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“Patience, princess. I’m about to tell you.” I lean back in my chair, getting comfortable. I’m already pretty comfortable, but I like to make her wait. “I’ll pay for your college. Well, my father technically will, but I’ll free up the funds—”
“You really do think you’re God, don’t you?”
I watch as her shoulders drop in relief. Her reaction to my next news will make the following part even more fun.
“No. God has nothing to do with it. This is a deal with the devil you’ll be making.”
“Delusions of grandeur are not an attractive personality trait.”
“Can you shut up for a minute and listen? There are stipulations.”
“What kind of stipulations?”
“Stipulations for the money to be freed up for you to go to your fancy university. A university, I might add, that had my father not paid for, you would never be able to afford, but that’s neither here nor there. My point is, I will allow you to attend your school, but you will need to follow a few rules.”
“Rules? Seriously. Do I look five?” Her voice is strong, but the way her hands shake by her side, I peg that as fear.
“You need to prove that you deserve such an education. And before you ask how you’ll do that, I’m just going to tell you.” I wait for a beat to build the suspense. “One, you will move into my loft. I know what you’re going to say, that it’s too far from your college. But before you can ask, I’m going to save you the time . . . not my problem.”
My demands are ridiculous, but I need her under my roof to find out just how much she had to do with what happened to my family.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am.”
“You can’t make me live with you.” She turns to the lawyer as if he can save her. “Can he?” she asks him.
“Legally . . . no. But—”
“No buts, he can’t force me to live with him,” she fires back.
“I can, and I will. Also, don’t get too excited about your new living arrangement.” I wink. “There’s more.”
“More? How can there be more?” She shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter because living with you is not going to happen, so I don’t know what more you could want to say.”
“Again, for some reason, you think this is up for debate. There are not going to be any negotiations here. Do you want to finish college? Fine. You wanna graduate? Fine again. Hell, you want some fucking spending money? That’s cool, too. But . . . and there is a huge but. In order for any of this to happen, you will live with me. You can try to fight this”—I shrug—“but just so you know, it will take you years, and it will still leave you in exactly the same position. You’ll have nowhere to live because your money will be tied up in probate. You can go to court, but again, your money will be tied up until it’s gone. Do you understand me?”
“No.” She huffs, her face red with anger. “That is not going to happen.”
“Really? You’re going to go against me.” I smirk. “Do you know who I am?”
“A pretty rich boy who had everything handed to him on a silver—Nope, make that a gold platter.”
I stand from my chair and step forward until I’m standing beside her, looking down.
“No, princess. That’s not who I am. I’m a man you should fear.”
“What are you going to do? Have you ever gotten your hands dirty? Have you ever been desperate, wanted for anything . . . ?” She levels me with her stare. One that says she won’t back down, not without a fight.
If I didn’t hate her, I would probably respect the fuck out of her. Then want to literally fuck her. But this is the hand we were dealt. One where she will be on the permanent end of pain, just like she’d done to my family.
Dad’s hack of a lawyer clears his throat.
“May I have a minute with Payton?” he asks.
“No,” I respond, making his mouth drop.
“But—”
