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Eric clears his throat and says, “It says here you have to be married for at least one year to get the business.”
Uncle James didn’t have any children, nor did he ever marry—so he doesn’t have any heirs.
I glance at my lawyer, Phillip, and he nods. I snatch the paperwork from my lawyer and my eyes scan the paper, and sure enough, it’s right here in the clause.
My smile deflates.Marriage.My uncle knew I wasn’t the type to settle down. So why would he put that in the will? The thought of being tied down repulses me, especially when there are so many women that will give me what I want, when I want it. Relationships are complicated, nothing more than a business transaction. They always come with strings attached.
I glance at my father, and he smiles like the Chester Cat. He thinks he’s won, but he hasn’t. I deserve my uncle’s business. I invested a lot of money into it, and I want to reap the benefits of what I am owed. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a piece of paper stand in the way of what I want.
Who will agree to something like this? For someone to be my wife. So many women, but most of them are going to want more from me. They will want a family and to have my last name to open doors for them. Except for Poppy. She’s the only woman I know who won’t put up with my shit, who only uses me for sex. She doesn’t expect diamond rings, nor does she want to use my name for clout. She didn’t even stick around for breakfast. Didn’t start planning our future as a couple. She’s the perfect woman for this deal. And we’ll be married for only a year. She can go her way and I can go mine and I’ll make sure she gets compensated financially while she’s married to me and offer her a job since she has a shitty one at the moment. I’ve been checking on her from time to time. But for now, I’m going to make it seem like I am already ready to be engaged to someone so Tommy won’t think he has a chance of getting the business.
“As a matter of fact, I was planning to propose to my girlfriend soon,” I lie straight through my teeth, pushing the thick frames of my glasses up my nose.
The maid, wearing an all-blue outfit, sits drinks on the glass table and my father shoos her away as if she’s a fly. I pick up the glass of whiskey, watching him over the rim before I stick my finger into the liquor then in my mouth. Tommy brought out the good stuff. Watching him frown makes me want to leap for joy. I keep my composure, remaining cool, calm, and collected.
He grits his teeth and balls up his fist, digging his nails into his palms. “To whom?” he asks in disbelief.
“Poppy Giles. I’ve been seeing her since last year. We kept our relationship under wraps because she doesn’t like publicity.” The lies roll smoothly off my tongue.
He sits forward, resting his balled fist on the edge of his knee, tapping his Italian loafers on the marble floors.
“Bullshit,” he says. “You don’t deserve that business.”
Myfathermakes sure that I don’t forget that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, and the only reason why he tolerated me was because of my mother.
When my mother was alive, he struggled to accept me, but when she died, he couldn’t wait to ship me off to boarding school. I never understood the hate he had for me. I would ask my mother why he hated me and she would only tell me that he loves me, but that he doesn’t know how to love properly, which turned out to be a load of horseshit, because he treats my half-siblings like they walk on water.
He’s a shitty man, but he always paid for my education and made sure I had everything I wanted and needed, even though he saw me as a burden.
“I’m getting the business. End of story.”
I get up from the coach, hover over him, and pluck one of his cigars from his shirt pocket and light it. Then I blow smoke in his face. Tommy stands, yanks me by the shirt, gritting his teeth.
I laugh like a hyena.
There is no way this man can take me on. I’ll have him black and blue without breaking a sweat. I flicker ash on his thousand-dollar suit, plastering on a fake smile.
“Gentlemen,” Eric barks, and Phillip stands up, squeezing between us.
My father lets me go but hate fills to the rims of his irises.
“If I find out that you married to get my brother’s business, I’ll take you to court.” He wipes the ash from his suit.
“I would love to see you try, old man.”
Once I’m done smoking the cigar, I waltz to the fireplace and stab the cigar on the mantelpiece before tossing it to the floor. I beeline for the exit. Once I make it to the front French doors, relief washes over me as my shoulders sag.
Going against my father has always felt like being in a boxing ring. He will not rest until he has my uncle’s business, so I need to be on my toes. I need to make sure all my ducks are in a row and not have a single slipup.
I have got to find Lake and ask her about Poppy. The thought of her makes my dick hard. She’s the only woman I think about from time to time, the only woman I don’t mind the idea of fucking on a regular basis. I have a rule that I sleep with women only one time due to them getting clingy in the past—no repeats. Yet when I first laid eyes on her at the restaurant last year, I thought she was an angel fallen from heaven. But she made it known she wasn’t interested in me. That only made my dick harder. When she called me out of the blue and asked for a one-night stand, I hopped at the opportunity. Once we had sex, she ran back to her ex-fiancé. I was pissed. Not because I had feelings for her, but because she didn’t deserve the way he treated her. No one deserves to be treated like shit. I didn’t want her to go back because I wanted to keep fucking her. It’s selfish, but I don’t care.
I only care about my own interests.
“Why didn’t you introduce me to your girlfriend yet?”
I turn to look at my sister, Lacey.
Her round glasses sit on the bridge of her nose and she’s wearing a tight plaid skirt with a very revealing cropped shirt. She’s petite, with her mother’s blue eyes and Tommy’s dark brown hair. Yet she doesn’t look like him, the spitting image of her mother.
