. (I didn't think Mom was in her league, but then I had never seen her fight, so I was keeping an open mind.)"You bet your ass, Baby-cakes," she grinned at my super-kind sidekick."Me too," Chaz added gruffly. "Of greater importance, Addison would take umbrage. Next to Ms. Love, she's the nastiest bitch I've ever met." He meant that as a compliment."Not Lady Yum   I meant Worthington-Burke?" I inquired."She doesn't take things personally. She'd miss Odette, but not enough to move off-mission," Chaz explained."Let's not forget Buffy," Pamela snorted. "What she lacks in experience she makes up for by being totally psychotic and fanatically loyal to Wakko here. People who piss him off tend to end up as a place holder on the Obituary page.""Unless they never find the bodies," Juanita commented   from her personal experience disposing of people for me. Groan."Cáel, I am so happy I met you," Odette hugged my arm. "My life was going nowhere before you gave me your phone number. Now, I know my life is at risk and I don't care. Being with you has been more wonderful than I ever thought possible."Mom was studying me, both pleased and worried."What?" I asked."You have a lot of your grandfather in you. He did have a gift for inspiring the best out of people. You are like your father in that you care for those people   caring for both their lives and their happiness. Your father inspired that same kind of loyalty because he kept the needs of his people in the forefront of his mind.""Dad was like Grandpa?" I worried."Hell no." That was Pamela."Thank the Divine, no," Mom exhaled at the same time. "How do you know my father?""I killed him," Pamela grinned."You were the one? I'm, I don't know what to think," Mom murmured."Keep that in mind before you try to pull another stunt like you did tonight," Pamela's grin grew feral."Pamela is the best Grandmother I could ever hope for," I explained."Spiritually speaking," Odette tried to lighten the mood (she was a cracker-jack morale officer). "Otherwise it would make Cáel's having sex with her granddaughters rather, suspect.""Odette, you can say 'incestuous'," Mom gave a half-grin. "Do you know much about my family?""Your Pa created you and your sisters to be fuck-toys who also ran errands for him," Odette nodded. "They are all loonies.""Don't share that view with them," Mom cautioned. "When we last met, they had a highly under-developed sense of humor and a well-cultivated mean streak.""Gotcha," Odette giggled. "After dealing with the Slayers of Testicles numbers 1 & 2, I have learned what kind of wacky girls Cáel attracts without even trying.""I really should make sure Mr. Fiennes is okay," I reminded myself."You would do better catching up with that girl down the hall. The Korean takeout girl also asked about you", offered Odette. Yeah, the girl in 3-F baked me some cookies when Dad was murdered."How many grandchildren are we talking about?" Mom looked at me with some serious maternal affection."Who are the Slayers of Testicles?" Juanita wanted to know. My family jewels belonged to House Ishara   at least in her and her sisters' estimation."Oneida's bodyguards," Odette let slip out before she saw the warning look in my eyes."You are sleeping with the apprentice of House Arinniti?" gasped Juanita   I was hoping her questioning wasn't hurting her driving. "What about the 84 day rule?""I'd better not bring up Rhada," Odette nodded thoughtfully."I'm going to spank you," I growled at Odette."Was that aimed at me?" Juanita."Yippee, and we are going home now, too!" Odette squealed."Not you, Juanita   Odette. I want to teach her how to 'not say' whatever pops up in her head," I grumbled."You promised to punish me!" she beamed brightly. "Punish me! Punish me!""Uuuuuuu," I beat my cranium against the headrest in front of me."I thought she was the 'nice' girl," Mom chided me."She was," Pamela smirked. "Unfortunately, she's been totally corrupted by your son.""Yep," Odette agreed. "He's opened up a whole new horizon of things sexual for me.""Son, how many women are you seeing? I thought you were engaged." Mom."Uuuuuuu," I repeated."I'll take care of this," Chaz intervened calmly. "He is as loyal as he can be   within the bounds of his limited moral arsenal   to Hana Sulkanen. So he is sexually and romantically involved with Brooke Lee and Libra Chalmers, civilians he met through contacts at Havenstone. There is Anais Saint-Armour, RCMP, who departed this weekend,""She'll be back," Pamela assured Mom. "They always come back at least once.""Who has only come back just once?" Chaz laconically questioned Pamela."Good point," Pamela acceded. "They keep coming back until he changes the locks, his phone number and address." That made no sense,"I am glad you two are my friends," I groused. "I'd hate to think what you would say about me if you hated me.""You're welcome," Pamela grinned."Ms. Marla Chalmers," Chaz continued without missing a beat, "Libra's younger sibling, who your son indubitably impressed while in college; three teachers at an exclusive school, he met them while body-guarding a group of children; an assistant manager of a hotel he stayed at; six attractive, college-educated European young women,""Don't forget the Macedonian!" Pamela interjected."I have removed her from the list because she has no reliable way to hunt down our boy," he explained."Good point," Pamela nodded."They like busting your chops, don't they?" Mom smiled."As opposed to physically busting my chops   this I can live with.""You have matured nicely. Your father would be very pleased   quietly, of course.""Thank you Mom." She knew the man better than I ever would."We won't count the 189 Amazons who have staked a claim to him for the next nine days," Chaz added."What! 189? When did that happen?""The thirty huntresses and the 159 members of House Ishara," Pamela clued me in."159? When did that happen?" I gasped again. I was repeating myself   not good. I knew I had told Buffy to 'keep up the good work', but still, House Ishara wasn't even two months old yet."They are the best of the roughly 20,000 Runners in the Host and thus, all are serious bad-ass bitches," Pamela assured me. "I think Helena would like you to explore a few more heroic Runners who have since passed.""Passed?" Mom."Cáel sees dead people," Odette beamed."So does his Aunt Baibre," Mom said."Met her, came off a bit, off," I confirmed."That's Baibre. What other ones have you met, besides Deidre and Brianna?"She was asking if I had met others outside of Delilah's watchful eye."Hmm, Imogen, Kelly and Matilda.""Okay. You haven't met the bad ones yet," Mom nodded. I was stunned yet again. Not by what Mom said, but by,"The 'bad ones'?" Pamela inquired. "They come in shades worse than Kelly and Matilda?""I'm with you on that. Those two were unsettling," Chaz agreed. Holy Shit! Pamela and Chaz were agreeing that two of my aunts had them worried on a tactical level. So 'not good' for me, since I couldn't take either of my friends. Bad-bad."Fiona is the worst. She is the second youngest of my generation and by far the most lethal. She was Father's pet.""Oh joy," I sighed."Is she bulletproof?" Chaz inquired."Not quite, but she is definitely hard to kill. She has a greater share of Alal while remaining sane.""Oh, she's the sane one?" Juanita joined in."On that side of his family, sane is a relative term." Thanks, Odette."Relative to how far your cock is into them?" Pamela snorted."Hold on now," I interrupted the jocularity. "What do you mean   'your generation'   'the second youngest'   what happened to the youngest   and when you say 'worst', define 'worst'."Pamela's phone rang."Father created three generations of daughters and sons. Carrig was the 'success' on the male side of the equation."Uncle Lumpy was the 'success'? What had the other uncles been like   idiot cyclops cannibals?"He destroyed all the rest.""Please clarify," Chaz studied my mother. "Your father murdered his own children?""Yes. All but one of the 36 sons. He kept Carrig around as a reminder to not create any more sons. The first generation of daughters were all 'failures'.""You mean dead?" Odette gulped."Yes   dead now, though he viewed all of us as property, not human beings.""Consider Grandad's low opinion of humanity, that's extra tragic," I put an arm around Odette. Pamela was muffling her conversation."Of the second generation of daughters, only Aunt Faoiltiama was kept around. I always had the impression her soul wasn't entirely human. She is rather primitive and predatory. A less horrifically unbalanced Carrig   physically that is. Carrig was somewhat more erudite.""Wow, I don't know what to think of that," I mumbled."Of my generation, eleven of us were allowed to live. Kelly and Maitilda are the most physically dangerous. That was their purpose   killing things.""Trained in combat styles by Cáel's grandfather?" Chaz looked, depressed."Yes. The four of us were. Fiona was the only one I couldn't best.""I would like to spar with you when it is convenient," Chaz requested."Okay. You deserve to know how bad it can be," she nodded. "Of the rest, Una was the youngest, the most human and humane. She was Father's final failure. I was never sure why he kept her alive.""For Cáel to rescue, of course," Odette insisted. Crap. She was right. By the horrified look on my Mother's face, she knew Odette was correct as well.Alal had let Una live as a contingency card, in case I was a soft-hearted sap. In hindsight, it was obvious. The innocent damsel trapped in a madhouse, at the mercy of her fiendish kinfolk, she was a perfect weapon to make me do stupider shit than normal."Damn," Mom muttered. "Anyway, Briana is the most willful and the family's representative to the Illuminati. Deidre is the most sedate, so she handles the normal business interests that we are allowed to know about. Darcie had Alal's hunger for lost and forbidden lore. In her case, it is all-consuming. She has memorized much of Father's collection.""She is rather good at it too   or was when I last saw her. Imogen is our tactician and oversees the O'Shea's bodyguard contingent. She has Father's ability to choose the best men and women, to train them to a razor's edge and to inspire fanatic loyalty.""Sadhbba: she is Father's spy master; with the exceptionally eerie talents of subterfuge, deceit and finding the weakness in others. She and I did not get along. Fiona could do it all, except for my talent.""Which is?" Chaz took over, since Pamela was waving me over for a close, quiet chat concerning her phone call."Fiona was an updated version of me. She was slightly better at everything I could do, except for one thing. I had Father's sixth sense about things. Fiona did not, and that was the reason she hated me so much. Father stoked our internal conflicts to keep us all on edge.""Good to know," Chaz understated his concern. "Do you have any intelligence on how, when and with what your father will come after our boy?" I wasn't insulted by the 'our boy' moniker. He wasn't calling me a child. He was telling Mom that I was 'one of the boys'   on his team. I felt all warm and tingly. My dearth of long-term male friends had meant I had never really been in a fraternity   the close brotherhood of men   before."Problem for you to deal with," Pamela handed me the phone. "It is Tabitha Loire." Tabitha? Vincent's   FBI Special Agent Vincent Lorie's   drop-dead gorgeous daughter. He had taken more than one bullet in Romania. I hadn't heard from him since that morning at the hospital, before being whisked away to the US via Germany. I remained a lousy friend."Hello? Who is this?" the weary, angry voice on the other end of the connection spoke."Cáel Nyilas. Tabitha Loire, what can I do for you?""What can you tell me about my Father?""Oh God! He is not dead, is he?" I grunted. Pause."No. No, Da is okay. He was released from the hospital a week ago. I would like to talk to you about what happened to him overseas.""He won't tell you?""No. Neither will his boss, or any of his acquaintances. Mr. Nyilas, he is down in the dumps and I want to know what I can do to help out. If you are his friend, you should help."I couldn't blame her for being both bitter and exasperated. She had run full tilt into the Great Wall of National Security and been stopped cold."How about I come down and talk to you?" I offered. "What I can tell you shouldn't go out over a phone and I have been remiss in not catching up with your father sooner.""Umm, when?""I'll take the next train down tonight," I decided. "We'll arrange some vehicles at the station. What is your address?" She hesitated. After all, she had Pamela's number, not mine and I was tied into her father being shot   badly. She gave me the address, her desire to know what happened overcoming her caution when dealing with strangers. "I'll give you a call when we arrive in Alexandria.""Train?" Juanita griped. Chaz pulled out his phone and called Agent-86 for both the next train from Penn Station to Alexandria and an update to Virginia and the Homeland Security people for clearance to bring along our ironmongery. Pamela looked at me with pride. So did Mom. Whatever Juanita's opinion of me was, it was concealed by her call to someone else   probably updating Buffy on my itinerary."Vincent was the Federal Agent who was wounded at Miercurea Ciuc?" asked Mom."I need to have a talk with Delilah," Pamela glowered."I want to be in the room when you do," Chaz agreed."Juanita   Penn Station and call someone at Executive Services to pick up our car. Long term parking there is a bitch," I related.Was it? I had no idea, but Alal apparently did. I had been to Penn Station three times; and I never had a vehicle that needed a parking space. All three times, Havenstone sent a car to pick me up. That was for my preliminary and final interviews, plus handling all the paperwork after I got the job.I'd left Bolingbrook in a U-Haul truck (without much in it) a week before starting work. I had an iron-clad belief I could find a place to live within that time span. That was all the time and money I had allotted to that endeavor. My budget had been tight, or so I believed.Unlike the other four chuckleheads who joined the New Directive, I hadn't received a signing bonus. Maybe I should have asked for one. Too late for that now."You taking your mother to meet Vincent?" Odette poked me. I looked from Pamela to Odette then back again.Sneaky-ass bitches. They were introducing my widowed Mother to a really nice, mature guy who was brave, a good father, a widower and all-around stand-up guy. He had a ready-made family, an oldest daughter my age. Beyond some physical similarities, Vincent was not much like Dad. Dad was a quiet, private man.By the nature of his job as a Field Agent, Vincent had to possess superior communication skills. Physically, they were nearly the same height, but Dad was broader in the shoulders. On the other hand, Vincent had both a warrior's spirit and the skills to back it up.But why Mom? Her life was more a disaster than mine, and mine was colossally fucked up."Don't get any ideas," Pamela put out there. Was she talking to me? "Chaz and I don't like you. Your father is a rat-bastard with a mind like a snake. We have no idea if you are yet another one his plots to get at Cáel."They were still taking her with us as we went to see Vincent in Virginia. Since this was going to be a quick trip   I had to be back at Havenstone at 6 a.m.   no clothing was necessary. Chaz received a call from Agent-86 with a follow-up call as we pulled up to the station. I didn't know the nature of the second call until we went to pick up our tickets for the 10:05 Northeast Regional.Waiting there was my old buddy and now sister, Wilma Draper/Ishara. I was at a loss why. It wasn't as if I needed more firepower than Juanita, Chaz and Pamela in the confined environment of a train."Wilma?""Hello Ish   Cáel," she smiled. She was emotionally pumped."What are you doing here?""Oh... Buffy told me that I was to be here on assignment to fulfill an Isharan obligation." This would be Wilma's first mission for House Ishara, no matter how brief and danger-free it might be. She was ecstatic.Huh? I couldn't recall any obligation I owed Buffy, or Vincent. Unlike every other Amazon House, things regularly happened without the Head of House's knowledge. Face facts: I was the least prepared leader the Host had ever had. I compensated by having hyper-competent underlings   the very best of the best Runners-turned-Full-blooded Amazons."Ah," Pamela nodded, sensing my loss of understanding, "A promise to provide Vincent a bodyguard was made in your presence. Being the highest ranking member of the Host present, and failing to pass on that knowledge, it falls to your House to answer that pledge.""Wilma, you are here to be Vincent Loire's bodyguard?""Only temporarily. The current state of affairs at HQ won't allow me to take more than three days leave. Your 'First' is seeking another appropriate Isharan for the task."I had totally dropped the ball.The initiative to bring JIKIT and the Amazons together was my creation. Katrina had approved it, yet it was my status as Chief Diplomat of the Host (as I had redefined that role,) that was responsible for that group, and thus Vincent. There was also another undercurrent to providing Vincent an Amazon bodyguard. I would be sending Vincent the message that he was still a valuable member of the team. His infirmity was simply a temporary difficulty.I gave Javiera a call. I suddenly needed to know Vincent's status with the FBI. A little past Philadelphia, she called back. Vincent was on long-term leave and, barring a positive physical assessment, he would never be going back into the field. They were making him a desk jockey for the rest of his career. That would be a heavy enough blow to the man to put him in the dumps.I made my view clear. As Unpaid Honcho Assigned to Unit L &  U HAUL, I wanted Vincent on my team   JIKIT's field team. I had plenty of lethal shooters. I needed a trained investigator and a veteran lawman to keep us aware of the niceties the world's legal systems wished to live by. I finished that off with a very regal "Make it so!" Javiera, my boss, hung up on me; though I thought I caught a laugh before the connection was cut."Pamela," Chaz turned to Pamela, "I am proud to call him 'brother'.""I think he is coming along nicely, Grandson Charles," Pamela preened. Wha- huh? My family had grown yet again. Grown yet again with people who were better than me."Does that make Aya your niece?" a sleepy Odette smiled."I guess it does," he nodded."Aya will love you," Pamela smiled."I hope Caitlyn loves him too," I smirked."A man could do worse than marrying an Amazon," Chaz blithely retorted. Less I forget, the Tomorrow Clan had its own long warrior tradition."Asking it to be three thousand years long is a bit too much," Pamela agreed with what I had not spoken aloud."On the plus side," I began."He's also getting several frisky sisters-in-law," Pamela finished. Hi-Five."Super Twin Powers Activate!" we proclaimed loudly.Fuck Ishara for taking Tad fi from me. I could be just like my Father. I could bleed off my pain with humor and look at my daughter with untainted love."When I grow up, I want to be just like you," Odette yawned. Which one of us she wanted to emulate wasn't clear.{Wounded, but not forgotten}{2:00 am, Wednesday, September 3rd ~ 5 Days to go}The tickets were one-way. Katrina was having a private jet come down at 4 a.m. to fetch me. We arrived in DC at 1:30. Two bleary-eyed State Department flunkies met us with an S U V and a sedan. We took the S U V ~ we had seven people ~ while they drove the sedan back so they could try to make something of the night that duty had destroyed.They looked curious about what this was all about and were a bit disappointed that no explanation was forthcoming from our crowd. We were polite, and I thanked them for their service. Being a decent human being doesn't cost you much and can pay serious dividends.The drive to Casa de Loire took thirty minutes. Juanita informed me the small airport I would be flying out of was a twenty minute drive, so I had roughly an hour and half with Vincent and his family. When we arrived, Juanita sent Wilma to make a 'walk-around' Vincent's home so she could get the lay of the land as well as keep an eye out for voyeurs.Pamela saved another series of frowns from Juanita by being the first person to the door. Tabitha had called her after all. Tabitha, Vincent's oldest and a Georgetown University senior, clearly didn't know what to make of us, and we weren't making it any easier for her by showing up on her stoop three hours after she had called Pamela.It wasn't going to get better. For starters, Juanita (and the not visible Wilma) had a MP-7A1. Ya know  military-grade weaponry. The door opened halfway. It was Gretchen Loire, the middle daughter."Hello. May I help you?" That wasn't her being uninformed about our imminent arrival. This was the child of an FBI agent allowing a stranger at her door to identify themselves instead of giving them a name to use."I'm Pamela Pile," my mentor answered. "This is Cáel Nyilas, my grandson. The gentleman to his left is my other grandson, Color Sergeant Chaz Tomorrow of the British military. To the left is Juanita Garza, my younger grandson's bodyguard   the one without a gun in his hand. The young lady in back is Odette Sievert, another one of your father's co-workers. The woman beside her is Sibeal Nyilas, Cáel's mother. Don't trust her   long story. A seventh member of our group is checking out your backyard. Her name is Wilma Draper.""You are heavily armed. Is my Da in trouble?""I want to talk to your father, if that is okay with you. I'll let Cáel answer your questions. He's our titular boss."'Thanks Pamela', I groaned inwardly.She was cute, exhausted and emotionally-vulnerable. Eager for answers and for someone to make sense of a world where her anchor   her father   had been nearly killed (not that his wounds had really been life-threatening). I hadn't had sex in over a day and that had only been a tension-breaker quickie with Odette.As we entered, it was obvious that Gretchen and her younger sister, Mariyah, had camped out in the front living room, catching some 'z's' on a recliner and a sofa with light blankets for covers. Mariyah was on the sofa, sitting up on her elbows and struggling to wake up.As Chaz shut the front door, Tabitha came down the stairs."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. Well, I was an infamous celebrity. I even had two Facebook pages (Nyilas Nailed Me! and Az  j Magyarorsz g kir lya (The New King of Hungary)) as well as four Instagram accounts devoted to me."Ms. Loire," I met her halfway and shook her hand."Call me Tabitha.""Call me Cabbage-Head," I grinned. That caught her off guard."Oh, kay, not what I expected." (I get that a lot) "We need to talk," she failed to stifle a grin."If you sleep with any of these girls, I will shoot you," Pamela warned me in Hittite."Excuse me?" Tabitha looked her way."Don't worry about it, Tabitha," Pamela gave her a congenial look. "I simply warned the boy that if he acted inappropriately, I would scar him.""Aren't you engaged?" she turned on me."Yes. Yes I am. Hana is a wonderful woman; beautiful, smart, with a big heart and a serious nature. Sadly for her, I'm a lousy human being, untrustworthy cad and perpetually prone to making bad decisions where women are concerned. Very bad decisions.""Miss, since my associate appears to be eminently capable of mangling the English language, let me help you clarify the situation: Cáel can't say 'no' where a woman is concerned. He can't even say, 'no, please don't hurt me', or 'no, not now. I'm talking to my date'.""Hi. I'm Odette. There are four sane people in this room and I'm one of them.""Says the woman who snuck aboard a transatlantic fight and hid in a place in the galley which you couldn't get out of," Pamela snorted."I got to go to Europe for free," she defiantly perked up. "Oh, and ladies," to the Lorie girls, "your father is a wonderful and brave male. (OK, too much time around the Amazons for her.) "He saved my life in Budapest.""He was in Budapest?" Gretchen."When?" Tabitha."Why?" Mariyah."We need to talk to Vincent  

