My father taught me that gratification was appreciated more when taken slowly.
“Trust me, brother. Theo’s kid won’t be taking anything to her grave but her corpse.”
He still didn’t look convinced, and I was quickly losing my patience. Mian had no power over me anymore. “You two have history. You practically raised her. You think you can put her down when it’s time?”
“There’s nothing left protecting her except for mercy, and I have none when it comes to her.”
Lucas’s lips twisted. “Are you’re sure nothing happened between you two?”
“She was a fucking kid.”
“She still is.” His grin was slow. “Then again with that body, I’m not so sure.”
The appreciation in his gaze twisted my gut, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“You saying you want to fuck her?” A switch flipped in my brain giving me the okay to kill this motherfucker if he tried.
“I know at least one of us in this room does, and it’s not just me,” he shot back. “You want her so bad, brother—you’re practically shaking with it. It’s been three years since you’ve seen her. That’s some serious backed up tension. When the two of you are finally in the same room again, you just might spontaneously combust.”
“Are you done yet?”
“You may kill her, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with her first.”
“She couldn’t handle me.”
“That’s because you remember a kid. I , ” he pointed to his chest, “ saw a woman.”
“I don’t want her.”
Lie.
“Maaaan,” he drawled. “Who are you trying to fool? Yourself or me? Because you’d have better luck fooling me than yourself.”
“Is there a point to this conversation?”
“No point. I just need to know when and where you need me.”
“I have a flight to Florida in a couple of hours. While I’m gone, I want you to get this place ready so we can extend an invitation this time.”
*
“ Your stepson, Mr. Castro.” I glared at their butler nearly cracking my molars to keep from correcting him. Marrying my mother after my father’s death didn’t make Victor my stepfather, it made him an opportunist.
And a dead one as soon as my mother came to her senses.
“Angeles?” My father’s childhood friend and bookkeeper pulled me into a hug as soon as I was within arm’s reach. I allowed the embrace, but I refused to return it. Victor was Cuban with average height, receding hair line, and a bushy grey mustache. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Is it going to be a problem?”
I was pissed when he married my mother, but that was nothing compared to the storm I brought down on him when I learned he was moving her all the way out to Florida.
Away from the life she had with my father.
Away from me .
He chuckled and patted me on the back even when his eyes didn’t share his amusement. “You, my son, are very much like your father.”
Unfortunately, for him, it was true.
Unfortunately, for me, my high was blown as soon as my flight touched down, so I wasn’t equipped to be pleasant. My habit of using weed to mellow me started after meeting Lucas and Z. They introduced me, and I never looked back.
I haven’t talked to her since she snuck away and married this prick.
I missed her.
However, loyalty to my father’s memory wouldn’t allow me to forgive her. If he were alive, Victor would never have had a chance with my mother, and my father would have killed him for even thinking so. Victor exploited her vulnerability, and now she believed she loved him.
Despite what would have been, I respected my mother’s wishes, as my father would have wanted, and left him breathing.
“Your mother was beginning to think you’d forgotten about her. She never stops worrying, you know?” I followed him onto the terrace where he had come from. On the table where he sat was a crime novel beside a bowl of grapes.
“I see you are enjoying retirement.”
“Forced retirement,” he reminded with a smile.
“You married my mother.”
“Son—”
“No.” I shook my head and stared at the waves crashing in the distant. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Very well.” We sat in silence. Victor plucked a few grapes from the bowl while I tried to get my temper under control.
“Where is she?” I asked when the urge to kill him wasn’t as strong.
“Having tea with a friend. She’ll be sad she missed you.” I didn’t miss the fact that he didn’t offer to notify her of my presence.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m here to see you.”
His bushy eyebrows reached for his receding hairline. “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” He plucked another grape from the bowl.
“The book is gone.”