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“I won’t make you do anything, Theo. But it would be nice to agree to a truce and move on with our lives.”
“You may have settled down with a woman, and her father may have come to his senses, but my life hasn’t changed. To let go of this business would be a mistake. The Skull Kings would never accept my giving away a business they worked on and just handing it over without real justification.”
I hadn’t expected such a disagreement about this. “Would you be willing to work with Dante going forward?”
“After he plotted to kill me?” He laughed, a cold, uproarious laugh. “The only reason he’s breathing is because of you. That’s the most mercy I’ll grant him. What he should do is hand the business to me and bow out.”
“If he doesn’t get Scarlett back, he’ll have nothing left.”
“Boo-hoo. You think I give a shit? Why do you give a shit?”
“With me out of the picture and everything that’s happened with Scarlett, I think Dante would be a good business partner. We haven’t seen his professional qualities because we’ve been too busy fighting each other, but he is a smart businessman. I’m sure you guys could turn over a new leaf and start fresh.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“I didn’t ask you to trust him. I was always the thorn in his side, but now I’m gone, so there’s no reason for you to have issues. He wanted to work with you all along, so you’re the business partnerhe wanted in the first place. Just put aside your differences and make money.”
He relaxed into the chair and rested his hand on his knee. “It looks like you relaxed…and pulled your head out of your ass. I was just about to ask her to dinner too…” He smirked, like this was just some fun game.
“You want to die, motherfucker?”
“Come on,” he said with a laugh. “I did you a favor.”
“By trying to fuck my wife?”
“By reminding you of all the men whowillwant to fuck your wife. How long was it before you went over there?”
I ignored his stare and his question.
He smirked. “I bet it was five minutes.”
“New subject.”
“You’re welcome, asshole.” He looked around the parlor. “You got any booze or what? Where are the cigars? Clean air makes me sick.”
Chapter 16
Scarlett
It’d been a few weeks since I’d seen my father.
Axel didn’t mention him. Didn’t try to talk me into calling or texting. It was nice not to think about it, to put it out of my head and just live my life. My father didn’t contact me either…and that was a bit of a surprise.
I walked into the restaurant and found Axel on top of the bar, working on the pendant lights positioned over the surface. He was in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. There was debris on the countertop.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“The contractor put the lights on a switch, when I specifically asked for a dimmer.”
“So…you’re doing what?”
“Switching it to a dimmer.”
“You—you know how to do that?”
He wiped the sweat from his forehead then looked down at me. “Baby, I know how to do a lot more than eat and fuck.” He tightened the screws again then hopped off the counter to test the switches. “There we go.” The lighting turned bright then dark again, on a spectrum of intensity. “What do you think?”
I took a look around, seeing how much we had accomplished in a short amount of time. It was dark and chic, black marble with white streaks, definitely a sexy vibe. “It’s stunning. Had no idea you had such good taste.”