Send us a textSetting the right ACOS and TACOS goals can make or break your Amazon ad strategy. Learn how to adjust these key metrics for growth and profitability.Stop wasting ad spend! Learn how to run profitable PPC ads with our PPC guide: https://bit.ly/3DLhywd#AmazonAds #AmazonSelling #amazontips Watch these next:More Sales in Early 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JCqAzSn9Tg&list=PLDkvNlz8yl_a1PRDJWRoR4yIM8K5Ft569&index=6Get the Most from Q1 Shoppers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBdW1f7htrw&list=PLDkvNlz8yl_a1PRDJWRoR4yIM8K5Ft569&index=8-----------------------------------------------Struggling with your Amazon listing? Let's fix it!  http://bit.ly/3B1LvHtGet expert advice on growing your Amazon business. Book a call now! http://bit.ly/3B3HMJATimestamps:00:00 - Why ACOS and TACOS Matter00:09 - What is ACOS and Why it Matters00:32 - How to Calculate ACOS for Amazon Ads01:16 - Setting ACOS Goals for Growth vs. Profitability02:00 - The Role of COGS in Ad Strategy02:12 - What is TACOS? ACOS vs. TACOS Explained02:30 - How to Adjust ACOS and TACOS Over Time02:48 - Need Help? Work With My Amazon Guy----------------------------------------------Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show

The game is changing FAST. Walmart is making big moves, AI is reshaping e-commerce, and repricing is more important than ever. In this episode of The Clear the Shelf Podcast, Chris Grant and Chris Racic sit down with Dylan Carter, co-founder of Aura Repricer, to expose the hard truths about: • Walmart's real potential—Is it a game-changer or just hype? • Why Amazon sellers need to rethink their pricing strategy NOW • The AI revolution in e-commerce (and how it's changing the way we sell) • How to use Walmart & Amazon together to scale your business • The hidden risks of moving from Amazon to Walmart too soon Whether you're deep into online arbitrage, retail arbitrage, or wholesale, this episode is packed with insights to help you stay ahead of the competition. -------------------- RESOURCES FOR YOU:

Thinking about selling on Amazon or just getting started? You're not alone in feeling overwhelmed! In this episode, I'm sharing the things real Amazon sellers wish they knew before they started. From hidden costs to the importance of driving traffic to your listings, these are the lessons they learned the hard way—so you don't have to.I also give practical advice on the things you can do to overcome some of the challenges you're likely to face.Whether you're about to launch or are feeling stuck, this episode is packed with insights to help you move forward with confidence.

Send us a textDiscover how small updates to your Amazon listings can drive big results. Learn how to refresh your listings post-holidays, optimize seasonal keywords, and improve click-through rates to stay ahead of the competition this Q1. Learn how to run profitable ads with our Free PPC guide https://bit.ly/3DLhywdWatch these videos next:Increase sales without ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmkufTuvNVg&list=PLDkvNlz8yl_b9RMGmU9XeqkI9D7QDOAI8&index=3SEO insights for success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_UcEnUQVcw&list=PLDkvNlz8yl_b9RMGmU9XeqkI9D7QDOAI8&index=4-------------------------------------------------Need help with your Amazon listing? Get expert answers now http://bit.ly/3B1LvHtTalk to My Amazon Guy and grow your sales today http://bit.ly/3B3HMJATimestamps:00:00 - Small Changes, Big Results on Amazon Listings00:25 - Q1 Reset: Why January Is Crucial00:42 - Refreshing Listings Post-Holiday Season01:17 - Targeting New Year's Resolution Keywords02:03 - Preparing for Valentine's Day Sales03:02 - Transitioning to Spring Sales and Keywords04:50 - Boosting Sales with Tax Refund Season05:13 - Updating Imagery for Seasonal Relevance06:15 - Outperforming the Competition in Q107:34 - Fine-Tuning Listings with ICAP Funnel Analysis08:07 - Testing and Innovating for Future Success-------------------------------------------------Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show

Cáel's tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.In 25 parts, edited from the works of FinalStand.Listen and subscribe to the ► Podcast at Connected..

Send us a textWatch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6mKRIGwdmXs Sellers looking to build a lasting brand on Amazon need to protect themselves from competitors and hijackers. In this video, Steven Pope with Joie Roberts  @joierobertsFearless  explains why having a trademark is essential for every Amazon seller. Learn how trademarks can help you secure your listings, gain access to A+ content, and keep unauthorized sellers from taking over your products.#AmazonBrandProtection #AmazonSellerTips #AmazonTrademark #AmazonHijackersProtect your brand with My Amazon Guy's Brand Registry tools:https://myamazonguy.com/amazon-brand-registry/Fast-track Amazon Brand Registry with My Amazon Guy's trademark service: https://myamazonguy.com/trademark-services/Timestamps:00:00 - The Importance of a Trademark for Amazon Sellers00:15 - Why Amazon Sellers Need Brand Registry00:40 - Benefits of Trademark: A+ Content and Ads01:15 - How a Trademark Stops Hijackers and Counterfeiters01:40 - Protecting Your Product Listings with Branding02:00 - How Trademarks Help Remove Unauthorized SellersFollow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show

In this episode, I sit down with my good friend Yoni Steinschriber, founder of Elev8 Brands and Amazon Expert. We discuss new AI tools that we've been using that changed the game for Amazon Sellers. These AI tools can help with:

Big news today on the Full-Time FBA Show! We are announcing the launch of our daily online arbitrage deal list, OA Success Leads, versions Lion and Tiger. You can get the full scoop for our daily leads lists on this page, but here's the basics: The new OA Success Tiger list provides you with 80 product leads per week, Monday through Friday, that meet our strict sourcing criteria. You'll receive product leads with a minimum profit of $4, usually much higher, and your expected ROI will be at least 35%, often much higher. If you sign up today, you'll be able to lock in the founders' pricing of $200 on this new OA Success list. Every Amazon reseller longs to have a predictable stream of profitable inventory headed to the FBA warehouse, ready to bring in solid profits. No products = No profit. It's as simple as that! How you get the products to resell is totally up to you. You can spend time going from store to store looking for profitable products. You could also browse lots of online websites looking for profitable products. Or, if you prefer saving a TON of time, you could even have profitable product leads sent directly to you every weekday! We would love to help you increase your FBA inventory with OA Success Leads. If you visit the page for OA Success Leads to sign up for the Lion or Tiger list and there are no spots currently available, please be sure to sign up for the wait list. We'll send you a notification when a spot becomes available. We wish you happy sourcing and much OA success! Show Notes for this episode - http://www.fulltimefba.com/255b The Full-Time FBA Podcast Page - http://www.fulltimefba.com/podcast Subscribe to the Full-Time FBA Newsletter and get some helpful freebies - http://www.fulltimefba.com/    

On average, every Amazon seller is owed between 1-3% of ALL SALES back from Amazon in lost reimbursements.   These are funds that most sellers will never collected UNLESS they are constantly staying on top of all owed reimbursements from loss, damage, misplaced etc. inventory at Amazon FBA.   Wouldn't it be cool if there was a company that charged you NOTHING to find all those reimbursements and get you the cash you're owed?   Better yet, what if you could try them out and never pay them a penny out of pocket? (They only get paid a small cut when they find your money!)   GETIDA is that service - and if you use this link to sign up FOR FREE:   SilentJim.com/reimburse   ...then, they have $400 in free reimbursements for you right now! They'll never charge you a penny for their services and you can drop out anytime - no commitment necessary!   This really is a no brainer for anyone selling more than a few hundred dollars per month on Amazon.   On today's podcast episode, I talk about the beauty of AMAZON RESELLING, the future of the Amazon selling business models and the elegant service created by GETIDA that puts more money in YOUR POCKET while never costing you a dime!   Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/muodLwb-Lnc   Show note LINKS:    https://TheProvenConference.com - It's not too late to attend our May 23-25th 2024 live event in Orlando! Nearly 800 registered to attend! Some tickets remain, and livestream is less than $1 per session (and you get ALL event recordings!) Get the latest cutting edge ideas from our top performing students for less than $1 per session! Hurry though - when the event starts the price goes WAY up   Proven Amazon Course - https://ProvenAmazonCourse.com - Are you ready to be successful selling on Amazon? It's time to get instant access to the most widely used, most up to date, most creative and industry leading course in the "Learn to sell on Amazon" space. You'll find hundreds of recent success stories in our Free Facebook group from Amazon sellers using all manner of creative strategies from our ridiculously inexpensive yet powerful course!   My Silent Team Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam 100% FREE! Join 75,000 + members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world   Getida  http://silentjim.com/reimburse  - the free service that finds money Amazon owes you

