ing public with her. Right under my nose you little shit.” He sighed and then looked down at his drink. “I knew I should’ve promoted David over you.”
“Don’t you bring him into this shit,” I warned. I wasn’t going to hear it. I’d take a lot of shit from my dad, but not that. Not accolades of one of his f*ck
ing bastard whelps.
“Are you trying to ruin the family and start a war?” The way he looked at me, it was like he actually believed I might do that. That I would risk everything he’d built for a piece of ass.
The truth was, I just might.
“You can’t get out of this one, Greyson. I’ve already had to talk to Dennis. He isn’t f*ck
ing happy. His niece was pure in his eyes, and now you’ve tainted her. But there’s a way to get out of it. Well, to speak.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Do you want me to break it off with her, because-” I started to protest, but he held up a hand.
“You really don’t know the havoc you’ve caused, do you? Everyone knows your reputation. You f*ck
women then you leave them broken hearted. At least you haven’t managed to get any pregnant. Not yet.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” I snorted, but he didn’t think it was funny. He was pissed. The irony was his own legacy. How many f*ck
ing children did he have anyway?
“But this girl, this Joanna. She’s her uncle’s pride and joy, at least that is what he claims. The only girl in his whole family. And he’s furious. You poked and prodded a man who was looking for war, and if we don’t fix it, we’ll have one.” He glared at me. I was supposed to look scared. Subdued.
I just stared at him. “What are you suggesting?” Because if he was going to tell me to stop seeing her, I wouldn’t be able to follow that order. “I can be more discreet,” I offered.
“No, the time for that has passed. Especially when your picture is everywhere with this new ‘mystery’ woman.” He threw down the local paper. I was the son of one of the most famous businessmen in the area. Of course, my picture was in the paper with her next to me. The way I looked when I gripped her waist said it all. I didn’t expect it. Normally they didn’t give a shit about me.
But I never had such a beautiful woman on my hip before.
They knew I wasn’t going to give her up. They had to know it.
“You have a single option.” He leaned against my desk, his fingers pursed. f*ck
. He was dead serious.
“What is it?” I asked as I crossed my arms. I was every bit the leader he raised me to be.
“Marry the girl.”
“What?” I asked. “I don’t think so.”
There is no way she would consent to something like that. Not Joanna. She had too much independence. Too much fight. We barely knew each other. Still the thought of her in my bed, with my last name, completely and totally my woman. It was intoxicating.
“It’s not 1950, father.”
“It is to Dennis. And I get it. I’d do the same f*ck
ing thing if it were one of your sisters.”
I wasn’t done with her yet, but marriage? f*ck
. It would be perfect. But she might hate me for it. I was sorely tempted to say yes, to give my father what he wanted and to take what I wanted. It was the opportunity I needed. But I hesitated.
“It’s that or war.” My father glared at me; I didn’t have a choice. “Dennis has been wanting one for over a year, and you know he has the f*ck
ing numbers to back it up. It would devastate us, even if we did win.”
“When do we inform the bride of the good news?” I asked.
“I suspect her uncle has already informed her.” My father crossed his arms and looked me over. “Had to marry you off some time. Might as well be in order to keep the peace.”
I glared at him. I was his heir and the key to his legacy.
“Good, now that that’s settled, we have some real business to get to.” He stood and walked by me. “You are needed down at headquarters.”
Headquarters. My father was a property mogul. He bought up businesses, used them up as fast as he could, and kept many of them for cover. His longest lasting was chromium steel. But his most successful was the casino. It was his headquarters. The place where he conducted his business on a large scale. Drug trafficking, gun smuggling. You name it; that ass*ole
dabbled in it. The mob had to, at least that was what he said. If we didn’t, we would get behind with the times. It was already going on around us; he just modernized us. Diversified our portfolio. Whatever. It was my empire to inherit, and I had to learn to run it. I had to take it over.
If I could’ve burnt it to the ground, I would’ve.
“Are you coming?” he asked from the door.
“Yes, father.” I gritted my teeth as I said it and followed him. “Bring an extra change of clothes, the ones you have on are going to get messy.”
Blood. He meant blood.
This was my life.
Joanna