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He came in and kissed me on the cheek. “I was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by.” He didn’t say anything about my dirty apartment, the pile of clean clothes on the couch that I hadn’t bothered folding, or all the boxes and wrappers sitting on the kitchen counter. He took a seat away from the clothes and got comfortable.
“Sorry, wasn’t expecting company.”
He sat there for a while, his hands together in his lap as he looked at the painting on the wall.
“Everything alright?”
“Yes, everything is fine,” he said calmly. “How have you been?”
“Kinda bored, to be honest.”
He smiled, but it was disingenuous. “There’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
“I’m listening.”
He paused for a while. “One of the last things my mother said to me before she died was how proud she was. You know we grew up poor. I shared a room with two of my brothers until adulthood. When I bought her a villa…she looked at me in a way she never had. That moment was priceless, and I’ll cherish it the rest of my life.”
He’d told me that story multiple times, not because he thought I didn’t know the tale, but just so he could tell it again. “Dad, even without the company, she would still be proud of you. They may have taken the business, but they didn’t take your money. You’re just as rich, and you can buy as many villas as you want.”
“But I’m in my forties…and still have much to accomplish.”
“I think you’re being hard on yourself.”
He looked away. “I wanted to give this business to you, Scarlett. I wanted it to be your inheritance.”
“Dad, I’ve inherited better things from you. Like your heart and your courage.”
His eyes remained averted, but they softened.
“I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed by what happened, but all that matters is you and I are still here. We walked away unscathed, and I’m grateful for that.”
“Well, I can’t let it go so easily.” He lifted his head and looked at me again. “So, I met with Axel last night and made a deal.”
My entire body turned rigid at his words. “A deal?” I’d gotten the impression there wasn’t room for a deal…just a takeover. Theo and Axel had plotted this from the beginning, and they’d gotten all their ducks in a row before they crushed my father.
“Yes. To get the company back.”
“What did you offer them?” I asked. “Did you buy the company?”
“No. I offered Theo the other two skull rings.”
“And what about Axel?” What did my father have that he would want?
He hesitated before he answered. “You…”
I stared at him blankly and waited for the rest of the sentence. “What does that mean?”
“He wants you to be his wife.”
I heard the sentence and understood it, but it didn’t make sense. It was like gibberish. “Excuse me?”
“I understand this may be overwhelming?—”
“It’s not overwhelming. It’s just senseless.”
“Marriage is the only thing he’s willing to give us back the company in exchange for. I will get my portion, and then the business will be yours upon my death. You’ll share it with him, but it’ll be passed down to your children?—”
“I’m waiting for the punch line to the joke,” I said. “Because this must be a joke.”
“You liked him?—”
“Yes, liked. As in, past tense,” I snapped. “No chance. He royally fucked that up. Honestly, I don’t even understand why he would want me. He had me, and he walked away. Sounds like it’s just a ploy to make you suffer.”
“Whatever his angle is, I think we should do it.”
“What?”
My father bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck.
“You said you wanted me to marry someone who worships the ground I walk on. Now I have to settle for this pig.”
“Men do stupid shit when they’re young, sweetheart?—”
“And I’m not going to do something stupid like marry him.”
He lifted his head and looked at me. “There is no other way.”
“We can live our lives.”
My father released a heavy breath then let it out slowly. “I understand this is a lot to ask?—”
“I told you not to cross Axel. I told you just to let things be, but you needed to be petty.”
He closed his eyes for a brief moment. “You’re right. I fucked up?—”
“So now it’s up to me to save our business by marrying a man I don’t want? By marrying a man you hated so much that you backstabbed him?” It was ludicrous. “No. Fucking. Way.”
My father turned quiet, dropping the argument. “I’m going to give you some time to think about it.”
“I don’t need to think about it, Dad.”
“Well, if you don’t…” He rubbed his hands together. “Everything I built will be gone. Overnight. As if decades of sacrifice and hard work never happened. Get me back our company, and I’ll take care of Axel later.”