We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, interview someone you need to hear from and provide a training tip for the week. Amazon's new Big Spring Sale is coming March 20-25—here's everything you need to know to shop deals on spring essentials https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-big-spring-sale-faq Amazon now lets sellers create listings through a URL by using AI https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/13/amazon-now-lets-sellers-create-listings-through-a-url-by-using-ai/ Exclusive: The FTC is probing Amazon's new controversial fees in its $140 billion seller business https://fortune.com/2024/03/08/ftc-amazon-seller-fees-inbound-placement-low-inventory-antitrust/ Everything you need to know about Amazon Business, one of Amazon's fastest-growing ventures https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/what-is-amazon-business NEW Store Spotlight format - Custom Image links to store subpages!! Also on the docket is Kevin King's upcoming free live strategy webinar which promises to be an invaluable resource for Amazon sellers of all levels. Discover new earning avenues with Helium 10, and get the scoop on the expanded day-parting schedules for ads that could change how you place your ads based on time-of-day performance data. Plus our training tips of the week talk about how to use the Helium 10 Profits tool's Expenses tab and the Inventory Heat Maps tool. Don't miss out on these insights that could make all the difference to your e-commerce success.  In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers: 00:56 - Amazon Big Spring Sale 02:20 - Amazon AI Listing Tool 03:24 - FTC Investigating Fees 04:44 - 2 Factor Sign On 05:35 - Amazon Business 06:53 - New AD Type 07:34 - Meltable Inventory 08:31 - Live Webinar with Kevin King 09:32 - New Feature Alerts 13:15 - Pro Training Tip: Profits Expenses Tab & Inventory Heat Maps ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Transcript Bradley Sutton: A non-Prime Day event was announced by Amazon. You can use Amazon AI to create your listings. If you've got a website. Soon, you have to use two-factor sign-in for signing into Seller Central. These stories and more on today's episode of the Helium 10 Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Series Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 Weekly Buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the new stories and going on in the Amazon, Walmart, and e-commerce world. We let you know what new tools and features Helium 10 has come out with and we give you training tips of the week that will give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing Couple news articles that might be of note, and something that just kind of came out of left field that I didn't even know about was that Amazon has this sale event that's coming up out of nowhere next week.   Bradley Sutton: It's not really a prime day, but it's kind of like a prime day. It's called the Big Spring Sale. It's going from March 20th to 25th. Now, I haven't been paying much attention to announcements. As far as deals and my deals dashboard, was there something announced about this? Could be, but maybe I missed it, my bad. But basically this is not a Prime Day because it's not only for prime members. Now, some prime people get exclusive discounts on some things, but this is the very first ever event of its kind and there's going to be all kinds of different discounts. Amazon says here People are going to be able to shop these deals at Amazon.com forward slash big spring sale starting on March 20th. Now again, I don't know too many details about this, but Amazon is really pushing this out. It was all over the news. So even if you didn't jump in and run a deal during this time, well, first of all, you might be able, you might want to do some kind of deal during the 20th to 25th or, at the very least, be on the lookout for increased traffic during this time, all right, so it might be a time to do a coupon if you were so inclined, or might want to check your PPC budgets a little closer, just in case there's a lot of extra traffic that might be happening due to Amazon promoting this event.   Bradley Sutton: Next article is from TechCrunch and it's entitled Amazon now let sellers create listings through a URL by using AI. All right, so in the list your products basically let's say you haven't sold on Amazon before, or at least you haven't sold a certain product Instead of just putting the name of the product in the search bar. You know, like normal, let's say you've got a Shopify website or your own.com website where that product is listed, you can paste the URL of your product into the Amazon Create Listing page and it's going to use generative AI to kind of like extract the details of the listing and create like a description for you. So it's interesting, you know, if you're somebody who trusts AI a lot for this kind of thing, this is a completely free service. From what I understand, it might be worth a try. So I know Amazon really wants to promote off Amazon brands, to get on Amazon. I think that this is one of those things that could definitely help them.   Bradley Sutton: On the flip side of Amazon news, fortune.com is reporting that the FTC is probing Amazon's new controversial fees in its $140 billion seller business. All right, so this is the fees we've been talking about on this show for the last few weeks, and so many sellers are in an uproar. First of all, don't forget, guys, check back on our weekly buzz. The last couple of weeks, we show how it's not as bad for many sellers as it seems to be due to the reduced FBA fees. But, yeah, like there's some serious stuff going on, especially for those people who are doing pallets and truckloads and containers and things like that. I'm seeing people having to pay thousands of dollars more for shipping. Now the funny thing is, what have I been saying for like a year about this FTC case? The FTC case is like full of nonsense that not one Amazon seller could care less about. They think that they were pulling a gotcha on Amazon for this, that and this, and literally they have no clue how Amazon sellers feel, because there are so many other things that Amazon sellers are concerned about, the things that the FTC was trying to like focus in on. However, that being said, for the first time, hey, this is something that is concerning to Amazon sellers, and so it's going to be interesting how this plays out. For the first time, the FTC might actually have something that Amazon sellers are worried about, and so let's see how this investigation pans out.   Bradley Sutton: Next article is from your Seller Central dashboard and it's entitled to factor authentication will be required for Seller Central sign in. Some of you guys have that already, but this is going to go in on March 28th and you're going to have to use a mobile number or authenticator app to do it. All right, so this, guys, is is, in my opinion, highly recommended even before March 28th. There's so much like hacking going on out there and password hacking and things like that. I think on most critical websites, especially your Seller Central account, you should have two factor authentication. On matter of fact, you should have two factor authentication on a helium 10. All right, guys, you know the helium 10 always has that available. So if you don't have that on Seller Central or helium 10, go in there, turn on two factor authentication to keep your accounts secure.   Bradley Sutton: Next article is from Amazon. Now, this was interesting to me because it says everything you need to know about Amazon business, one of Amazon's fastest growing ventures. All right, so I think most of us have known about the Amazon business program, where you can kind of, or businesses who are registered with Amazon, when they shop, they have a little bit different experience. They can get like quantity discounts and just business discounts and they see different things. It actually reached $35 billion of sales in 2023. All right, so this is quite interesting. This article goes on and say more than 6 million customers are now buying on Amazon business. This includes small and medium sized companies, and also Fortune 100 companies use Amazon business, such as Intel and City and John Hopkins University, et cetera. Now if you want to get more information to see, are your listings, are you enrolled in Amazon business? You know what's going on there. Just just going to Seller Central guys and type in Amazon business and you'll go to this dashboard where it talks about the Amazon business Seller program, all right, and has a whole bunch of frequently asked questions, tons of details about the ins and outs of this program. But it's kind of a surprise. It was kind of surprising to me to find out that that is actually one of the fastest growing programs that Amazon has.   Bradley Sutton: Next article is not really an article, just a post from Destaney's LinkedIn, where she discovered, or her team discovered, a new ad format. All right. So this is something that she says combines the traditional sponsored brand format of showcASINg three ASINS with a custom image, but also layering them in the value out of a store, spotlight add and the sub page navigation and she put here a sample of that where you can see like the different links here in that custom image. So that is going to be interesting if this is going to be rolled out to everybody. Has anybody actually had access to this and been able to test it out? Let me know. In the comments below Last article, something that we have now reported on, I think four years in a row that's how long we've been doing the weekly buzz. Always around this time of year the same little article comes out, just as a reminder. So I'm just going to go ahead and throw it out there again.   Bradley Sutton: By April 15th, guys, you have to remove multiple inventory from Amazon. Now, a funny thing is is when I was typing out, the little ticker that you see here on the side, meltable, doesn't seem to be a word that my spell checker understands, like I always thought meltables are. Anyways, I digress, meltable is a word to Amazon and you should know what your multiple inventory is Heat-sensitive products, you know, chocolate, gummies, jelly and wax based products. You have to get those out from April 15th to October 15th or else Amazon's going to toss it All right. So just make sure to go ahead and take care of that. All right.   Bradley Sutton: One thing I wanted to give you guys a heads up on is that Kevin King is doing a live strategy session. He hasn't done this in probably over a year from helium 10. It's going to be a live webinar and you guys can actually tune in. H 10.me forward slash Kevin King live. All right, so you can register there. H 10.me forward slash Kevin King live 100% free webinar that he's giving on March 21st, Thursday at 9am. All right, this is so important. I'm going to be doing it at midnight from the Philippines. I'm going to be on the webinar with him and he's going to give such strategies as two proven techniques to make a million dollar main image, seven AI tools Every Amazon seller should be familiar with and a lot more high level strategy. So, regardless what level Amazon seller you are, make sure to register for that workshop. h10.me/kevinkinglive.   Bradley Sutton: Let's go ahead and hop into the Helium 10 New Feature Alerts of the week. The first one is a way to make money now with helium 10. Just as a regular user. There's two different ways, all right. The first way is you guys can actually go to your dashboard and on the on the very right hand side where it has your name. Might be hard to see it here on my window, but if you click on your name on the right hand side of helium 10, you're going to see a button that says become an affiliate, all right. So that's, if you have, like a community or you know, YouTube channel and you think you've got people who are, who are following you out there, well, becoming an affiliate, you could get 25% commission for life, all right. So somebody clicks on your ad for helium 10 or a video or a link that you put out for helium 10. They sign up for helium 10. You don't even know who they are. You've never talked to them and you never talked to them again for the rest of your life, four years from now. If they're paying helium 10, a hundred bucks a month, guess what? You're getting a check for $25 every single month for life, all right. So that's a pretty cool thing. There's also, for some reason it's not in my account, but I think most everybody else if you click on that your name you also have something that says refer a friend or something like that, or refer a customer, where it's not an affiliate whole plan. But if you just have, you know, like a buddy who wants to start learning Amazon, you want to get him started. In the freedom ticket program you can get discounts on your own membership by signing people up. So there's two new ways to make money with helium 10 becoming an affiliate or doing the customer referral. So again, check that out on the right hand side of your dashboard.   Bradley Sutton: Next update is in our tool inventory management. All right, so something that people have wanted for a long time is the ability to have multiple warehouses, multiple 3PLs A lot of people they have, they don't have or they're not like me, and they have all of their inventory in one warehouse. They might have a East Coast warehouse, a Texas warehouse, a West Coast warehouse. Well, now, if you go to your inventory, you're going to have the ability to add multiple warehouses. So it's right here on your warehouses page, you can add as many as you want and then put the specify the inventory that is in each of those warehouses and then, basically, when you send inventory to Amazon, you choose which warehouse is coming from. The inventory is going to be drawn out from there. So remember, last week we announced that we now have inventory management for all of the European marketplaces. Well, now we have multi warehouse management for this tool. Anything else that you guys would want for inventory management, please let us know.   Bradley Sutton: Last Helium 10 New Feature Alert is in atomic and it's our day parting schedules now released for all ad types. And then it's also across all of North America, all of Europe and all of Asia. All right, so you can look at your sponsored product, sponsored brand and even sponsored display, heat day parting, like heat maps if you were. So that's like. Here I can see, hey, for my whole account. Oh, my goodness, my a-cost at 3 am Is absolutely abysmal. You know, maybe I want to turn off my ads or lower my bids at that time, but hey, my a-cost at this other time might be pretty good. Maybe I want to increase my bids, maybe I want to pause my bids, maybe I want to increase my budgets. All these things that you want to do, you need to do it based on information, and so what helium 10 is showing you is the performance of your PPC by Time, hour of the day and by day of the week, and even by your Campaign. So make sure to check that out. If you have atomic day parting across all marketplaces, all ad types. All right, let's get into our training tip of the week. There's actually two things you know.   Bradley Sutton: Thinking about the Amazon fees, I think that a lot of sellers are very conscious about, hey, I need to save pennies wherever I can. I need to know where my money is going. So there's a couple things that I want to show you that every single helium 10 member has, whether you have platinum or diamond, or even if you have the starter plan. All right, so these tools are in profits. Now the first thing I'm going to show you is your expenses, all right.   Bradley Sutton: So did you know that with it, just a couple of clicks, you can find out how much you are paying Amazon per month, like, for example, my FBA fee charge for storage in February last month? I can see right here is a hundred and eleven dollars. That was actually up by forty dollars over the previous month. If I'm wondering which are my products that are getting those storage fees, I just hit that button for the February month and I can see at the ASIN level everything that I am paying storage on. I can see Wow, I got fifty dollars worth of storage for these bat bath mats that I just launched. All right, kind of sucks I shouldn't have, maybe. I'm like why do they have to pay fifty dollars? When I just launched it? You know How's that, but whatever, if I think it's right or wrong, at least I have visibility and I'm not just throwing money at Amazon Without knowing where it's going. All right. So make sure to check that out and then, as you guys might have seen from my workshop last week that, or a few days ago that we did you have a way to automate this where, if you're getting more storage fees or more refunds, things like that, you can actually Automate this alert and have helium 10 let you know that your storage fees are going up. All right, so that's on your insights dashboard. One more thing that is going to help, like when you're launching and help me when I was launching is Are the heat maps inside of helium 10? All right?   Bradley Sutton: So, for any of your products, if you are just about to launch, you might want to make sure that your inventory is Distributed across the country. So the way you can do that is go down to one of your product tables like I'll go ahead and pull it up here for the bat bath Matt and then you want to hit inventory maps. Okay, and then now you're going to see the map of everywhere where your inventory is, and I can see here. I don't even have any in Texas, maybe they. That seems weird to me. You know Austin has some of the most bats in the world. Why don't they send any inventory to Austin? You know, for for my bat shaped coffin mat, but tons of inventory here in New Jersey, more inventory in Maryland, over here, Utah and Florida, and then I could also see my sales distribution based on certain times of the of the month, or I can look at it at the state level, or in the past week, in the past month, whatever, and I can see wow, okay, I've got a lot of sales in Florida during this couple day time period, so maybe that's why there's they sent so much of my inventory to Florida. So make sure to check out those heat maps.   Bradley Sutton: Sometimes, when you're launching a product, you want to wait until Amazon distributes that inventory a little bit more evenly across the country, so you might have your maybe listing closed for a couple days until they distribute it more. And then that's when you turn on your PPC. Well, instead of being blind about where Amazon has distributed your inventory or trying to find some hard to find report inside of seller central. Just go into profits. Go into inventory heat maps and see every single warehouse when your inventory is across the country. All right, guys. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. That's all for the news and feature alerts. Make sure to tune in next week to see what's buzzing.

Join me as we dissect the strategic forays of Apple and Amazon into AI, analyzing their concerted endeavors seamlessly integrated into every facet of Amazon's vast array of divisions. Invest in AI Box: https://Republic.com/ai-box Get on the AI Box Waitlist: https://AIBox.ai/ AI Facebook Community

In this episode, I explore Apple and Amazon's monumental commitment to AI, delving into their synchronized efforts permeating every division within the Amazon ecosystem. Invest in AI Box: https://Republic.com/ai-box Get on the AI Box Waitlist: https://AIBox.ai/ AI Facebook Community

In this riveting episode, we delve into how tech giants Apple and Amazon are making groundbreaking strides in integrating AI into every facet of their operations, with Amazon notably incorporating AI innovations across all its divisions. Discover the transformative impacts of these initiatives on the tech landscape, and what this deep dive into AI means for the future of consumer experiences. Get on the AI Box Waitlist: ⁠https://AIBox.ai/⁠ Investor Contact Email: jaeden@aibox.ai Facebook Community: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/739308654562189/⁠⁠ Discord Community: ⁠https://aibox.ai/discord⁠ Download Selfpause: ⁠https://selfpause.com/Podcast⁠ Follow me on Twitter... er... X.com: ⁠https://twitter.com/jaeden_ai⁠

In this episode, we have Chris McCabe to share his expertise. In fact Chris launched ecommerceChris where he teaches sellers how to think like Amazon, protect their accounts, and appeal listing restrictions and suspensions. Christ shares his vast knowledge and experience on how to deal and navigate and know more about the platform Amazon. He also shares the kind of sellers Amazon wants, his mistake predictions this 2023 and tips to confidently succeed and avoid mistakes.    In This Episode: [00:50] Welcoming Chris McCabe,Former Amazonian that helps sellers communicate with Amazon to protect (and save) their business. [01:45] How easy/hard it is to start Amazon now. [07:22] Seller Performance, most Amazon mistakes. [09:00] Appeal, troubleshooting Amazon problems. [10:50] What kind of sellers does Amazon want? [13:20] Intellectual property. [15:40] Invoices, documentations. [24:15] 2023 mistakes predictions, What to be aware of. [31:40] Advice.   Guest Links and References: Email: chris@ecommercechris.com; support@ecommercechris.com Podcast: https://www.sellerperformancesolutions.com/ Conference: https://www.sellervelocityconference.com/ LinkdIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-mccabe-2646555/   Book References: Working Backwards by Colin Bryar et al. The Octopus by Frank Norris Lying for Money by Dan Davis   Links and References: Wizards of Amazon: https://www.wizardsofecom.com/ Wizards of Amazon Courses: https://wizardsofamazon.mykajabi.com/a/27566/x6Kwkz6p Wizards of Amazon Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/South-Florida-FBA/ Wizards of Amazon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WizardsofAmazon/ Wizards of Amazon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wizardsofecom/  

Every Amazon seller wants to find as much profitable and in-demand inventory to sell as possible, and today on The Full-Time FBA Show we are giving you our top two secrets to do just that. Listening today, you'll hear about how making two tweaks to your sourcing guidelines can open up an opportunity for you to find even more inventory that is both profitable and in demand. We even tell you the number one way to buy items at the absolute lowest price possible and give you some resources to learn about how to buy items at wholesale cost. You don't want to miss out on these incredible two secrets to help you increase inventory and grow your business! Show Notes for this episode - http://www.fulltimefba.com/176 The Full-Time FBA Podcast Page - http://www.fulltimefba.com/podcast Subscribe to the Full-Time FBA Newsletter and get some helpful freebies - http://www.fulltimefba.com/    

00:00 Amazon changing the FBA rules00:12 Email from Amazon - Simplifying FBA capacity limits for your business00:16 In summary Amazon's raising fees00:25 Effective March 1, 2023, they are replacing the weekly restock  limit and the monthly storage limit01:30 A single month-long FBA capacity limit02:25 The death 2-day Prime became 5-day prime since July of last year02:30 Estimated capacity limits to help you plan three months in advance 04:18 The opportunity to request a higher limit06:18 Amazon is going to charge to reserve extra capacity07:48 Check out the Help File for Capacity Manager08:16 FBA capacity limits in volume (vs. units) to better reflect your capacity usage10:55 Amazon won't count the open shipments against sellers11:24 Over fees are calculated based on the highest estimated order or confirmed limit11:47 Sign up for My Refund Guy

In this Sellernomics episode, we talk about Organic Optimization & Tools Every Amazon Sellers Should Use with Peter Eickholt of ROI Swift. Want to increase your visibility and boost your sales on Amazon? In this video, Peter Eickholt of ROI Swift shares his expert tips and strategies for organic optimization and the tools every Amazon seller should be using. You'll learn how to optimize your listings, drive more traffic to your products, and ultimately increase your sales. From keyword research to product analysis, Peter will teach you how to use these powerful tools to take your Amazon business to the next level. Don't miss out on this valuable information and start seeing real results today! Keywords: Amazon, e-commerce, organic optimization, tools, Peter Eickholt, ROI Swift, keyword research, product analysis, visibility, sales, online marketplace. #PeterEickholt #ROISwift

In this episode, Carlos Pereira (@cegapereira) of Bitkraft Ventures and Callum explore the Web3 gaming industry, looking at what the future holds and what sort of teams are going to build it. Carlos is a Partner at Bitkraft Ventures, a global investment platform for gaming, Web3, and immersive technology. Social Links Carlos on Twitter (@cegapereira) Callum / The Web3 Podcast on Twitter (@callumwooders) The Web3 Podcast Website Carlos' Recommendations Invest Like The Best Podcast w/ Patrick O'Shaughnessy Arthur Hayes Howard Marks' 'Oak Tree Letters' Every Amazon's Letter To Shareholders From 1997 to Today Four Steps To Epiphany by Steve Blank (with a redbull or two!)

