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The dining room went quiet at the sound of Isabella’s voice. She stood up, her body towering over the table as she narrowed her eyes on her father.
“Sit down, Isabella,” he demanded.
“No, I will not sit down! How dare you talk to Blade that way.”
“He’s a man-whore,” her mother hissed. “God only knows what sexually transmitted disease he gave you.”
It was like having brunch with a wealthy, white trash family that didn’t know when to keep their mouths shut. They got off on stepping on the toes of everyone around them and never missed an opportunity to prove they were better than everyone else.
“How dare you,” she said as she regretfully sat down and clutched onto my hand underneath the table.
Her father slammed his fist on the table. “Watch your tone, young lady. Now Blade, I don’t care much for your reputation at Exley. What kind of a man is proud of being known as The Bedroom King?”
I was more than ready to put her father in his place. “Actually, that’s all in the past now, Mr. Dayton. Your daughter and I are officially together.”
Her mother rolled her eyes before popping a few pills, swallowing them down with her third cocktail. “Good grief. It’s Isabella’s senior year of high school all over again.”
Isabella refused to make eye contact with me as I turned to her, choosing instead to stare down her parents. “When will you let that go, Mom? When will you ever forgive me for being a fucking human being and making a mistake?”
“Oh, honey,” she scoffed. “Being a slut is hardly a mistake.”
I had a suspicious feeling that she was exaggerating and that Isabella had never been promiscuous. Especially not in high school.
“Enough! Why did you insist I meet with you guys?”
Her father straightened his tie as our server finally brought us coffee. “It’s no secret that we’re getting older, Isabella. Or that we’ve made a significant amount of money. Anyway, we’re in the process of writing our will, and you’re the sole beneficiary.”
Isabella gasped, her mouth falling open in shock. Still, she was relatively composed when she made eye contact with me, remembering what I had said upstairs. “That’s it? No stipulations?”
Her mother smirked and took a long sip of coffee. “There’s only one stipulation, dear. To receive the inheritance, you’ll have to have worked at Frost Technology for at least five years.”
“What? That doesn’t even make any sense.”
Her father drummed his fingers on top of the table, seemingly satisfied at being a prick and getting under his daughter’s skin. “My business has invested a tremendous amount of money in Frost Technology, and we were well on our way to merging the two companies. Until you cheated on Jason with this guy.”
He gestured at me with a look of disgust as though I were one giant herpes sore. I’d had a few good scares over the years but always managed to miss catching the big one. I cleared my throat and said, “Your daughter didn’t cheat on Jason with me, or with anyone for that matter.”
Her father shot me down with a nasty glare, but I didn’t give a shit. I was tired of being treated so poorly. I wasn’t in the habit of meeting parents, but I knew that these two really took the cake when it came to being pieces of shit.
“Watch your tone, son. You’re skating on thin ice.”
Isabella refused to be further roped into this mess. “Dad, I am not going to work for Frost Technology. I’d rather be starving and homeless than even look at Jason one more time.”
Her father shrugged and leaned back in his chair, unfazed by his daughter’s outburst. “Perhaps you’ll change your mind when you see the dollar amount, Isabella.”
He scribbled the amount on a piece of paper and slid it her way. Her jaw nearly hit the table. Being respectful, I didn’t try to catch a glimpse of the number, but my peripheral vision spotted an awful lot of zeroes.
“Dad, why are you doing this to me? What good would it do for me to work there?”
“That’s irrelevant, Isabella. But we need an answer by the end of this week, which is when we’re meeting with the lawyer to finalize our will.”
The four of us ate brunch in silence that morning, focusing intently on our overpriced pancakes until it was finally time to leave. Suffice it to say, it was an awkward ass breakfast.
Isabella and I walked silently to my car after brunch, not even holding hands along the way. It killed me inside to know that she hadn’t said no right on the spot. Even if she stood to inherit a billion dollars, was that worth sacrificing her freedom? And where would that leave the two of us? I dreamed of the future when I’d be a professional football player. I would make more than enough money for the both of us. We wouldn’t have billions, but we’d have enough for a beautiful life together. Working for her psychotic ex-boyfriend should have been the easiest fucking no in the world but instead, she decided to mull it over.
As we pulled out of the parking lot to head back to Fort Wayne, there were so many things I wanted to ask Isabella. The main concern that occupied my mind is where she pictured us in a year. In my head, she and I were destined to be together. Jason Frost could go fuck himself for all I cared. I’d make sure he never got another chance with Isabella.
I’d arrived at the hotel feeling confident about our relationship and left wondering if I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. And as we got closer to downtown Westfield, I began to question something else. The same headlights had seemingly been following us for a while.
