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After we both shared a bit of our vulnerability, I took her up on her offer of games and I taught her to play poker. However, I called it a night when she attempted to turn it into strip poker.
She tempted me.
And she knew it.
I just didn’t think she knew how close to the edge I was to losing it.
“What are you going through now?”
She hunched over her scattered papers, pushing some aside. “Right now, I’m flipping through previous escort files and organizing by complaint.”
“Are there that many?”
She peeked up through her lashes to where I sat on the couch. “More than there should be.”
“What happened with them?”
“Nothing as far as I can tell. Charlie probably just paid them off.”
“Have you asked Camille about it?”
“Not yet. I’ll have to send her a message.”
“How’s she doing, by the way?” I asked.
“Really good. She’s kept me up to date over the past few days, and our meeting went well yesterday. I was surprised by how much she knew about the ins and outs of the business and not just the bar.”
“Experience is the best teacher.”
Her shoulders dropped with a pout, and it left her looking like a little kid on the edge of a tantrum. “Right now, my college degree is feeling very lacking.”
I laughed softly at her dramatics. “You’ll get there. I have no doubt.”
“Yeah, especially with Camille’s help. I explained my vision for The Berkshire, and she’s just as excited as me, which is nice to know she’s on my side. Especially since I think Phillip is going to fight me on fully taking over the club.”
“Why do you say that?” I never liked the man, but I was curious about what she saw.
She leaned back, resting her hands on the hardwood floor behind her, and scrunched her nose. “Because he’s been stingy with what he gives me. If I ask for something, he brushes it off, saying I don’t need to worry about it or doesn’t give all of it to me. He just…rubs me the wrong way.”
Her intuition scared me a little, especially when it was directed at me, but she used it well, reminding me of Alec.
“Your father almost fired Phillip before he passed away.”
“Really?”
“Alec was always good about keeping people in their place—or the roles they played. Not in a bad way, but in a way that forced respect to be earned. Phillip wanted the benefits of trust and respect without working for it.”
“I’d only met him a handful of times, and most of our sparse contact was through email, but he definitely came off like a dick.”
“You’re right, though. He will fight you because he won’t want to let the profits he makes off your business go,” I stated bluntly. She was right about her education only taking her so far, and I wanted to make sure she at least saw the difficult experiences coming—like having to fight for what was yours.
I should’ve known she wouldn’t let my warning knock her back. If anything, it only added steel to her spine. She sat upright, her gray eyes sparking with fire. “He doesn’t have a choice,” she stated. “He can try and fight, but he will lose.”
Her hands fisted against her thighs and her cheeks flushed from her fervor. She almost vibrated with her desire to win.
So much like Alec, yet so very, very different.
Because when I witnessed Alec’s passion, I only felt respect and the need to raise to his level. Witnessing Rose’s left me wondering what it would feel like to hold so much intensity under my grip—to control it.
“No matter what he tries, the bottom line is that The Berkshire is mine. I’m of age to claim it all,” she stated more calmly.
“When did you decide you wanted to take over the club?”
“Somewhere in my early college years, I guess. I always assumed I’d major in business like Dad, but I hadn’t known how much I would truly love it. Following in his footsteps made sense and brought me closer to him.”
“He has other business assets that would offer jobs.”
“Maybe, but those don’t interest me.”
“That’s right.” I laughed. “Shipping is boring.”
“Exactly.”
“Did it bother you when you found out Alec ran an escort business?”
“It wasn’t like he was a pimp or anything.” She shrugged. “He didn’t tell me much at first, but I pushed to find out. I’d always been fascinated by the club and the mystery around it.”
I chuckled again, remembering Alec mentioning just that and how it scared him shitless.
“I should have had a goddamn boy,” he grumbled. “With a boy, you only have to worry about one penis. With a girl, you have to worry about every fucking penis in the world.”
And if he was alive to figure out he was close to having to worry about mine coming near his daughter, he’d slaughter me.