Cáel’s tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.By FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the podcast at Steamy Stories.Victory in battle is a matter of skill. Victory in war is a matter of persistence.(Tuesday)Aya followed me to Medical for my daily checkup. It seemed I was no longer to be trusted with my welfare. Aya found the visit fascinating; not because it was new. Because she knew so many of the personnel. That sucked. The frisky doctor took care of me with the bonus of a little exchange with Aya.“He’s got a really big ‘thing’,” Aya chirped. I was suddenly wishing Elsa had given me a concussion.“Oh, I know,” the doctor smiled at Aya.“He’s quite proficient too. Loraine said he has had over 150 sexual encounters and he’s so good he gets stabbed a lot,” Aya related. I wasn’t sure how one led to the other, though they did.“Do you like having sex with women, Cáel?” the doctor teased me.“Not when I’m sleeping,” I sighed.“I keep him safe when he’s sleeping,” Aya provided. “Its real serious work.”“Aya sleeps in your bed?” the doctor was a tad bit suspicious.“To be specific, she sleeps on top of me, like a bear cub on a Momma Bear,” I informed her.“He’s my Daddy Bear,” Aya piped up.“What does your real Momma Bear think of that?” the doctor poked playfully.“She wants him to be my Daddy Bear too,” Aya beamed kittens and rainbows.“Oh, I bet she does,” the doctor gave me a playful wink. Sex.“This is all great, but I’m getting a bit uncomfortable and would like to flee to the dubious safety of work,” I mumbled.“All done,” Doc said then patted my cock.Oddly, that was one of the only two places on my body that hadn’t been clobbered; my face being the other. They wanted me pleasing to the eye and sperm-functional. I dressed and crutch-walked away. At the elevator door, Brielle and her friend were waiting.“Guarding you is going to be a full-time job,” Aya took my hand and looked up at me.She saw the lascivious look those two were shooting my way.“You brought a child to defend you?” Brielle teased me as the elevator headed up.“It worked, didn’t it?” I countered.“Aya stand in the corner and cover your eyes,” the companion directed.“Sorry…I apologize, but I can’t do that,” Aya said defiantly. “He’s my bed buddy.” That earned me some looks.“Jeesh ladies, give me some credit,” I groaned. “She’s nine.”“Ugh…fine,” Brielle relented. “So Aya, what’s he like in bed?”“Warm and he smells wonderful,” Aya sighed dreamily. I was getting dreamy looks from the other two, but most likely a very different dream. “And he hugs me before I go to sleep and the first thing when I wake up.”“Fine Aya,” Brielle’s eye sparkled. “How about I trade you a band of 'honor gold’ for a night with Cáel?”“I can’t do that,” Aya reasoned. “He’s the only Daddy I have. I think he is the only Daddy any of us have.” Thank God the elevator opened on my floor. The philosophic elements of this conversation had become way too convoluted. I was the last one of us to get to Katrina’s office which seemed to amuse Katrina.“Cáel, you have the day off,” Katrina informed me. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”“Oh, I’m not here to work. I’m here as your newest hire’s - Aya’s - lap-monkey,” I replied gravely.“Very well. Aya, stand in line with the others to receive your work review and assignments,” Katrina ordered calmly. Aya took her spot next to Violet.Aya nearly cried when she got my work review for Monday. Apparently I had done the equivalent of threatening World peace, or created a tidal wave generator that swamped the Maldives.“Look on the bright side,” Violet patted Aya’s shoulder. “You can’t do worse.”“How does it feel to know you will be less productive than a child?” Fabiola taunted me.“It is nothing new,” I snickered. “After all, I’ve been working with you for a whole week.” This insult was compounded by the other five girls snickering at the jest. Aya didn’t get it and Katrina was undoubtedly laughing on the inside.“I’m going to get you,” Fabiola ground her teeth.“Come on,” I sighed to Fabiola, “it was a joke meant to give a little levity before charging off to your days.”“Well, don’t mock me,” Fabiola snapped.“But it is so easy,” Paula giggled. Fabiola turned on her.“Enough,” Katrina demanded gracefully. She handed out assignments and the group departed. Aya had my job from yesterday. She also had Katrina’s Nerf gun. Seconds after the first incoming bolt, Aya decided she loved working at Havenstone. After my fellow Executive Services sisters discovered that I had a secondary gunner, they began to triple team us in true Amazon fashion.Aya countered by building a fort using sofa cushions. She’d also scamper out and round up spent darts every time her work queue was filled. To change things up, and gain a lesson in simple tactics, Aya would move furniture around the office. When a woman, or women, would pop in to shoot me, Aya would shoot at them from an ambushing angle.Honestly, for a warrior culture, these ladies were remarkably fooled by a pile of towels on Katrina’s sofa - hiding a miniature sniper. Lunch came by way of Buffy and Dora. I had a feeling that Buffy was still stung by Daphne’s betrayal. Watching Aya try to stare down Buffy was both amusing and a tad chilling. I was going to have to do something about her frustration.After Katrina released us, I pleaded with Desiree to entertain her niece - Aya, while I went to grab a few drinks with 'the guys’. The club they chose screamed overly-pretentious, overly-privileged and insanely over-priced. I didn’t have the Class Ring, or Mummy/Daddy’s bank account to go to a place like this. I had a sudden unsettling feeling.I double-checked my bank account. I had around two grand squirreled away when I got the job with Havenstone and I knew that cache had to be running dry. I checked it and I had over five grand. Unless banks had radically altered interest rates, somebody was propping me up financially. Barring a rich girlfriend, I had a rich girl friend. Every guy I knew and liked was as poor as me.I hobbled in on my crutches, drawing some stares. No one called out, or recognized me, so the general snobbish assumption was that I was a person who didn’t 'fit in’. A few more hobbles forward and the looks began to change. My suit was tailored, I was an impressive physical specimen and exuded a charisma that implied 'eminently fuckable’.Felix, Trent and Brian were polite enough to turn my way though they didn’t call out. They hadn’t grabbed a side booth, or a place at the bar. No, we had a table sans chair in the middle of the place because I had a bum leg and crutches - sadistic fuck-nuts. My first introduction was almost comical.“Hey, Jared, isn’t it?” some stranger tapped my shoulder.Did he know me? No. His current female work-in-progress had noticed me and kept noticing me so he was playing the humiliation game. Fake intro - 'shocked’ I wasn’t who he thought I was - the revelation I wasn’t from a Top Ten school - belittle me to his potential lady.“No, Jared was my brother,” I sighed. “You didn’t know? He died in a jet-ski accident three weeks ago. Where you two close?”“Ah…” dumbass stuttered.“I am sorry to hear about your loss,” the girl spoke up. “Were you and your brother close?” She had a Columbia ring, three years back on a gold chain around her neck.“He was my twin,” I mumbled. I leaned against our table and turned away (masking my grief it could be assumed).She left Dumbass’ table and came over to mine. By the looks of my three buddies, they were floored. In less than one minute, I had my arm around a stacked, pretty redhead who was rubbing her hands over my chest. My plan crystalized. I had to let someone bump into me, grunt in pain then have this nice lady - Nicole - take me to the rest rooms.Once in that back hallway, it was a stumble and a bump into a stall in the ladies room and a quick sexual encounter. A junior corporate lawyer named Stevenson provided the catalyst. He was more apologetic to Nicole, but she was getting angrily maternal over me, my pain and grief. She blew Stevenson off and helped me to the restroom area.Of course, I was 'sure’ I could take care of everything by myself. Two stumbles later, she was insisting she take me to the men’s room. I argued with her rather firmly. She couldn’t come with me. After all, there were usually only one or two stalls and I didn’t want to embarrass her. Nicole’s inspiration was to take me to the women’s room where there were plenty of stalls.I begged her to let me go into the stall alone - despite my obvious discomfort and agony. She overrode my concerns and joined me. She took off my pants, my cock sang out 'hallelujah’ and Nicole was mesmerized. I told her I found her attractive and hadn’t had sex in a while. Nicole began administering a blowjob.There were no 'uh’s and 'ah’s. That would be selling it in the wrong direction. I went the other way. I gritted my teeth and made as little noise as possible. When she finally broke down and asked if what she was doing felt good. I hissed out a 'yes’ then explained how I didn’t want to embarrass her with my vocalizations.The resulting victorious smile and follow-up question were foregone conclusions. 'Yes, I did have a condom’. The girl wasn’t stupid. She didn’t ask me if I wanted to have sex. I had her where I wanted her - wanting sex - and she knew I wanted her. Clothes were lain over the toilet seat - the floors looked clean but still - and we got down to business.Once Nicole decided she wanted intercourse, I took over. I had her one knee on the toilet, one leg on the floor and both hands against the back of the stall wall while I thrust into her from behind. She was huffing like a steam locomotive as I was pistoning into her gushing depths. Unable to do cunnilingus this time, I continuously wedged two fingers into the tight intrusion of my cock pumping her pussy and pulled out two coated digits.At first, I noisily sucked them clean. Nicole figured out what I was up to and wanted in on the action, licking her own vaginal fluids off my fingers. Her first climax had her hissing like a pit of vipers and beating one fist against the porcelain wall tiles.In the interim, with a bit of friendly finger play, I had discovered Nicole was a fully accessible sex partner. I let my cock slowly withdraw, rubbing her vaginal walls in all the right places as I did. I was setting her up for the surprise. I pressed my large, pulsing cockhead against her sphincter and started pushing in sans preparation on her part.“Too much?” I whispered. Yes it was. We both knew it. This was a sexual gauntlet I was tossing down. How vigorous was she willing to go? Nicole was a hard-charging, go-getter for who life was a series of challenges. My words weren’t an act of compassion - they were a dare. She could back out, or she could take my sizable rod up her unprepared butthole.“Don’t hold anything back,” she gasped. We twisted, turned our necks as far as possible and entered a deep, tongue twisting kiss. In the midst of that, I began pushing in. Nicole was no anal virgin; that was a certainty. Equally certain was the pain she was going through as I drove all the way down. Her rectum was stretched out, her hips and buttocks were trembling and she was sweating up a storm.She was in pain and loving it. Not out of some masochistic fit, but because she’d confronted a personal test and triumphed. All the while, we remained lip-locked. I soaked up her moans of pleasure, groans of pain and the combination of both when I was done. Only when I completed her anal penetration, did I relax my pressure and let her adjust.Nicole was the one who initiated picking up the pace. Again, I took over, upping our tempo until I was slamming into her rectum with all my might. Nicole was coming like glacial melt, tearing off huge chunks of her resolve every time she orgasmed. A few chicks peeked through the stall door to make sure I wasn’t murdering her.I filled up the condom in her ass, earning me one last caged squeal. Nicole really was a vocal treasure. She could really keep the noise down when needed. Four fucking orgasms in eleven minutes - I am a sex god. Nicole and I cleaned up. She couldn’t stop smiling at me.“I hope I’ve helped you deal with the loss of your brother,” she purred as she snuggled against my chest.“I’m an only child, Nicole. All that twin thing was for the Dick-head who was hitting on you and decided to make a mockery of me with the whole 'you went to a loser school’ thing,” I told her.“Oh…” she digested that. Sexual aftershocks helped her decide she didn’t care. They never do.“Where did you go to school?” she asked as we finished cleaning up at the sink - with three other women.“Bolingbrook in New Hampshire,” I grinned. “I live in a small, five room apartment, with my roommate in lower-middle class neighborhood, I don’t have a car - I have a bike.”“That’s good because I absolutely love biking, on and off-road,” I kept going. “I work at Havenstone Commercial Investments making a quarter million a year starting out plus a 'Gold level’ benefits package. Mom’s gone. My Dad is a working stiff, scoured by the elements most days, his sister works on a crab boat and that’s my lineage. I’m Cáel Nyilas, by the way.”“Do you like picking up rich, successful women from well-heeled families?” Nicole and the other women blatantly listening in studied me.“Normally you couldn’t have dragged me into an establishment like this,” I chuckled. “This isn’t my crowd. Three of the new male hires at Havenstone invited me out for some after-work drinks and they chose this place.”“Is that the whole 'class warfare’ thing?” one woman, African-American, accused me. Sigh.“I’m far more concerned with labor and land rights riots in China, gender unrest in India, the rise of religious fundamentalism all around the globe and receding polar ice caps than the anemic class struggles going on inside the United States,” I engaged her.That shut them up.“What about a Free Tibet?” an Asian cutie interjected. My bet was Myanmar.“Go to a few rallies, buy a bumper sticker then pat yourself on the back and delude yourself that you are doing something,” I shrugged.“Inside 50 years you are looking at Tibetan cultural annihilation. It is a numbers game. Keep adding Han Chinese into the population and Tibet ceases to exist outside of a few history books,” I explained. “If you want to make a difference, recruit up nine friends, gather a war chest of a million dollars and take six month of intensive weapons and arctic survival courses.”“Sneak over the border into Tibet. Attack Chinese settlers, firebomb Chinese-owned shops and ambush PLA patrols. Cross back over to Nepal for resupply and reinforcements. Create an insurgency large enough to gather real media and governmental attention,” I told them. “Otherwise you are wasting everyone’s time.”“Violence is not the answer,” a blonde joined the fun. Yes, I can be standing in a women’s rest room without drawing outrage. Nicole was hanging all over me.“How about this: give me your purse so I can take all your money, your ATM card and your PIN number?” I requested of the blonde. She took a step back.“Okay, I’m going to ask you for that again, and if you don’t give it to me, I’ll ask a third time,” I continued and I did just that - asking a third time. “Congratulations, you have the China - Free Tibet debate. If there was any doubt,” I pointed to the blonde, “you are China.”“It is not like that,” the Blonde insisted.“Why not? China is using Tibet as land to put their expanding population on that doesn’t involve emigration - a reduction in the tax base,” I reasoned. “Therefore, Tibet has value. You are offering nothing of value to the PRC, expecting them to give you something they value, for free? How rational is that?”“That’s crazy,” Myanmar chick stated. “Nonviolent protest works.”“I agree,” I nodded. “It needs to be truly passionate to achieve its ends.” Translation: I didn’t believe it worked, but clearly these babes believed in it and getting snitty about some belief system I didn’t really care about wasn’t going to get me into their panties.Pleased that they had impressed their enlightened approach to life, the other women let Nicole help me struggle back to my table. We managed to exchange digits and for her to give me her business card - cool, she was a criminal defense attorney with a firm that had five names and Esquire attached to the end.They also had offices here, in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Hong Kong, London and Berlin. Nicole deposited me back with my 'buddies’ who had sprouted some girl pals in my absence. Introductions went around. Nicole did a wave, winked at me then went off to her own clique of pals. Seconds after she joined up, there were multiple lusty looks from her group aimed my way.Not every lady is looking for a commitment. For some, a hook-up hits the spot and they were not particularly jealous about sharing in their adventures. Nicole was going to go home, a smile on her lips, take a nice hot bath and go to bed worry-free. Her company was envious and planning how to get their own piece of my unworthy hide.Fucking Nicole into a transcendent state didn’t earn me a place in their 'educational elites only’ world. That wouldn’t keep them out of my bed, only someone they wouldn’t mention to their parents. I didn’t care. I wouldn’t care unless they became clingy. Then I would have to parade her friends and colleagues past her as sexual conquests until she got the message that turning a guy into her 'dirty little secret’ was doubly unfortunate.Mind you, having a pair of wandering eyes myself, I had never enforced monogamy on any girl I’d ever been with. Deep down I was always looking for 'the one’, I assumed that my sex partners were too and I never held that against them for looking somewhere else when I was clearly not the one for them. My sense of fair play rarely translated over to understanding on their part.Back to my little crowd. From the start, I know we were all freaking gorgeous men. We were also bright and well-educated (though the rest thought I was a bumpkin). Having ladies stop by was a veritable given. How we handled it was multifaceted.Brain Fung was a 'one foot out the window’ kind of guy. He led off with how engaged he was, how wonderful his fiancé was and finished up with how arranged the marriage was. See, this gave him an out with every women he scored with. He was engaged, yet he was unhappy with the arrangement so some lucky girl might convince him to re-chart his course.It would never happen. Brian thought too much of himself to be romanced. Besides, he had a five, ten and twenty year plan. The Prick shouldn’t have joined Havenstone. His fiancé was from a good family, educated (Stanford) and willing to knuckle under to her family to marry Brian so he could assume she would knuckle under to him too.He was never going to leave that comfortable future for some sweet piece of tail he could pick up at a bar, or nightclub. Girls were nothing more than a release valve for his sexual frustrations and by the end of the encounter, the girl would know that was exactly how he felt. He was good-looking, wealthy and confident - he’d always find someone else.Felix was of a different mold. He was a player. Unlike me, he was all about hash marks, conquests and stroking his ego. You couldn’t totally blame him - Felix was a Winner - capital 'W’. Awards, work accomplishments and pretty women were all the same to him; an aggrandizement of the Felix Melena saga.He’d hunt the wildlife of the city until he was thirty then marry an early twenty-something virgin. Virgin? He had to be the first and only man she ever knew. Felix would have no trouble naming names and bragging over all the details of a sexual encounter because the only thing that mattered was Felix, his successes and everybody being aware of just how bad-ass he was.Don’t get me wrong. Felix was the type of person who got the job done and would never claimed the accolades that he didn’t deserve. He wasn’t a thief. He was really damn good. He was simply an asshole for constantly pointing out how damn good he was as a means of cowing/enticing people he encountered.Trent was superficially similar to Felix but different in several important ways. The most important thing to Trent Grant was Trent. Trent seemed to talk endlessly about Trent. If the conversation wandering, he would insert a 'Trent moment’ into things to bring the words back to where they belonged - talking about Trent.The Havenstone women’s description of Trent now made sense - he was dull. If you considered that so much of what he bragged about - his lineage dating back to Colonial America, his long family history in politics and business, and the collegiate successes of both him and his ancestors - made no impression on them; basically Trent might as well have been babbling in Martian.Their bloodlines traced back 3000 years. 300 was nothing to them. If you had something they truly wanted, they killed you and took it from you - they were a cult of psychopaths after all. Colleges? They had built up a global powerhouse without the help of any male-founded institutions of higher learning, thank you very much.Trent could be civil, polite and congenial when he made the effort. He had punched in all the proper markers for a posh college career. Fraternity president, winning Captain of the local intermural basketball team and Dean’s List. He even had a bookend - Brooke Lee of Virginia and Vassar girl.She was darkly tanned, shoulder-blade length silky black hair, and luminescent green eyes. Her curves were in all the right places and her smile must have cost her parents a fortune to be that white and perfect. By the familiar way she hung on Trent, he had lied to Havenstone - BAD, bad move, Trent. The look she gave me implied that Trent shouldn’t trust me around her, or her around me.It wasn’t that buddies couldn’t trust me around their girlfriends…actually buddies couldn’t trust me with their girlfriends. I was of low moral character and perpetually horny with a glib tongue and a sexual charisma that was a threat to nuns, Christian cheerleaders and grandmothers alike. Brooke knew this to be true. Trent would have if I hadn’t been so 'beneath’ him and Brooke.Brooke had brought some friends - all Vassar girls. The two who wanted to be there glommed onto Felix and Brian. The third girl basically knew she was 'settling’ for me. I didn’t belong to their exclusive social club. My three 'new hire’ pals sealed the deal (screwed me over) by informing the girls that I was with Executive Services - the gophers.I saw some sympathetic eyes from the first three ladies to my 'date’. Libra Chalmers attempted to make the best of it.“Do you like your job?” she gave a weak grin. I sighed.“I wish the President and CEO didn’t know me on a first name basis…or her daughter and granddaughter,” I shrugged. “Most of the Board of the Directors are nice enough.”Blink.“Did you bring them their laundry?” Felix chuckled.“That and other stuff,” I grinned right back. “Mostly its drudgery with the occasional bizarre request covered by corporate confidentiality.”“Like what color shoes to wear?” Trent snorted. My face became deathly calm.“No Trent,” I stared at him, “things that I cannot talk about. Do you seriously think Executive Services has long term employees picking up birthday presents and detailing cars?”“But you are a 'nobody’,” Brain blurted out. I was sure that how he really felt.“Where did you go to school?” Libra inquired.“You’ve probably never heard of it. Bolingbrook in New Hampshire,” I smiled. I was proud of my school. I even showed her my class ring.“Holy Cow!” Libra laughed. “I’m from Bolingbrook.”“Chalmers…as in Marla Chalmers of the 'Seldom Read’ bookstore?” I chuckled.“That’s my little sister,” Libra nodded. Whoops, I’d nailed Marla and how. Took her virginity.“Hold on,” she grinned as she pulled out her phone. “What’s your name again?”“Cáel Nyilas,” I answered. I was too insulted she hadn’t remembered it the first time.Five rings later,“Marla, it is Libra and I’m with an old friend of yours - Cáel Nyilas,” she winked at me. There was a long pause. Libra put the phone on speaker for the group’s amusement.“Well, how is he?” Marla asked.