AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course he was,” I said, my voice tinged with frustration. “He doesn’t have to pay a dime. You ask me, he ought to be cutting me a check personally for the entire amount I’m owed. Hell, maybe throw in a little extra for the trouble you’ve caused me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “This is the solution the boss and I agreed upon.”
“Then maybe I’ll just go to him personally to sort all of this out,” I said.
Charles’s expression hardened for the first time since our meeting.
“That would be a bad idea. Trust me—it’d cause more problems than you’re ready to handle.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t like being threatened.”
“Then don’t poke around in matters that are out of your depth. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that’s just how it is.”
I shook my head in annoyance. “I’m not afraid of you or your boss for that matter. You don’t get where I am without knowing how to handle yourself, Chuck.”
Charles's unease was palpable, etched clearly on his face – a telltale sign I had come to identify all too well.
Years at the helm of a billion-dollar empire had honed my instincts: this man was wrestling with news he dreaded to disclose, a storm brewing behind his guarded eyes.
“What is it?” I asked. “All of it, right now.”
“There’s… a slight caveat on the deal.”
“And?”
“I offered her as your wife, and I stand by that. However, once she’s in your possession, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to give her some time.”
I set aside my disgust at Charles referring to his own daughter as a possession and challenged his words.
“What the hell does that even mean?”
Charles glanced away again, as if trying to determine how to begin.
“As I’ve said, my Emily has been training for this kind of arrangement her entire life.”
His choice of words annoyed me. Most parents wanted a marriage for their daughters; Charles wanted an “arrangement.”
“If we go through with this, she’s yours. But that means you’re going to need to ease her into the actual nuptials. She’s still very young, you see. Very young and, ah,innocent.”
I perked up—internally, at least. Didn’t take a master of picking up on subtext to understand what he meant by “innocent.”
She’s a virgin.I said to myself.
He went on. “So, before the actual marriage, you’ll need to refrain and go easy with her, not to put too fine of a point on it.”
“Don’t sleep with her until the marriage.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“So, you want to give her to me, but I am to keep my hands off.”
“That’s right. Once you’re married, that’s a different story. But until then…”
He trailed off. My mind went to work on the situation and soon it became obvious that there was an alternate explanation for why he didn’t want me to touch Emily.
He was going to betray me.
Then, once he had his daughter back, ‘innocence’ intact, he’d pawn her off to whatever other powerful man he had in mind.
