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“She’s just under his thumb.”
“What’s with the sick codependent relationship?”
I took a drink. “He’s the father of the year. Raised her as a single dad. Not only does she love him, but she feels gratitude too.”
“She owes him nothing.”
“I guess her mother wanted an abortion, but he wanted to keep her. If he hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t be here right now. So she does feel gratitude. I’ll never compete with that. If her father disapproves of me, that’s the end of it… It’s fine.”
“Why would you want her father’s approval if you’re just fucking?”
I stared at my glass. “I was open to the possibility of something more.”
He stared at me but kept his thoughts to himself.
“I’m not anymore.” I took another drink. I’d closed my heart permanently when she said those words to me, that we had no future because her father didn’t like me. I would never be more than a fuck buddy. “He’s selected her as his successor, and that worries me. She’s smart and has decent reflexes, but she’s too sheltered to know what a life like this is really like. She’s in way over her head, and I don’t understand why a loving father would want his only daughter to have a target on her back.”
“That is perplexing.”
“It doesn’t make any goddamn sense,” I said. “He told me he had plans for her.”
“Maybe he’d use her as a pawn in a bigger scheme.”
“I fucking hope not.”
“Maybe his love isn’t as selfless as it seems.”
I dropped my gaze to my glass, and we sat in silence for a while.
“What do you think his next move will be?”
“I think I know exactly what it’s going to be…and he’s going to regret the day he crossed me.”
I didn’t text her for a few days.
Our last conversation had pissed me off—and I was still pissed off.
But I couldn’t avoid her because I had to stop by the house and meet with Dante. I stepped on to the estate and checked in with one of his men, who notified the butler that I awaited his presence.
I stood in the parlor and looked out the window, seeing the garden outside in the uplighting. It was evening, so Scarlett might not be here, but sometimes she was around when I least expected it.
Footsteps sounded behind me. “Axel.”
I turned and forced a neutral stare as my eyes connected to Dante’s. “Good evening.”
He wore dark jeans and a gray shirt, his arms muscular like he hit the weights every morning. He was fifteen years older than me, but his physical fitness was comparable. His eyes were kind and there was a slight smile on his lips, but I knew it was all bullshit. “Ready?”
“Yep.” I headed to the door.
But Dante stayed behind. “Do you mind if Scarlett joins us?”
I turned back around and felt like I’d just walked into a trap. “Not at all.”
“I thought it was best to give her an introduction.” He turned back toward the arch that led to the parlor, and she appeared a moment later, wearing a leather skirt with a silk blouse tucked into it. She wore stilettos too, but she walked in them like they were flats. She had her father’s height, nearly six feet in those heels, but she was still shorter than both of us. She was fucking beautiful…as always.
Fuck, this was going to be a rough night.
Her green eyes found mine, doing her best to regard me with indifference—and failing.