“He’s on crutches,” Libra answered.“Well, you can bet a girl did it to him,” Marla sounded a bit pissed. Not good.“I was shot with an arrow by a woman who I actually hadn’t slept with,” I confessed.“Cáel?” Marla yelped. “Oh my God, is that really you?”“Sure is,” I tried to remain upbeat.“Damn Sis, does he still look hot?” Marla inquired.“Very much so,” Libra smirked my way.“Cáel…I still miss you,” Marla sighed. “Even after that…thing.” That thing was her finding me in bed with her aunt…and me not being her uncle.“Yeah,” I groaned, “I really screwed that up. I can’t apologize enough for what I put you through.” Brian and all the women at the table were attentive and curious.“Well, I should have figured you didn’t get all that sexual prowess from the internet,” Marla mused. “So, are you seeing someone now? Let me rephrase, how many women are you seeing at the moment?”I was busted. I was also looking down the barrel of 'make-up sex’.“At present it is a waitress, an heiress, two teachers, a CPA, a security operative and a policewoman, but I’m not having sex with the last two,” I related. They thought I was lying.“That sounds about right,” Marla laughed loudly.“You had sex with this guy?” Libra gasped. The whole 'my little sister must still be a virgin’ thing.“Oh yeah,” Marla exulted. “He took all three of my virginities. It was one hell of a great summer. Even after I nearly killed him, I still missed his loving.”I was a deviant pervert. I could see it on their faces.“I miss you to, Marla,” I told her.“Really…what do I like?” Marla teased.“Inside of the triceps; little kisses,” I immediately responded. Those kisses drove her nuts. There was a long pause.“I miss you, Cáel,” Marla moaned.“He’s on a date with me right now,” Libra interrupted. “Talk to you later, Marla.” The connection went dead. “You took my little sister’s virginity?” she got heated.“Apparently she gave it all up to Cáel,” Felix chuckled. Idiot.“You really took Marla’s virginity?” Brooke jumped in. “Where?”“Lake Carrie - freaking cold water. Marla loves the place so I took her to a location she’d feel comfortable in,” I explained.“Did it occur to you that she might want her first time to be with someone who was important to her?” Brian prodded.“Brian, it’s a hymen, not the Ark of the Covenant,” I smirked. “Wanting a girl to be a virgin is more a matter of a guy’s fears of penile inadequacy than a woman’s promiscuity. Certainly if I was a woman I’d want the guy to know what he’s doing as opposed to fumbling around until the mood died.” That brought some chuckles from the girls.“Let’s get a bite to eat,” Trent broke the tension. Libra had no trouble sticking close to my side as we left. We ended up sharing a taxi with Trent and Brooke. We learned what a fantastic job Trent was doing at Havenstone. From his version of events, the company would have been teetering on the brink if not for his historic efforts.“What about you?” Brooke shot me a look. Yep, I was going to have sex with her. No doubt.“Apparently I sunk the Maldives Islands yesterday. Friday I caused Umpa Lumpas to spontaneously combust all over the chocolate factory, so I consider Monday to be an improvement in the fewer fatalities I caused,” I stated straight-faced.Trent didn’t understand my job place revelry. The girls cracked up laughing.“Honestly, I get abysmal work reviews for no reason I can understand. I don’t respond to instructions, am rarely locatable and never, ever answer my phone,” I frowned. “Trent gets away with it, so why shouldn’t I?” More laughter and Trent was being pissy.“Ms. Shore thinks I will make a Lead Investigator in two years,” Trent bragged.“Olympia is a smart cookie,” I nodded. “You may end up globe-trotting with a bevy of young ladies most of the year.”“Who is Olympia?” Libra questioned.“Olympia Shore,” I beat Trent to the answer. “Everyone at Havenstone is on a first name basis and very friendly. I mean, as the only five guys in the entire corporation, it’s different than what I expected.”“Trent, do you work with many attractive women?” Brooke inquired lethally.The lesson being: don’t screw with me without a game plan. Making me look bad as a causal thing in front of women isn’t wise. The restaurant was nice, but Katrina’s place had been nicer. I ordered, talked, flirted with Libra openly (and Brooke covertly). Libra and I were working on a hook-up when a chilly voice killed the ambiance.“Cáel Nyilas, come with me,” the female voice droned. Why did the other guys flinch? She was one of those stone-cold bitches from the Security Detail. On Saturday, they had manhandled the other as if they were nothing. Since the SD were most likely all full-blooded Amazons, they were correct in that assessment.“I don’t know your name and what is this about?” I turned and asked the Arabic swimsuit model.“Aisha and you need to check in with Medical,” she stated. At least she wasn’t too rude.“Thanks for the drinks and dinner, guys,” I staggered up. “Libra, it was very nice to meet you.” I put a few twenties on the table, grabbed up my crutches and followed Aisha out.She was double parked. Aisha went around to the driver side, got in and waited. It wasn’t like she’d missed the crutches. I stumped out to the car and rapped on the door.“A little help here?” I requested. She looked my way, returned to looking forward and did nothing. I had obeyed. I had been nice. This was simply punishing me for having a dick.I hobbled back to the street and headed across town under my own power. Three blocks away, she put the car in my path. She stepped out of the driver’s side, clearly unhappy.“Get in,” she commanded.“Are you going to help me?” I countered. She glared at me. “You are in the cross walk.”She didn’t respond, so I hobbled down the street. I didn’t try to get past her. I was going to cross at the next street. She didn’t reappear so I painfully dragged my sorry ass over to the first taxi I could find and was dropped off at Havenstone twenty minutes later. She was waiting for me at Reception.“Come with me,” she snapped as she grabbed my arm.“Let go of me,” I yelled. “You failed at your job. Hell if I’m going to cover for you.”“I didn’t fail,” she pointed out. “You are here.”“Without any help from you,” I stated.She dragged me to the elevator and up to Medical we went. Aisha pushed me into a medical bay then left. A medical type - who was a physician or a physician’s assistant wasn’t clear - appeared, my pants went down and she got to work. There is nothing like grabbing your own calf and pulling it up to your chest while a doctor examines your wound.“Hot date,” she caught me off guard.“I was working on it,” I grunted as she swabbed the wound. She looked around my thigh and into my eyes.“When was the last time you had sex?” she intruded.“Uh…six-ten - this evening,” I answered.“This was before your date?” she was puzzled.“Well, when I met girl #1, I didn’t know girl #2 existed,” I explained.“Wait, you met one girl randomly at six and had sex with her then were aiming for a second girl,” she blinked. “It isn’t even 8:30 yet.”“How is this any of your business?” I grumbled.“Do you want me probing your wound with a cotton swab, or with a steel scraper?” she threatened.“Yes. I went out for drinks, met the first lady, we hit it off and we went to the ladies room and had sex - a trifecta if you are curious - and parted on good terms,” I said.“When I got back to my buddies’ table, they had several other women, one who was my assigned dinner date. It turns out I had sex with her sister a few years back,” I sighed. “We were hitting it off when Aisha showed up with the personality of a marble slab and made me walk back here.”“Really?”“Okay, she wouldn’t help me get in the car, so I stomped off like a spoiled child for a few blocks then took a taxi the rest of the way,” I grinned. “All I asked was for her to help me in the car and she wouldn’t even do that.”“Is any of what you told me the truth?” she let my leg down, on the outside of her so that my crotch was pressed against hers.“Everything after the probe - yeah,” I nodded.“Very well,” smile. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Needs no translation.“Oh, I wish you could, but I need to work out three hours of non-stop sexual frustration and neither one of us has the time right now,” I moaned. “Maybe later.”“Mmmm…I get off at 4 am,” she licked her lips. “What is your address?”“Sadly, I’m rooming with Desiree for the rest of the week,” I frowned.“Are you going to work out some frustration on her?” she pouted.“Noooo,” I declared. “No sex with any Havenstone women for 75 days. When I told you later, I meant 75 days later. It is corporate policy for interns.”“Pity,” she sighed. “You are good to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”“Cool. Maybe we can squeeze in a massage next time,” I grinned. No rest for the wicked.“What do you want me to massage?” she teased.“I was thinking that I could start at your neck, work through your shoulders, down your back and jump to your thighs before finishing up on your calves,” I offered.“Are we sure that won’t violate the rule about sexual contact?” she purred.“Of course not. It is a public service. You have a high-stress job and need a break,” I met her hungry gaze.“I think this is only a ploy for you to get your hands on my body,” she wiggled closer. Duh.“Absolutely. It is absolutely a ploy for me to get my hands on your body,” I promised.“Go,” she gave a throaty chuckle. I got on the elevator and…nothing happened. I didn’t have clearance to go down to that level. Since my humiliation could get worse, it did. I was dialing up Desiree when Aisha stepped on the elevator. She looked at me.“Yes?” she stared.“I need to get down to the housing level,” I muttered.“Which one?” Oh…there was more than one…fuck.“The one that Desiree lives on,” I sighed. Aisha hit the proper button and down we went.The door opened to a familiar level. Oh well.“Thank you, Aisha,” I acknowledged her kindness.“You are welcome, Cáel,” she answered. The doors shut and I was sure she enjoyed the 'what the fuck’ look on my face. I didn’t know what to make of that at all.Aya didn’t charge me at the door. She vibrated excitedly until I put my crutches aside and could pick her up. I saw Desiree putting a book away as she looked me over. It turned out none of us had further plans so we all turned in around 9:30. As we settled into the tight confines of the bed, I decided to ask Desiree for her advice.She listened to my tale of the encounter, shook her head and looked at me with something akin to pity.“Elsa sent Aisha to ruin your fun. Aisha stalked you up to and including your encounter with the doctor, which she listened in on,” Desiree explained. “Aya, what does that mean?”“Daddy is even more desirable than ever!” she proclaimed loudly.“Idiot,” Desiree muttered. Me - not Aya.“Aya, we have a new project,” I whispered to my little friend.“What is it?” she was all excited.“You are going to research Leonardo Di Vinci’s flying machine. We are going to build one on the roof so I can make my getaway on my last day at work,” I informed her.“Can I come with you?” Aya hoped.“Aya, it has never successfully been tested before,” I told her.“After I take off, if I can circuit the building, I’ll land, pick you up and we can head out for Patagonia - just you, me and the penguins,” I teased her.“You can count on me,” Aya yawned. I let her drift off.“You can count on me too,” I whispered to her. I caught Desiree studying me through nearly closed eyes.(Wednesday and Thursday)On Wednesday, the floodgates opened. Aya and I had barely settled in - Katrina had banned the use of all Nerf products until 3pm Friday - when the front desk gave me a call. I had a female visitor. It was Odette - crap. I excused myself from Aya and was gathering my crutches when I saw Katrina staring at me.“I have a guest at the front desk,” I explained.“Are they a bomb-wielding maniac, an expert assassin, or an investigative journalist?” she inquired.“No Katrina,” I gulped. She called down to the front desk and told them to let her up.Ten seconds later, she told the front desk to let all female visitors requesting me to come up…then she added Timothy to the list.“Katrina, if I ever stop being afraid of you, please understand that I am either high, or stupidly drunk,” I pledged.“Noted. Aya, get to work,” Katrina captured her nieces gaze. “Cáel is on Sick Leave. You are here to pick up his slack.”“Yes Katrina,” Aya nodded then put her cute little nose back to the grindstone. Odette was the harbinger of disaster.She had stopped by late Monday night…and had crashed with Timothy. Bright and early Tuesday, Officer Nikita showed up. Nikita wasn’t happy. In more precise terms, she was going to rip my nuts off. Timothy told Odette not to worry, but Nikita had a firearm and a uniform, so she worried. Odette polished this revelation off by requesting some 'private time’.I wouldn’t swear on a stack of Bibles that Katrina smirked, but I’d take those odd in Vegas. Aya had a different approach.“Cáel, can you take Daddy Time when you are at work?” Aya smiled politely. I was weighing no puppy dog eyes from Aya for a few hours versus my dick’s desire to be a dick and do what dicks are meant to do.“Please don’t make me transfer Buffy after she murders you,” Katrina offhandedly remarked. She had an excellent point. I decided to give Odette a nice, toe-curling kiss at the elevator.“If all you are going to do is kiss her, you can do that here,” Aya grinned.“Okay,” I nodded. Aya was my buddy. I steamed up Odette good and proper then sent her floating on her way.Three hours later I hadn’t even gotten a 'hello’ out of my mouth before Aya provided this cute piece of information to Buffy and Daphne - our food providers.“Buffy, Cáel kissed a girl so much she was walking on clouds when she left.” The lesson here? No woman is your friend, buddy, or otherwise.The food dropped to the ground and Buffy came storming around my little desk.“Please don’t kill me,” I cringed. Buffy hovered centimeters away, her intense struggle for control evident to everyone present. Finally, she clasped her hands behind her back. Balancing a hand on the back of my chair and the desk, I pushed myself up.My hands came to rest on Buffy’s shoulders then I tenderly started turning her around. She resisted initially before curiosity took over. I brushed the left side of her hair back first. We started with the traditional small puffs of air on her neck and ear. My tongue flicking on the back of her earlobe gave her a jolt which she quickly suppressed.While the air and tongue play along her neck and ears was going on, I was able to sneak my hands around to her stomach right above the belt. Buffy found her hands were pressing against my cock. She stroked it with an unexpected gentleness. My hands migrated up until I cupped her breasts. I didn’t squeeze them yet the intention was there.“Are we okay now?” I whispered.“I’m thinking about it,” she looked over her shoulder. “I’m still having trouble waiting.”“You have to understand you are not my number one girl, Buffy,” I told her. Oh, look. She was about to treat my weenie like silly putty.“I’m his number one girl,” Aya declared proudly. My penis was saved.“As long as I’m the first one he sleeps with,” Buffy asserted.“Too late,” Aya said before I could find a more political way to approach the crisis.“You sleep with Cáel?” Daphne teased.“Yes, of course I do,” Aya sighed in exasperation. “Why do all the girls keep asking me that? Where else would I sleep, but with Cáel?”“Is he a wonderful and considerate bed-buddy?” Daphne teased. Ow - cock - Buffy’s hands.“Best Daddy ever,” Aya beamed.“I go to sleep in his arms to the sound of his breathing,” Aya got dreamy again, damn her. “If I have a bad dream, all I have to do is touch his hand and he wraps it around me. He keeps me safe and I know he’ll never let anything bad happen to me.” That statement stumped all three women listening.Buffy could have had a father. Whatever relationship they may have had was severed now. Daphne and Katrina didn’t even have that. Mothering an Amazon was tough work. It required a callousness not normally associated with maternal instincts. Every Amazon had to be a killer - it was their cultural imperative.I doubted Daphne had the opportunity to continue her genetic legacy yet. Katrina would never have the chance, being sterile. What Aya was describing was more associated with a three year old than a girl of nine. A few Amazon women scorned this as weakness. Daphne and Katrina didn’t. It was almost a wistful jealousy.“Where did you learn to take care of little girls?” Daphne inquired softly.“What do you mean?” I kept my attention on Buffy.“Aya, Silly,” Daphne grinned.“That’s your mistake,” I sighed happily. Buffy smelled good. “Aya is both a child and my comrade-in-arms.”“I can never let her down because she’d never let me down,” I added.“She can’t save you if you get in trouble,” Daphne said.“That’s your problem,” I looked to Daphne. “I don’t expect her to save me. If all you look for is results, you’ll always get the same results.” Not true, but what the fuck.“To me, it is the effort that matters. Only through effort to we excel,” I winked to Aya. “And why does Aya excel?”“Because Aya is a winner,” she glowed.“Repeating that phrase won’t feed you in the wild, or craft you a weapon,” Katrina reminded her.“Aunt Katrina, everyone is afraid I will fail,” Aya’s tiny body became taut as a bowstring. “Cáel waits for me to succeed. I’m so afraid of letting everyone down, except with him. When I’m with Cáel, I feel the stillness you and the others tell me about. The fear goes away and I feel right and good.”“Aya, one day you may have to kill Cáel,” Katrina studied her niece. Aya looked at me and wept silently.“He’s died for me twice already,” Aya choked back her sob. “He’d do it again to protect me.”“Eat up,” Katrina ordered. That ended the discussion. As they were leaving, I noticed Daphne had cried a bit as well.Nikita showed up at 2 pm, in uniform, with a senior female co-worker/training officer. I imagine the novelty for the other woman of going into a skyscraper like this allowed this unfortunate event to happen to me.“Nikita!” Aya squealed. She stayed at her station - good for her.“Hey Aya,” Nikita smiled at my cohort. I got the dark, grumpy frown.“What are you doing - here?” she sizzled. “And, what are you doing making Aya do work? There are Child Labor Laws you know.”“Its National Take A Death Dwarf to Work Day,” I informed her. “Hello,” I addressed the partner.“Officer Skylar Montero,” she replied with a more positive attitude.“Odette,” Nikita bit off the name, “told us you had a three-way Sunday night.” Thanks Odette.“That’s not really fair,” I spread my arms out in a placating gesture. “There were five of us, but we tag-teamed in and out so there were only three on the bed at one time.”“I see why she wants to shoot you,” Skylar chuckled.“Don’t shoot Cáel, Nikita,” Aya piped up. “He loves you.”“He loves a bunch of women,” Nikita growled.“That’s not so,” Aya persisted. “He has sex with a whole bunch of women. He loves you enough to not have sex and that makes you special.”“That makes her unique,” Katrina muttered.“It makes him bizarre,” Skylar agreed.“Cáel, am I the only girl you are seeing who you are not having sex with?” Nikita sighed.“Do you mean didn’t intend to have sex with, or was intending to have sex with but was interrupted?” I inquired.“Don’t make me pistol-whip you into obedience,” Nikita menaced.“It is not as easy as you would believe,” I groaned.“That’s true,” Aya added. “Elsa beat him into unconsciousness Monday afternoon and he didn’t learn a damn thing.” Aya was so proud of me…for getting my ass beat. This happens more than you would believe.“Elsa? That wacko at the door Saturday night?” Nikita gasped with disbelief. “Why did you let her get close to you?”“She came at me in the gym while I was on the sparing mat with a…lady I met,” I told her.“Dude, do you ever rest?” Skylar chuckled.“We were practicing Brazilian jujutsu,” I evaded. “There was suddenly an issue and that led to Elsa coming at me.”“The lady you met,” Nikita fumed. “She was your date, right? The one you were interrupted from fu - having sex with.” The 'fuck’ was cut off for Aya’s sake.“Yes - yes she was,” I confessed.“Aya, come here,” Katrina summoned her diminutive kin.“How badly did the psycho hurt you?” Nikita sighed. No good answer, so I went for the truth.“She beat me with a spear,” I informed her. “The only places she spared were my face and testicles.”Nikita, trusting me as fully as she did, opened my shirt. Both she and her partner gasped.“How is this not a crime?” Skylar remarked.“It was a training exercise,” I joked. They weren’t laughing. “Look at it this way; I will never press charges and no one will bear witness to the beating - end of story.”“Damn it,” Nikita pulled me tight, “what are you going to do?”“What do you think?” I grinned. “I’m going to make Elsa pay.”“You can’t take the law into your own hands,” Skylar inserted.“This is not about a beating, or revenge. This is a Human Resources complaint,” I reasoned.“At Havenstone, this is the process we all agree to. Elsa disagreed with how I mishandled a resources issue. She came at me and I lost,” I explained.“If she had a spear, what did you have?” Skylar asked.“I didn’t get a weapon,” I replied. “That and my bad leg are my reason for 'revisiting’ the dispute.”“What lethal weapon to you plan to use?” Nikita mumbled.“The New Jersey,” I teased her. Skylar snorted. Katrina opened a drawer.“Take these to the nice policewomen,” Katrina handed two Nerf guns to Aya. Aya gave me an apologetic look as she dispensed the pain.“What are these…,” Skylar got out before Nikita started unloading into me - in the stomach.“If you are not going to use yours, give it to me,” Nikita reached out to Skylar.“You know that female violence against men is a rising epidemic in this country,” I pointed out.“We can classify this as police brutality then,” Skylar smirked and fired off her six as well.“Do you really pay this monkey a quarter million to do this?” Skylar asked Katrina.“No,” Katrina said with iron-clad certainty, “we pay him to save the world.” Wow.“How do you see that?” Nikita grumbled.“Do you know how many armed law enforcement agents have gotten past the front desk - ever?” Katrina began.“I’ll make it easy on you - none,” Katrina gazed at the two outsiders. Funny, I was thinking of myself as a member of Havenstone. “Do you know the last time I was in the same room as a person with a firearm who did not either work for me, or with me? It has never happened. This has occurred now because of him and 'no’, I am not having any level of intercourse with Cáel.”“What would you do if I arrested you right now?” Nikita challenged.“For starters, you wouldn’t get off the floor. Your communications would be jammed, all doors locked and elevators kept at their current floor. You would not be negotiated with. Your surrender would not be considered. A military force would examine the scenario and then neutralize you,” Katrina recited in a bored manner.“Murder us?” Skylar gawked. “What about the witnesses?”“What witnesses? Two Havenstone personnel who can pass for you will dress in the appropriate uniforms then drive your car to a distant location. Your dead bodies will be delivered by a different route, the patrol car burned and all evidence eradicated,” Katrina droned on.“The only person who might testify is Cáel, but he won’t do it because it will solve nothing. You two will still be dead, no one worthwhile will believe him, and it will result in his eventual relocation. More to the point, his personal sense of loyalty won’t allow him to betray me,” Katrina was finishing. “None of that will happen though because Cáel is saving the World.”By the flabbergasted expressions on the two cops’ faces was pretty much what I expected. Sure, I had told Nikita I worked for bad people, but she was thinking 'gun runners’, embezzling from government contracts, or the illegal dumping of toxic waste. Sure, they might beat a nosy reporter up and even kill someone who couldn’t take the message.Katrina was a totally different creature than what she had imagined. Katrina had No respect for the law and order Nikita

