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Dressed remarkably down for Alexander Medlock in black trousers and a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, my father stepped into my office, interrupting the stream of endless thought I’d been having while watching the city go about its business below the window.
I turned away from the wall of glass to face the other man. “I’m as ready as I will ever get,” I stated, tucking my sweaty palms into my pockets. “You’re the one who is underdressed.”
He stopped halfway into the room, leaving almost ten feet between us. “I won’t be joining you.”
A sliver of panic stiffened my spine. “You said—”
A hand lifted between us. “I know what I said, but I think this is something you need to do on your own. It will make you look weak if your father has to come with you to broker this arrangement.”
It was impatience and uncertainty that hardened my voice when I closed the distance in three strides. “I don’t even know what the arrangement is. You dropped this into my lap with no explanation and now you’re sending me in there blind to face awoman who I haven’t shared more than six words of greeting with, a woman who could easily be your grandmother.”
“What does her age have to do with anything?” he retorted, his annoyance matching mine.
“You don’t think it matters in the woman you plan for me to marry?” I countered, beginning to feel like maybe my father had finally lost his mind.
No. I didn’t believe that.
My father was the most brilliant and calculating man I knew. He would never put a plan into motion he hadn’t torn apart and built back up perfectly. He was an architect of manipulation and strategy.
But there was bafflement in his recoil.
There was the look of someone not certain he’d heard correctly.
“Who said anything about marriage?”
He had, hadn’t he? I couldn’t have misunderstood something that enormous, could I?
“You said partnership,” I stated in a tone even I wasn’t confident in.
“Partnership,” he agreed with a slow nod. “Why on earth would you ever think I would…?” He stopped, took a deep breath, and started again. “Your meeting with Abilene is to discuss a partnership between our houses, an extension of our power and protection. Jesus Christ, Darius.”
Shredded between relief, frustration, and further confusion, I threw up my hands. “You told me nothing!” I shot back, raising my voice the way I never had to my father. “I haven’t seen you in a week and our last conversation on this matter ended with you deciding Abilene was the one I needed in my life.”
Father pursed his lips, his expression harboring barely restrained patience. “Because I assumed you would use commonsense, Darius. The woman is almost a hundred. Shehasn’t married in over sixty years. Why the hell would she marry you?”
Hearing it all out loud, it was evident that I may have misunderstood quite a bit.
“I apologize,” I said, willing my temper to calm. I motioned him to the sitting area tucked into the corner of my office. “Drink?”
Expelling a huff, he moved to take the armchair. “I need one after that conversation.”
Biting back an ill-timed grin, I moved to the drink cart and poured two whiskies.
He downed his in a single swallow. “Okay, let’s start from the beginning,” he set the tumbler down on the coffee table, “you are going to go to lunch, and you are going to charm Abilene Beaumont. You are going to convince her that attaching her horse to our cart is a good idea. By joining our forces, we can expand both our territories, not to mention we can offer her exclusive rights to our ports and transporting companies. That’s it. When she agrees, tell her you can have the paperwork written up and sent to her lawyers by tomorrow. The sooner we get this all wrapped up, the better I can sleep with your mother planning this suicidal party day in and day out.”
I sipped my drink, mulling over the plan he’d placed before me, recognizing a much more rational proposal than the one I’d dug myself into. Part of me couldn’t believe I ever thought my father would want me to marry some random person old enough to be my great grandmother, but it had crossed my mind — frequently.
A snort from my father had me looking up. He watched me with amusement in his eyes and a smirk on his face.
“I can’t believe you honestly believed I was marrying you off.”
Sneaking my own grin behind my drink, I shook my head. “Can you blame me? All that talk about you and Mom and her binder of stipulations.”
Father rolled his eyes. “I meant that Abilene would most likely have her own requirements to enter into this partnership, but they would most likely not be as thorough or extensive as your mother’s were. Besides,” he snatched up his tumbler and made his way to the cart to pour another drink. He returned and dropped into his chair. “She would skin me alive if I even suggested you marrying anyone that wasn’t Kami.”
I choked on the gulp of whiskey I’d taken. My father watched me with calm amusement in his eyes as I coughed and sputtered.
“What?” I wheezed, throat burning, eyes stinging.
