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"Again, none of your business. All you need to know is that I plan on announcing our engagement tonight, at the Wandsworth Benefit Center."

"Wandsworth is one ofmycharities. You would hijack that for your own selfish purposes?"

"Well, it’s one of yourlegacycharities, but it's mine now, remember? You are no longer a board member of All Saints Tech."

"Oh yes, son. So you keep reminding me. My point is, who is she? And why does she want into our family? You've made drastic mistakes before."

I pushed to my feet. "No, old man, you made the mistakes. You tried to pawn them off on me as just minor errors in judgment. Remember what you said, Father? ‘I made a mistake. It wasn't something I should have done. I'm sorry I had to do that to prove her unworthy of you, son.’Some made up song and dance." I strode around my desk to stand before him. “Speak the truth. When you promised me to her parents and encouraged us to date and me to propose, you bloody knew her father was in bed with the mob. You knew and you still draggedme into that. Then you doubled down and didn’t just bet your son, but the company your father-in-law built. What kind of man does that?”

His face went red as he flustered at my statement. The thing that really gotme was that I looked like him. Spitting image. He was all silver now with old age, but we were carbon copies. Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw the man I hated. Which was a real motherfucker.

"You can't mean to go through with this, Jasper. I forbid you doing something so rash! You can’t know anything about this woman. I mean, who is she? Where does she come from?"

"We already settled that.You. Don’t. Know. Her.Given our history, that’s perfect news to my ears."

"I know you're still smarting from what happened with Elise. I understand. I hurt you and I deserve your derision for that. The board ousted me after I went off the rails due to her death."

"Not death. Murder. Make sure you use the correct word."

He swallowed hard, his eyes not quite meeting mine. "Have you found him?"

"You see Dad, how this works is that I don't tell you anything about what I do with Rogues. You don't get to ask about Elise’s case. And I'm not looking for you to have closure. I'm looking for me so I can move on with my fucking life. A life that you're not part of. And you know, a fiancée that I can almost guarantee will not come close to shagging you."

He frowned. "What you are saying is you have failed to make progress."

"I don't care if you think I haven’t made progress. I don't need to answer questions from the man who fucked around with my first fiancée while I was deployed. What Iamtelling you is stay away from my current fiancée. She's not your type. She's too smart for you, a little too aware of bullshit."

He sighed. "Will you ever forgive me?"

I shook my head. "No. No I will not. Is there something else you needed to discuss? Because I have work to do."

I deliberately sat down again, waiting for my words to sink in.Ihad work to do, nothim. I couldn’t count the number of times he’d dismissed me out of this very office as if I was unimportant, but now I had parroted the words back to him.

"I see."

"You should see. Kaya has a strength of character I’ve never seen, and I am proud to have her standing next to me in front of everyone tonight. So again, just stay away from her. Otherwise, the thing with you and Elise will become public knowledge. And when it does, those few charities and patronages that you're holding onto will be gone too. You will no longer be one of the most powerful men in Britain. I swear before God."

He sniffed. "You're hurting. I know and understand that. But this girl you want to marry out of the bluewillbe investigated. I won’t leave a single stone unturned. If you won’t look into her and protect yourself and this company, I will. This is still my family, and I'm still the head of it."

I shook my head. "You're the only one who thinks that. Adrianna and Trevor certainly don't. And well, you know how I feel about you. You’d better behave tonight at the event. If you don't, I will make sure you pay the price."

Saint

Later that night at the bar, Lachlan had somehow managed to find me. “You look nervous, mate.”

Looking over his shoulder, I asked "Where's Saff?"

King grinned at me. "No, no, no my friend. My wife isn't going to save your arse from the round of questions I have for you."

"Must we do this? Must you interrogate me about this whole thing?"

"Remember that time when I had my head up my arse and couldn't figure things out with Saffron?"

Did I remember? Hell, it was only a couple of months ago. They'd had a rocky start. "Go on then. Say what you have to say."

"I am not going to say anything." He took a sip of his scotch. "Okay, maybe I'm going to say one little thing. When Saff told me this was your plan, I thought you were insane."

"This is insane."

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