Cáel’s tombstone: For the love of women, women put him here.By FinalStand. Listen and subscribe to the podcast at Steamy Stories.Victory in battle is a matter of skill. Victory in war is a matter of persistence.(Tuesday)Aya followed me to Medical for my daily checkup. It seemed I was no longer to be trusted with my welfare. Aya found the visit fascinating; not because it was new. Because she knew so many of the personnel. That sucked. The frisky doctor took care of me with the bonus of a little exchange with Aya.“He’s got a really big ‘thing’,” Aya chirped. I was suddenly wishing Elsa had given me a concussion.“Oh, I know,” the doctor smiled at Aya.“He’s quite proficient too. Loraine said he has had over 150 sexual encounters and he’s so good he gets stabbed a lot,” Aya related. I wasn’t sure how one led to the other, though they did.“Do you like having sex with women, Cáel?” the doctor teased me.“Not when I’m sleeping,” I sighed.“I keep him safe when he’s sleeping,” Aya provided. “Its real serious work.”“Aya sleeps in your bed?” the doctor was a tad bit suspicious.“To be specific, she sleeps on top of me, like a bear cub on a Momma Bear,” I informed her.“He’s my Daddy Bear,” Aya piped up.“What does your real Momma Bear think of that?” the doctor poked playfully.“She wants him to be my Daddy Bear too,” Aya beamed kittens and rainbows.“Oh, I bet she does,” the doctor gave me a playful wink. Sex.“This is all great, but I’m getting a bit uncomfortable and would like to flee to the dubious safety of work,” I mumbled.“All done,” Doc said then patted my cock.Oddly, that was one of the only two places on my body that hadn’t been clobbered; my face being the other. They wanted me pleasing to the eye and sperm-functional. I dressed and crutch-walked away. At the elevator door, Brielle and her friend were waiting.“Guarding you is going to be a full-time job,” Aya took my hand and looked up at me.She saw the lascivious look those two were shooting my way.“You brought a child to defend you?” Brielle teased me as the elevator headed up.“It worked, didn’t it?” I countered.“Aya stand in the corner and cover your eyes,” the companion directed.“Sorry…I apologize, but I can’t do that,” Aya said defiantly. “He’s my bed buddy.” That earned me some looks.“Jeesh ladies, give me some credit,” I groaned. “She’s nine.”“Ugh…fine,” Brielle relented. “So Aya, what’s he like in bed?”“Warm and he smells wonderful,” Aya sighed dreamily. I was getting dreamy looks from the other two, but most likely a very different dream. “And he hugs me before I go to sleep and the first thing when I wake up.”“Fine Aya,” Brielle’s eye sparkled. “How about I trade you a band of 'honor gold’ for a night with Cáel?”“I can’t do that,” Aya reasoned. “He’s the only Daddy I have. I think he is the only Daddy any of us have.” Thank God the elevator opened on my floor. The philosophic elements of this conversation had become way too convoluted. I was the last one of us to get to Katrina’s office which seemed to amuse Katrina.“Cáel, you have the day off,” Katrina informed me. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”“Oh, I’m not here to work. I’m here as your newest hire’s - Aya’s - lap-monkey,” I replied gravely.“Very well. Aya, stand in line with the others to receive your work review and assignments,” Katrina ordered calmly. Aya took her spot next to Violet.Aya nearly cried when she got my work review for Monday. Apparently I had done the equivalent of threatening World peace, or created a tidal wave generator that swamped the Maldives.“Look on the bright side,” Violet patted Aya’s shoulder. “You can’t do worse.”“How does it feel to know you will be less productive than a child?” Fabiola taunted me.“It is nothing new,” I snickered. “After all, I’ve been working with you for a whole week.” This insult was compounded by the other five girls snickering at the jest. Aya didn’t get it and Katrina was undoubtedly laughing on the inside.“I’m going to get you,” Fabiola ground her teeth.“Come on,” I sighed to Fabiola, “it was a joke meant to give a little levity before charging off to your days.”“Well, don’t mock me,” Fabiola snapped.“But it is so easy,” Paula giggled. Fabiola turned on her.“Enough,” Katrina demanded gracefully. She handed out assignments and the group departed. Aya had my job from yesterday. She also had Katrina’s Nerf gun. Seconds after the first incoming bolt, Aya decided she loved working at Havenstone. After my fellow Executive Services sisters discovered that I had a secondary gunner, they began to triple team us in true Amazon fashion.Aya countered by building a fort using sofa cushions. She’d also scamper out and round up spent darts every time her work queue was filled. To change things up, and gain a lesson in simple tactics, Aya would move furniture around the office. When a woman, or women, would pop in to shoot me, Aya would shoot at them from an ambushing angle.Honestly, for a warrior culture, these ladies were remarkably fooled by a pile of towels on Katrina’s sofa - hiding a miniature sniper. Lunch came by way of Buffy and Dora. I had a feeling that Buffy was still stung by Daphne’s betrayal. Watching Aya try to stare down Buffy was both amusing and a tad chilling. I was going to have to do something about her frustration.After Katrina released us, I pleaded with Desiree to entertain her niece - Aya, while I went to grab a few drinks with 'the guys’. The club they chose screamed overly-pretentious, overly-privileged and insanely over-priced. I didn’t have the Class Ring, or Mummy/Daddy’s bank account to go to a place like this. I had a sudden unsettling feeling.I double-checked my bank account. I had around two grand squirreled away when I got the job with Havenstone and I knew that cache had to be running dry. I checked it and I had over five grand. Unless banks had radically altered interest rates, somebody was propping me up financially. Barring a rich girlfriend, I had a rich girl friend. Every guy I knew and liked was as poor as me.I hobbled in on my crutches, drawing some stares. No one called out, or recognized me, so the general snobbish assumption was that I was a person who didn’t 'fit in’. A few more hobbles forward and the looks began to change. My suit was tailored, I was an impressive physical specimen and exuded a charisma that implied 'eminently fuckable’.Felix, Trent and Brian were polite enough to turn my way though they didn’t call out. They hadn’t grabbed a side booth, or a place at the bar. No, we had a table sans chair in the middle of the place because I had a bum leg and crutches - sadistic fuck-nuts. My first introduction was almost comical.“Hey, Jared, isn’t it?” some stranger tapped my shoulder.Did he know me? No. His current female work-in-progress had noticed me and kept noticing me so he was playing the humiliation game. Fake intro - 'shocked’ I wasn’t who he thought I was - the revelation I wasn’t from a Top Ten school - belittle me to his potential lady.“No, Jared was my brother,” I sighed. “You didn’t know? He died in a jet-ski accident three weeks ago. Where you two close?”“Ah…” dumbass stuttered.“I am sorry to hear about your loss,” the girl spoke up. “Were you and your brother close?” She had a Columbia ring, three years back on a gold chain around her neck.“He was my twin,” I mumbled. I leaned against our table and turned away (masking my grief it could be assumed).She left Dumbass’ table and came over to mine. By the looks of my three buddies, they were floored. In less than one minute, I had my arm around a stacked, pretty redhead who was rubbing her hands over my chest. My plan crystalized. I had to let someone bump into me, grunt in pain then have this nice lady - Nicole - take me to the rest rooms.Once in that back hallway, it was a stumble and a bump into a stall in the ladies room and a quick sexual encounter. A junior corporate lawyer named Stevenson provided the catalyst. He was more apologetic to Nicole, but she was getting angrily maternal over me, my pain and grief. She blew Stevenson off and helped me to the restroom area.Of course, I was 'sure’ I could take care of everything by myself. Two stumbles later, she was insisting she take me to the men’s room. I argued with her rather firmly. She couldn’t come with me. After all, there were usually only one or two stalls and I didn’t want to embarrass her. Nicole’s inspiration was to take me to the women’s room where there were plenty of stalls.I begged her to let me go into the stall alone - despite my obvious discomfort and agony. She overrode my concerns and joined me. She took off my pants, my cock sang out 'hallelujah’ and Nicole was mesmerized. I told her I found her attractive and hadn’t had sex in a while. Nicole began administering a blowjob.There were no 'uh’s and 'ah’s. That would be selling it in the wrong direction. I went the other way. I gritted my teeth and made as little noise as possible. When she finally broke down and asked if what she was doing felt good. I hissed out a 'yes’ then explained how I didn’t want to embarrass her with my vocalizations.The resulting victorious smile and follow-up question were foregone conclusions. 'Yes, I did have a condom’. The girl wasn’t stupid. She didn’t ask me if I wanted to have sex. I had her where I wanted her - wanting sex - and she knew I wanted her. Clothes were lain over the toilet seat - the floors looked clean but still - and we got down to business.Once Nicole decided she wanted intercourse, I took over. I had her one knee on the toilet, one leg on the floor and both hands against the back of the stall wall while I thrust into her from behind. She was huffing like a steam locomotive as I was pistoning into her gushing depths. Unable to do cunnilingus this time, I continuously wedged two fingers into the tight intrusion of my cock pumping her pussy and pulled out two coated digits.At first, I noisily sucked them clean. Nicole figured out what I was up to and wanted in on the action, licking her own vaginal fluids off my fingers. Her first climax had her hissing like a pit of vipers and beating one fist against the porcelain wall tiles.In the interim, with a bit of friendly finger play, I had discovered Nicole was a fully accessible sex partner. I let my cock slowly withdraw, rubbing her vaginal walls in all the right places as I did. I was setting her up for the surprise. I pressed my large, pulsing cockhead against her sphincter and started pushing in sans preparation on her part.“Too much?” I whispered. Yes it was. We both knew it. This was a sexual gauntlet I was tossing down. How vigorous was she willing to go? Nicole was a hard-charging, go-getter for who life was a series of challenges. My words weren’t an act of compassion - they were a dare. She could back out, or she could take my sizable rod up her unprepared butthole.“Don’t hold anything back,” she gasped. We twisted, turned our necks as far as possible and entered a deep, tongue twisting kiss. In the midst of that, I began pushing in. Nicole was no anal virgin; that was a certainty. Equally certain was the pain she was going through as I drove all the way down. Her rectum was stretched out, her hips and buttocks were trembling and she was sweating up a storm.She was in pain and loving it. Not out of some masochistic fit, but because she’d confronted a personal test and triumphed. All the while, we remained lip-locked. I soaked up her moans of pleasure, groans of pain and the combination of both when I was done. Only when I completed her anal penetration, did I relax my pressure and let her adjust.Nicole was the one who initiated picking up the pace. Again, I took over, upping our tempo until I was slamming into her rectum with all my might. Nicole was coming like glacial melt, tearing off huge chunks of her resolve every time she orgasmed. A few chicks peeked through the stall door to make sure I wasn’t murdering her.I filled up the condom in her ass, earning me one last caged squeal. Nicole really was a vocal treasure. She could really keep the noise down when needed. Four fucking orgasms in eleven minutes - I am a sex god. Nicole and I cleaned up. She couldn’t stop smiling at me.“I hope I’ve helped you deal with the loss of your brother,” she purred as she snuggled against my chest.“I’m an only child, Nicole. All that twin thing was for the Dick-head who was hitting on you and decided to make a mockery of me with the whole 'you went to a loser school’ thing,” I told her.“Oh…” she digested that. Sexual aftershocks helped her decide she didn’t care. They never do.“Where did you go to school?” she asked as we finished cleaning up at the sink - with three other women.“Bolingbrook in New Hampshire,” I grinned. “I live in a small, five room apartment, with my roommate in lower-middle class neighborhood, I don’t have a car - I have a bike.”“That’s good because I absolutely love biking, on and off-road,” I kept going. “I work at Havenstone Commercial Investments making a quarter million a year starting out plus a 'Gold level’ benefits package. Mom’s gone. My Dad is a working stiff, scoured by the elements most days, his sister works on a crab boat and that’s my lineage. I’m Cáel Nyilas, by the way.”“Do you like picking up rich, successful women from well-heeled families?” Nicole and the other women blatantly listening in studied me.“Normally you couldn’t have dragged me into an establishment like this,” I chuckled. “This isn’t my crowd. Three of the new male hires at Havenstone invited me out for some after-work drinks and they chose this place.”“Is that the whole 'class warfare’ thing?” one woman, African-American, accused me. Sigh.“I’m far more concerned with labor and land rights riots in China, gender unrest in India, the rise of religious fundamentalism all around the globe and receding polar ice caps than the anemic class struggles going on inside the United States,” I engaged her.That shut them up.“What about a Free Tibet?” an Asian cutie interjected. My bet was Myanmar.“Go to a few rallies, buy a bumper sticker then pat yourself on the back and delude yourself that you are doing something,” I shrugged.“Inside 50 years you are looking at Tibetan cultural annihilation. It is a numbers game. Keep adding Han Chinese into the population and Tibet ceases to exist outside of a few history books,” I explained. “If you want to make a difference, recruit up nine friends, gather a war chest of a million dollars and take six month of intensive weapons and arctic survival courses.”“Sneak over the border into Tibet. Attack Chinese settlers, firebomb Chinese-owned shops and ambush PLA patrols. Cross back over to Nepal for resupply and reinforcements. Create an insurgency large enough to gather real media and governmental attention,” I told them. “Otherwise you are wasting everyone’s time.”“Violence is not the answer,” a blonde joined the fun. Yes, I can be standing in a women’s rest room without drawing outrage. Nicole was hanging all over me.“How about this: give me your purse so I can take all your money, your ATM card and your PIN number?” I requested of the blonde. She took a step back.“Okay, I’m going to ask you for that again, and if you don’t give it to me, I’ll ask a third time,” I continued and I did just that - asking a third time. “Congratulations, you have the China - Free Tibet debate. If there was any doubt,” I pointed to the blonde, “you are China.”“It is not like that,” the Blonde insisted.“Why not? China is using Tibet as land to put their expanding population on that doesn’t involve emigration - a reduction in the tax base,” I reasoned. “Therefore, Tibet has value. You are offering nothing of value to the PRC, expecting them to give you something they value, for free? How rational is that?”“That’s crazy,” Myanmar chick stated. “Nonviolent protest works.”