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“Mother isn’t happy that you missed Sunday brunch,” Liam stated.
“I kissed her Liam. On Friday and again today, before we had sex.”
There was a moment of silence before he spoke. “You kissed her…on the lips?”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see. “Yeah.”
“I thought that was your line in the sand. You never kiss them on the lips, Declan. You fuck them and leave…you’ve been like that since we were teenagers.”
“That’s the problem…with her there is no line in the sand, Liam. I want to see her again.”
“Why are you so hung up on her? You don’t know anything about her.”
“I don’t, but she’s different.” That was the only thing I could think of. “She is beautiful, smart, and different. Do I really need any other reason to be attracted to her?”
“Attracted? No. Obsessed? Yes. Especially when you know that it can never become anything more than a fling. She’s not one of us, Declan, so just get it out of your system before Father catches on that this is more than just some screw for you.”
How could I get her out of my system when every time I was near her I just wanted to touch her more?
“Declan.”
“Yeah.”
“Stay away from the good girls. We either break them, or they break us. And just in case you were wondering, I took care of the club owner and got the tax. Father is looking into them and he might need us. Don’t forget who you are what you do,” he said before he hung up. I hated it when he got serious.
Logic told me he was right and that I should stay away from Ms. Coraline Elizabeth Wilson. She had a clean record and had never even gotten a speeding ticket. She went to church. She didn’t drink, and at first, I’d thought she was an alcoholic…I would have preferred it actually. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find anything that indicated she was. All the comments on her graduation speech were from people congratulating her, and saying that a better person couldn’t have earned it. In our family good people were chess pieces…disposable. It was the way it needed to be.
Why am I even thinking of the family? We hadn’t even gone out on a proper date yet.
Why was I thinking of a proper date?
“Declan, get yourself together,” I told myself for the umpteenth time since I’d met her.
THREE
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.”
?Napoléon Bonaparte
CORALINE
I’d kept my phone turned off for the last two days. I didn’t want to stare at it, wondering whether or not he would call, when I already knew the answer to that. So my plan was to do what I came to Chicago to do in the first place—work. I was now in the corner office of WIB, looking out at the Chicago skyline. At twenty-three I was officially able to take part in every meeting, have own office, and my own staff. Who needed anything else?
Who needed Declan Callahan?
“Come in,” I said loudly to the office door.
“Ms. Wilson?” Tyrone Stevens, the second youngest board member, entered my office. He was dressed in a blue-striped suit and was at least a decade older than me. He stood just about an inch or two shorter than me, and his skin was a shade darker than mine.
His dark brown eyes looked me over. “I heard you’d set up an office and I wanted to say hello earlier, but work got in the way.” He held out his hand and I shook it as I smiled.
“Thank you, Mr. Stevens. It’s really good to be here.”
“I was just a high school intern when your father started this business. I’m sure he’s proud of you. You’re a remarkable young woman.”
“Don’t flatter me too much. At least not until I’ve earned it.”
He nodded. “Of course. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but I really hope I don’t need to come running to you just yet,” I replied feeling slightly awkward under his gaze.
I waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t.
“Did you need anything else?” I prompted.
“No. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to work. Again, welcome to your bank.”
I laughed. “Thank you.”
He stepped back to door, and before it could close completely, my secretary peeked her head inside. Her glasses slid down her nose and she pushed it back up as she waited for me to acknowledge her.
“Yes?”
“Your uncle his here. I told him you weren’t seeing anyone, but he says he won’t leave until—”
“It’s okay, Constanza, let him in.”
But before she could, Uncle Adam burst into my office. “What did I tell you? If you had a brain—”
“Uncle!” I cut him off as I rushed to the door. “I’m so sorry, Constanza. If anyone else asks for me, please tell them I’m a meeting.”
She nodded and I closed the doors before I turned to him.
“Do not insult my staff!” I snapped.
He snorted as he walked up to the windows. “Your staff? Look at you, you sound just like your father. Next will come your work, your company, and your money. Here I am repeating history to a child.”
I took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“Did you know we started this company together? We were just bookies as first, hustlers on the streets. Your father was the brains, I had the street smarts, the charm. Getting people to trust me was just so easy. Too easy. Then he started investing…without me. He doubled their money not only on paper, but in their actual hands. Next he was buying offices…without me. This business, it grew out of thin air. I couldn’t believe it. I thought we’d finally made it and then I tried to walk into the office one day and a girl, the same age as you said I couldn’t go up…not without an appointment. You should have seen my face.” He turned and glared around the office and I could see the tension in his jaw as he gnashed his teeth together. “That’s when I realized that brains outdid charm. He screwed me right out of everything and there was nothing I could do about it—”
“Uncle.” I sighed. “I know this story. You’ve told me it almost every day since he died.”
“Good riddance too! He was a fucking bastard!”
I took a quick breath like he’d stabbed me. No matter how many times he said it, it still hurt. I wanted to scream that he was my father for better or worse, but I knew that it would only make my uncle rant more.
“Do you need more money, Uncle?” I just wanted him to go.
He snickered bitterly. “You little…No. I didn’t come for money! I came for my cut, it’s past time I got what was owed to me. This place wouldn’t have been built if it weren’t for the connections and the deals I made!”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Why not? Aren’t you a major shareholder?”
“It doesn’t work like that—”
“Then make it, Coraline! Make up for your father’s sins! We are family. I’ve taken care of you since you were a child. You have no one else but me. Your actual blood is my blood, how can you turn away from away that?”
