“Just a bourbon, then,” I said. I watched as he poured the drink.
“Might as well make it a double,” Dennis said as he poured a bigger drink and handed it to me. “It’s just business, Greyson. And it happened before our new… arrangement.”
“You mean the one where you blackmail your niece into marrying me? Because you get a merger, or because you get a messenger?” I asked. The thought had crossed my mind more than once. She was smart, she saw everything. I didn’t dare bring up the issue with my father, but I thought about it.
“Does it matter to you?” he asked as he stared me down. “Would you turn her away if she was?”
“I don’t know what you are insinuating.”
“You know exactly what I am trying to communicate. I see the way you look at her. The way you lust after her. You think I’m not watching you when you talk to her, when you drive her around in that car of yours?” He glared at me. “You don’t even know her. You didn’t watch her grow up, you weren’t her friend.”
“Does it matter?” I asked.
“Does it?” He countered. “If I told you that you could walk away right now, right this instance.”
I glared at him. He knew my answer before I could say it. “I want her.”
A slow grin traversed his face. That was exactly what he was looking for. The confession of my guilt. My love for her.
“And now I know your weakness. You will have her, but you will work with us.”
“What are you proposing?”
“That you support this merger with your father. That you protect my niece. That you do not get in my way.” I ground my teeth. “As long as you don’t f*ck
ing betray my father, I think I can do that.”
“Then we’ll have a deal.”
Joanna
I sat there on that couch running my hands through my hair over and over again. He should’ve been home by now, right? It had been hours.
Wait for me, he said. And I did. I sat there and waited for him, my ass glued there until he got home. It felt like half my life was me there, waiting for him.
And getting knocks on our f*ck
ing door. Like the one banging on my door this time.
I stood up and looked through the peephole. David.
God. f*ck
ing. Dammit.
It’s like he knew I was there alone. I hesitated.
“Come on, Jo. I’m not going away until you let me in,” David said. He smiled. “I just want to talk.”
“I, I don’t know.” I couldn’t help but want to grab that door handle and pull. I wanted to be able to give him a chance. To talk to him. Anything.
But it wasn’t safe. He wasn’t safe. I knew that much.
“I can’t,” I said as I leaned against the door. “I don’t even know why I should.”
“Because I want to let you have your own life. Because I don’t want to betray you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“No, but I know my brother. I know my father. You might believe what he tells you. That I’m a bigger monster, but I’m not. I’m a man who wants to help.” I could hear the growl at the edge of his voice. He was every bit the monster I thought he was.
I was so glad I didn’t let him in.
“Better the devil you know,” I said. “Please. I can’t do what you’re asking. I can’t go there.” I slammed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to fight back the headache that was threatening to overwhelm me. My stomach was swirling and my head was pounding. I didn’t need this right now. I didn’t need any of this.
“Joanna, you do not want to deny me,” I could hear the warning in his voice. What the hell? Had he actually gotten to know me, did he understand who I was at all? No, he’d just shown up, twice. What the f*ck
was he thinking?
I was starting to feel like this man was anything but stable. “Let me in, Jo.”
“I’ve already told you no,” I answered slowly, precisely.
He slammed against the door.
“Get out of here, David.”
“You’re going to respect what I say, or I’m going to call Greyson.” I was deliberate as I said it. “I don’t think you want him to have a reason to go after you.”
“f*ck
. You are going to regret this, Joanna. You are going to wish you’d chosen me. You don’t know Greyson, know what he is capable of, but I do. I know everything that could happen to you. I want to protect you from that. Don’t you see? You don’t belong here, with him.”
“I don’t know Greyson, but I also I don’t know you. I want you to leave.” I said finally and then I turned and walked away, and I sat on that couch. I would rather wait for a man like Greyson than be anywhere near a man like David. “Go away.”
“I will, but I’ll be back.”
It was a promise, one I was sure he would keep.
Chapter Fifteen
Joanna
“When did he come?” Greyson asked as he looked at me, his arms crossed.