“I agree,” I nodded. “It needs to be truly passionate to achieve its ends.” Translation: I didn’t believe it worked, but clearly these babes believed in it and getting snitty about some belief system I didn’t really care about wasn’t going to get me into their panties.Pleased that they had impressed their enlightened approach to life, the other women let Nicole help me struggle back to my table. We managed to exchange digits and for her to give me her business card - cool, she was a criminal defense attorney with a firm that had five names and Esquire attached to the end.They also had offices here, in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Hong Kong, London and Berlin. Nicole deposited me back with my 'buddies’ who had sprouted some girl pals in my absence. Introductions went around. Nicole did a wave, winked at me then went off to her own clique of pals. Seconds after she joined up, there were multiple lusty looks from her group aimed my way.Not every lady is looking for a commitment. For some, a hook-up hits the spot and they were not particularly jealous about sharing in their adventures. Nicole was going to go home, a smile on her lips, take a nice hot bath and go to bed worry-free. Her company was envious and planning how to get their own piece of my unworthy hide.Fucking Nicole into a transcendent state didn’t earn me a place in their 'educational elites only’ world. That wouldn’t keep them out of my bed, only someone they wouldn’t mention to their parents. I didn’t care. I wouldn’t care unless they became clingy. Then I would have to parade her friends and colleagues past her as sexual conquests until she got the message that turning a guy into her 'dirty little secret’ was doubly unfortunate.Mind you, having a pair of wandering eyes myself, I had never enforced monogamy on any girl I’d ever been with. Deep down I was always looking for 'the one’, I assumed that my sex partners were too and I never held that against them for looking somewhere else when I was clearly not the one for them. My sense of fair play rarely translated over to understanding on their part.Back to my little crowd. From the start, I know we were all freaking gorgeous men. We were also bright and well-educated (though the rest thought I was a bumpkin). Having ladies stop by was a veritable given. How we handled it was multifaceted.Brain Fung was a 'one foot out the window’ kind of guy. He led off with how engaged he was, how wonderful his fiancé was and finished up with how arranged the marriage was. See, this gave him an out with every women he scored with. He was engaged, yet he was unhappy with the arrangement so some lucky girl might convince him to re-chart his course.It would never happen. Brian thought too much of himself to be romanced. Besides, he had a five, ten and twenty year plan. The Prick shouldn’t have joined Havenstone. His fiancé was from a good family, educated (Stanford) and willing to knuckle under to her family to marry Brian so he could assume she would knuckle under to him too.He was never going to leave that comfortable future for some sweet piece of tail he could pick up at a bar, or nightclub. Girls were nothing more than a release valve for his sexual frustrations and by the end of the encounter, the girl would know that was exactly how he felt. He was good-looking, wealthy and confident - he’d always find someone else.Felix was of a different mold. He was a player. Unlike me, he was all about hash marks, conquests and stroking his ego. You couldn’t totally blame him - Felix was a Winner - capital 'W’. Awards, work accomplishments and pretty women were all the same to him; an aggrandizement of the Felix Melena saga.He’d hunt the wildlife of the city until he was thirty then marry an early twenty-something virgin. Virgin? He had to be the first and only man she ever knew. Felix would have no trouble naming names and bragging over all the details of a sexual encounter because the only thing that mattered was Felix, his successes and everybody being aware of just how bad-ass he was.Don’t get me wrong. Felix was the type of person who got the job done and would never claimed the accolades that he didn’t deserve. He wasn’t a thief. He was really damn good. He was simply an asshole for constantly pointing out how damn good he was as a means of cowing/enticing people he encountered.Trent was superficially similar to Felix but different in several important ways. The most important thing to Trent Grant was Trent. Trent seemed to talk endlessly about Trent. If the conversation wandering, he would insert a 'Trent moment’ into things to bring the words back to where they belonged - talking about Trent.The Havenstone women’s description of Trent now made sense - he was dull. If you considered that so much of what he bragged about - his lineage dating back to Colonial America, his long family history in politics and business, and the collegiate successes of both him and his ancestors - made no impression on them; basically Trent might as well have been babbling in Martian.Their bloodlines traced back 3000 years. 300 was nothing to them. If you had something they truly wanted, they killed you and took it from you - they were a cult of psychopaths after all. Colleges? They had built up a global powerhouse without the help of any male-founded institutions of higher learning, thank you very much.Trent could be civil, polite and congenial when he made the effort. He had punched in all the proper markers for a posh college career. Fraternity president, winning Captain of the local intermural basketball team and Dean’s List. He even had a bookend - Brooke Lee of Virginia and Vassar girl.She was darkly tanned, shoulder-blade length silky black hair, and luminescent green eyes. Her curves were in all the right places and her smile must have cost her parents a fortune to be that white and perfect. By the familiar way she hung on Trent, he had lied to Havenstone - BAD, bad move, Trent. The look she gave me implied that Trent shouldn’t trust me around her, or her around me.It wasn’t that buddies couldn’t trust me around their girlfriends…actually buddies couldn’t trust me with their girlfriends. I was of low moral character and perpetually horny with a glib tongue and a sexual charisma that was a threat to nuns, Christian cheerleaders and grandmothers alike. Brooke knew this to be true. Trent would have if I hadn’t been so 'beneath’ him and Brooke.Brooke had brought some friends - all Vassar girls. The two who wanted to be there glommed onto Felix and Brian. The third girl basically knew she was 'settling’ for me. I didn’t belong to their exclusive social club. My three 'new hire’ pals sealed the deal (screwed me over) by informing the girls that I was with Executive Services - the gophers.I saw some sympathetic eyes from the first three ladies to my 'date’. Libra Chalmers attempted to make the best of it.“Do you like your job?” she gave a weak grin. I sighed.“I wish the President and CEO didn’t know me on a first name basis…or her daughter and granddaughter,” I shrugged. “Most of the Board of the Directors are nice enough.”Blink.“Did you bring them their laundry?” Felix chuckled.“That and other stuff,” I grinned right back. “Mostly its drudgery with the occasional bizarre request covered by corporate confidentiality.”“Like what color shoes to wear?” Trent snorted. My face became deathly calm.“No Trent,” I stared at him, “things that I cannot talk about. Do you seriously think Executive Services has long term employees picking up birthday presents and detailing cars?”“But you are a 'nobody’,” Brain blurted out. I was sure that how he really felt.“Where did you go to school?” Libra inquired.“You’ve probably never heard of it. Bolingbrook in New Hampshire,” I smiled. I was proud of my school. I even showed her my class ring.“Holy Cow!” Libra laughed. “I’m from Bolingbrook.”“Chalmers…as in Marla Chalmers of the 'Seldom Read’ bookstore?” I chuckled.“That’s my little sister,” Libra nodded. Whoops, I’d nailed Marla and how. Took her virginity.“Hold on,” she grinned as she pulled out her phone. “What’s your name again?”“Cáel Nyilas,” I answered. I was too insulted she hadn’t remembered it the first time.Five rings later,“Marla, it is Libra and I’m with an old friend of yours - Cáel Nyilas,” she winked at me. There was a long pause. Libra put the phone on speaker for the group’s amusement.“Well, how is he?” Marla asked.“He’s on crutches,” Libra answered.“Well, you can bet a girl did it to him,” Marla sounded a bit pissed. Not good.“I was shot with an arrow by a woman who I actually hadn’t slept with,” I confessed.“Cáel?” Marla yelped. “Oh my God, is that really you?”“Sure is,” I tried to remain upbeat.“Damn Sis, does he still look hot?” Marla inquired.“Very much so,” Libra smirked my way.“Cáel…I still miss you,” Marla sighed. “Even after that…thing.” That thing was her finding me in bed with her aunt…and me not being her uncle.“Yeah,” I groaned, “I really screwed that up. I can’t apologize enough for what I put you through.” Brian and all the women at the table were attentive and curious.“Well, I should have figured you didn’t get all that sexual prowess from the internet,” Marla mused. “So, are you seeing someone now? Let me rephrase, how many women are you seeing at the moment?”I was busted. I was also looking down the barrel of 'make-up sex’.“At present it is a waitress, an heiress, two teachers, a CPA, a security operative and a policewoman, but I’m not having sex with the last two,” I related. They thought I was lying.“That sounds about right,” Marla laughed loudly.“You had sex with this guy?” Libra gasped. The whole 'my little sister must still be a virgin’ thing.“Oh yeah,” Marla exulted. “He took all three of my virginities. It was one hell of a great summer. Even after I nearly killed him, I still missed his loving.”I was a deviant pervert. I could see it on their faces.“I miss you to, Marla,” I told her.“Really…what do I like?” Marla teased.“Inside of the triceps; little kisses,” I immediately responded. Those kisses drove her nuts. There was a long pause.“I miss you, Cáel,” Marla moaned.“He’s on a date with me right now,” Libra interrupted. “Talk to you later, Marla.” The connection went dead. “You took my little sister’s virginity?” she got heated.“Apparently she gave it all up to Cáel,” Felix chuckled. Idiot.“You really took Marla’s virginity?” Brooke jumped in. “Where?”“Lake Carrie - freaking cold water. Marla loves the place so I took her to a location she’d feel comfortable in,” I explained.“Did it occur to you that she might want her first time to be with someone who was important to her?” Brian prodded.“Brian, it’s a hymen, not the Ark of the Covenant,” I smirked. “Wanting a girl to be a virgin is more a matter of a guy’s fears of penile inadequacy than a woman’s promiscuity. Certainly if I was a woman I’d want the guy to know what he’s doing as opposed to fumbling around until the mood died.” That brought some chuckles from the girls.“Let’s get a bite to eat,” Trent broke the tension. Libra had no trouble sticking close to my side as we left. We ended up sharing a taxi with Trent and Brooke. We learned what a fantastic job Trent was doing at Havenstone. From his version of events, the company would have been teetering on the brink if not for his historic efforts.“What about you?” Brooke shot me a look. Yep, I was going to have sex with her. No doubt.“Apparently I sunk the Maldives Islands yesterday. Friday I caused Umpa Lumpas to spontaneously combust all over the chocolate factory, so I consider Monday to be an improvement in the fewer fatalities I caused,” I stated straight-faced.Trent didn’t understand my job place revelry. The girls cracked up laughing.“Honestly, I get abysmal work reviews for no reason I can understand. I don’t respond to instructions, am rarely locatable and never, ever answer my phone,” I frowned. “Trent gets away with it, so why shouldn’t I?” More laughter and Trent was being pissy.“Ms. Shore thinks I will make a Lead Investigator in two years,” Trent bragged.“Olympia is a smart cookie,” I nodded. “You may end up globe-trotting with a bevy of young ladies most of the year.”“Who is Olympia?” Libra questioned.“Olympia Shore,” I beat Trent to the answer. “Everyone at Havenstone is on a first name basis and very friendly. I mean, as the only five guys in the entire corporation, it’s different than what I expected.”“Trent, do you work with many attractive women?” Brooke inquired lethally.The lesson being: don’t screw with me without a game plan. Making me look bad as a causal thing in front of women isn’t wise. The restaurant was nice, but Katrina’s place had been nicer. I ordered, talked, flirted with Libra openly (and Brooke covertly). Libra and I were working on a hook-up when a chilly voice killed the ambiance.“Cáel Nyilas, come with me,” the female voice droned. Why did the other guys flinch? She was one of those stone-cold bitches from the Security Detail. On Saturday, they had manhandled the other as if they were nothing. Since the SD were most likely all full-blooded Amazons, they were correct in that assessment.“I don’t know your name and what is this about?” I turned and asked the Arabic swimsuit model.“Aisha and you need to check in with Medical,” she stated. At least she wasn’t too rude.“Thanks for the drinks and dinner, guys,” I staggered up. “Libra, it was very nice to meet you.” I put a few twenties on the table, grabbed up my crutches and followed Aisha out.She was double parked. Aisha went around to the driver side, got in and waited. It wasn’t like she’d missed the crutches. I stumped out to the car and rapped on the door.“A little help here?” I requested. She looked my way, returned to looking forward and did nothing. I had obeyed. I had been nice. This was simply punishing me for having a dick.I hobbled back to the street and headed across town under my own power. Three blocks away, she put the car in my path. She stepped out of the driver’s side, clearly unhappy.“Get in,” she commanded.“Are you going to help me?” I countered. She glared at me. “You are in the cross walk.”She didn’t respond, so I hobbled down the street. I didn’t try to get past her. I was going to cross at the next street. She didn’t reappear so I painfully dragged my sorry ass over to the first taxi I could find and was dropped off at Havenstone twenty minutes later. She was waiting for me at Reception.“Come with me,” she snapped as she grabbed my arm.“Let go of me,” I yelled. “You failed at your job. Hell if I’m going to cover for you.”“I didn’t fail,” she pointed out. “You are here.”“Without any help from you,” I stated.She dragged me to the elevator and up to Medical we went. Aisha pushed me into a medical bay then left. A medical type - who was a physician or a physician’s assistant wasn’t clear - appeared, my pants went down and she got to work. There is nothing like grabbing your own calf and pulling it up to your chest while a doctor examines your wound.“Hot date,” she caught me off guard.“I was working on it,” I grunted as she swabbed the wound. She looked around my thigh and into my eyes.“When was the last time you had sex?” she intruded.“Uh…six-ten - this evening,” I answered.“This was before your date?” she was puzzled.“Well, when I met girl #1, I didn’t know girl #2 existed,” I explained.“Wait, you met one girl randomly at six and had sex with her then were aiming for a second girl,” she blinked. “It isn’t even 8:30 yet.”“How is this any of your business?” I grumbled.“Do you want me probing your wound with a cotton swab, or with a steel scraper?” she threatened.“Yes. I went out for drinks, met the first lady, we hit it off and we went to the ladies room and had sex - a trifecta if you are curious - and parted on good terms,” I said.“When I got back to my buddies’ table, they had several other women, one who was my assigned dinner date. It turns out I had sex with her sister a few years back,” I sighed. “We were hitting it off when Aisha showed up with the personality of a marble slab and made me walk back here.”“Really?”“Okay, she wouldn’t help me get in the car, so I stomped off like a spoiled child for a few blocks then took a taxi the rest of the way,” I grinned. “All I asked was for her to help me in the car and she wouldn’t even do that.”“Is any of what you told me the truth?” she let my leg down, on the outside of her so that my crotch was pressed against hers.“Everything after the probe - yeah,” I nodded.“Very well,” smile. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Needs no translation.“Oh, I wish you could, but I need to work out three hours of non-stop sexual frustration and neither one of us has the time right now,” I moaned. “Maybe later.”“Mmmm…I get off at 4 am,” she licked her lips. “What is your address?”“Sadly, I’m rooming with Desiree for the rest of the week,” I frowned.“Are you going to work out some frustration on her?” she pouted.“Noooo,” I declared. “No sex with any Havenstone women for 75 days. When I told you later, I meant 75 days later. It is corporate policy for interns.”“Pity,” she sighed. “You are good to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”“Cool. Maybe we can squeeze in a massage next time,” I grinned. No rest for the wicked.“What do you want me to massage?” she teased.“I was thinking that I could start at your neck, work through your shoulders, down your back and jump to your thighs before finishing up on your calves,” I offered.“Are we sure that won’t violate the rule about sexual contact?” she purred.“Of course not. It is a public service. You have a high-stress job and need a break,” I met her hungry gaze.“I think this is only a ploy for you to get your hands on my body,” she wiggled closer. Duh.“Absolutely. It is absolutely a ploy for me to get my hands on your body,” I promised.“Go,” she gave a throaty chuckle. I got on the elevator and…nothing happened. I didn’t have clearance to go down to that level. Since my humiliation could get worse, it did. I was dialing up Desiree when Aisha stepped on the elevator. She looked at me.“Yes?” she stared.“I need to get down to the housing level,” I muttered.“Which one?” Oh…there was more than one…fuck.“The one that Desiree lives on,” I sighed. Aisha hit the proper button and down we went.The door opened to a familiar level. Oh well.“Thank you, Aisha,” I acknowledged her kindness.“You are welcome, Cáel,” she answered. The doors shut and I was sure she enjoyed the 'what the fuck’ look on my face. I didn’t know what to make of that at all.Aya didn’t charge me at the door. She vibrated excitedly until I put my crutches aside and could pick her up. I saw Desiree putting a book away as she looked me over. It turned out none of us had further plans so we all turned in around 9:30. As we settled into the tight confines of the bed, I decided to ask Desiree for her advice.She listened to my tale of the encounter, shook her head and looked at me with something akin to pity.“Elsa sent Aisha to ruin your fun. Aisha stalked you up to and including your encounter with the doctor, which she listened in on,” Desiree explained. “Aya, what does that mean?”“Daddy is even more desirable than ever!” she proclaimed loudly.“Idiot,” Desiree muttered. Me - not Aya.“Aya, we have a new project,” I whispered to my little friend.“What is it?” she was all excited.“You are going to research Leonardo Di Vinci’s flying machine. We are going to build one on the roof so I can make my getaway on my last day at work,” I informed her.“Can I come with you?” Aya hoped.“Aya, it has never successfully been tested before,” I told her.“After I take off, if I can circuit the building, I’ll land, pick you up and we can head out for Patagonia - just you, me and the penguins,” I teased her.“You can count on me,” Aya yawned. I let her drift off.“You can count on me too,” I whispered to her. I caught Desiree studying me through nearly closed eyes.(Wednesday and Thursday)On Wednesday, the floodgates opened. Aya and I had barely settled in - Katrina had banned the use of all Nerf products until 3pm Friday - when the front desk gave me a call. I had a female visitor. It was Odette - crap. I excused myself from Aya and was gathering my crutches when I saw Katrina staring at me.“I have a guest at the front desk,” I explained.“Are they a bomb-wielding maniac, an expert assassin, or an investigative journalist?” she inquired.“No Katrina,” I gulped. She called down to the front desk and told them to let her up.Ten seconds later, she told the front desk to let all female visitors requesting me to come up…then she added Timothy to the list.“Katrina, if I ever stop being afraid of you, please understand that I am either high, or stupidly drunk,” I pledged.“Noted. Aya, get to work,” Katrina captured her nieces gaze. “Cáel is on Sick Leave. You are here to pick up his slack.”“Yes Katrina,” Aya nodded then put her cute little nose back to the grindstone. Odette was the harbinger of disaster.She had stopped by late Monday night…and had crashed with Timothy. Bright and early Tuesday, Officer Nikita showed up. Nikita wasn’t happy. In more precise terms, she was going to rip my nuts off. Timothy told Odette not to worry, but Nikita had a firearm and a uniform, so she worried. Odette polished this revelation off by requesting some 'private time’.I wouldn’t swear on a stack of Bibles that Katrina smirked, but I’d take those odd in Vegas. Aya had a different approach.“Cáel, can you take Daddy Time when you are at work?” Aya smiled politely. I was weighing no puppy dog eyes from Aya for a few hours versus my dick’s desire to be a dick and do what dicks are meant to do.“Please don’t make me transfer Buffy after she murders you,” Katrina offhandedly remarked. She had an excellent point. I decided to give Odette a nice, toe-curling kiss at the elevator.“If all you are going to do is kiss her, you can do that here,” Aya grinned.“Okay,” I nodded. Aya was my buddy. I steamed up Odette good and proper then sent her floating on her way.Three hours later I hadn’t even gotten a 'hello’ out of my mouth before Aya provided this cute piece of information to Buffy and Daphne - our food providers.“Buffy, Cáel kissed a girl so much she was walking on clouds when she left.” The lesson here? No woman is your friend, buddy, or otherwise.The food dropped to the ground and Buffy came storming around my little desk.“Please don’t kill me,” I cringed. Buffy hovered centimeters away, her intense struggle for control evident to everyone present. Finally, she clasped her hands behind her back. Balancing a hand on the back of my chair and the desk, I pushed myself up.My hands came to rest on Buffy’s shoulders then I tenderly started turning her around. She resisted initially before curiosity took over. I brushed the left side of her hair back first. We started with the traditional small puffs of air on her neck and ear. My tongue flicking on the back of her earlobe gave her a jolt which she quickly suppressed.While the air and tongue play along her neck and ears was going on, I was able to sneak my hands around to her stomach right above the belt. Buffy found her hands were pressing against my cock. She stroked it with an unexpected gentleness. My hands migrated up until I cupped her breasts. I didn’t squeeze them yet the intention was there.“Are we okay now?” I whispered.“I’m thinking about it,” she looked over her shoulder. “I’m still having trouble waiting.”“You have to understand you are not my number one girl, Buffy,” I told her. Oh, look. She was about to treat my weenie like silly putty.“I’m his number one girl,” Aya declared proudly. My penis was saved.“As long as I’m the first one he sleeps with,” Buffy asserted.“Too late,” Aya said before I could find a more political way to approach the crisis.“You sleep with Cáel?” Daphne teased.“Yes, of course I do,” Aya sighed in exasperation. “Why do all the girls keep asking me that? Where else would I sleep, but with Cáel?”“Is he a wonderful and considerate bed-buddy?” Daphne teased. Ow - cock - Buffy’s hands.“Best Daddy ever,” Aya beamed.“I go to sleep in his arms to the sound of his breathing,” Aya got dreamy again, damn her. “If I have a bad dream, all I have to do is touch his hand and he wraps it around me. He keeps me safe and I know he’ll never let anything bad happen to me.” That statement stumped all three women listening.Buffy could have had a father. Whatever relationship they may have had was severed now. Daphne and Katrina didn’t even have that. Mothering an Amazon was tough work. It required a callousness not normally associated with maternal instincts. Every Amazon had to be a killer - it was their cultural imperative.I doubted Daphne had the opportunity to continue her genetic legacy yet. Katrina would never have the chance, being sterile. What Aya was describing was more associated with a three year old than a girl of nine. A few Amazon women scorned this as weakness. Daphne and Katrina didn’t. It was almost a wistful jealousy.“Where did you learn to take care of little girls?” Daphne inquired softly.“What do you mean?” I kept my attention on Buffy.“Aya, Silly,” Daphne grinned.“That’s your mistake,” I sighed happily. Buffy smelled good. “Aya is both a child and my comrade-in-arms.”“I can never let her down because she’d never let me down,” I added.“She can’t save you if you get in trouble,” Daphne said.“That’s your problem,” I looked to Daphne. “I don’t expect her to save me. If all you look for is results, you’ll always get the same results.” Not true, but what the fuck.“To me, it is the effort that matters. Only through effort to we excel,” I winked to Aya. “And why does Aya excel?”“Because Aya is a winner,” she glowed.“Repeating that phrase won’t feed you in the wild, or craft you a weapon,” Katrina reminded her.“Aunt Katrina, everyone is afraid I will fail,” Aya’s tiny body became taut as a bowstring. “Cáel waits for me to succeed. I’m so afraid of letting everyone down, except with him. When I’m with Cáel, I feel the stillness you and the others tell me about. The fear goes away and I feel right and good.”“Aya, one day you may have to kill Cáel,” Katrina studied her niece. Aya looked at me and wept silently.“He’s died for me twice already,” Aya choked back her sob. “He’d do it again to protect me.”“Eat up,” Katrina ordered. That ended the discussion. As they were leaving, I noticed Daphne had cried a bit as well.Nikita showed up at 2 pm, in uniform, with a senior female co-worker/training officer. I imagine the novelty for the other woman of going into a skyscraper like this allowed this unfortunate event to happen to me.“Nikita!” Aya squealed. She stayed at her station - good for her.“Hey Aya,” Nikita smiled at my cohort. I got the dark, grumpy frown.“What are you doing - here?” she sizzled. “And, what are you doing making Aya do work? There are Child Labor Laws you know.”“Its National Take A Death Dwarf to Work Day,” I informed her. “Hello,” I addressed the partner.“Officer Skylar Montero,” she replied with a more positive attitude.“Odette,” Nikita bit off the name, “told us you had a three-way Sunday night.” Thanks Odette.“That’s not really fair,” I spread my arms out in a placating gesture. “There were five of us, but we tag-teamed in and out so there were only three on the bed at one time.”“I see why she wants to shoot you,” Skylar chuckled.“Don’t shoot Cáel, Nikita,” Aya piped up. “He loves you.”“He loves a bunch of women,” Nikita growled.“That’s not so,” Aya persisted. “He has sex with a whole bunch of women. He loves you enough to not have sex and that makes you special.”“That makes her unique,” Katrina muttered.“It makes him bizarre,” Skylar agreed.“Cáel, am I the only girl you are seeing who you are not having sex with?” Nikita sighed.“Do you mean didn’t intend to have sex with, or was intending to have sex with but was interrupted?” I inquired.“Don’t make me pistol-whip you into obedience,” Nikita menaced.“It is not as easy as you would believe,” I groaned.“That’s true,” Aya added. “Elsa beat him into unconsciousness Monday afternoon and he didn’t learn a damn thing.” Aya was so proud of me…for getting my ass beat. This happens more than you would believe.“Elsa? That wacko at the door Saturday night?” Nikita gasped with disbelief. “Why did you let her get close to you?”“She came at me in the gym while I was on the sparing mat with a…lady I met,” I told her.“Dude, do you ever rest?” Skylar chuckled.“We were practicing Brazilian jujutsu,” I evaded. “There was suddenly an issue and that led to Elsa coming at me.”“The lady you met,” Nikita fumed. “She was your date, right? The one you were interrupted from fu - having sex with.” The 'fuck’ was cut off for Aya’s sake.“Yes - yes she was,” I confessed.“Aya, come here,” Katrina summoned her diminutive kin.“How badly did the psycho hurt you?” Nikita sighed. No good answer, so I went for the truth.“She beat me with a spear,” I informed her. “The only places she spared were my face and testicles.”Nikita, trusting me as fully as she did, opened my shirt. Both she and her partner gasped.“How is this not a crime?” Skylar remarked.“It was a training exercise,” I joked. They weren’t laughing. “Look at it this way; I will never press charges and no one will bear witness to the beating - end of story.”“Damn it,” Nikita pulled me tight, “what are you going to do?”“What do you think?” I grinned. “I’m going to make Elsa pay.”“You can’t take the law into your own hands,” Skylar inserted.“This is not about a beating, or revenge. This is a Human Resources complaint,” I reasoned.“At Havenstone, this is the process we all agree to. Elsa disagreed with how I mishandled a resources issue. She came at me and I lost,” I explained.“If she had a spear, what did you have?” Skylar asked.“I didn’t get a weapon,” I replied. “That and my bad leg are my reason for 'revisiting’ the dispute.”“What lethal weapon to you plan to use?” Nikita mumbled.“The New Jersey,” I teased her. Skylar snorted. Katrina opened a drawer.“Take these to the nice policewomen,” Katrina handed two Nerf guns to Aya. Aya gave me an apologetic look as she dispensed the pain.“What are these…,” Skylar got out before Nikita started unloading into me - in the stomach.“If you are not going to use yours, give it to me,” Nikita reached out to Skylar.“You know that female violence against men is a rising epidemic in this country,” I pointed out.“We can classify this as police brutality then,” Skylar smirked and fired off her six as well.“Do you really pay this monkey a quarter million to do this?” Skylar asked Katrina.“No,” Katrina said with iron-clad certainty, “we pay him to save the world.” Wow.“How do you see that?” Nikita grumbled.“Do you know how many armed law enforcement agents have gotten past the front desk - ever?” Katrina began.“I’ll make it easy on you - none,” Katrina gazed at the two outsiders. Funny, I was thinking of myself as a member of Havenstone. “Do you know the last time I was in the same room as a person with a firearm who did not either work for me, or with me? It has never happened. This has occurred now because of him and 'no’, I am not having any level of intercourse with Cáel.”“What would you do if I arrested you right now?” Nikita challenged.“For starters, you wouldn’t get off the floor. Your communications would be jammed, all doors locked and elevators kept at their current floor. You would not be negotiated with. Your surrender would not be considered. A military force would examine the scenario and then neutralize you,” Katrina recited in a bored manner.“Murder us?” Skylar gawked. “What about the witnesses?”“What witnesses? Two Havenstone personnel who can pass for you will dress in the appropriate uniforms then drive your car to a distant location. Your dead bodies will be delivered by a different route, the patrol car burned and all evidence eradicated,” Katrina droned on.“The only person who might testify is Cáel, but he won’t do it because it will solve nothing. You two will still be dead, no one worthwhile will believe him, and it will result in his eventual relocation. More to the point, his personal sense of loyalty won’t allow him to betray me,” Katrina was finishing. “None of that will happen though because Cáel is saving the World.”By the flabbergasted expressions on the two cops’ faces was pretty much what I expected. Sure, I had told Nikita I worked for bad people, but she was thinking 'gun runners’, embezzling from government contracts, or the illegal dumping of toxic waste. Sure, they might beat a nosy reporter up and even kill someone who couldn’t take the message.Katrina was a totally different creature than what she had imagined. Katrina had No respect for the law and order Nikita