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He doesn't move but levels me with his stare. "Why do you have the Arturo invitation?"
I wave at the paper. "Maybe because Sebastian dragged me out of bed this morning to confront me about it? Three days for the annual meeting is all the notice you're giving this time?"
He narrows his eyes and slips his hands into his suit pockets. "The timeframe is always short on these things. We do this to minimize the chance of an attack."
"And you decide to do this now when tensions are already running high between us and the Arturos?"
He sits up a little straighter, his pensive gaze swinging around the room. "Can everyone please give us the room? We have a couple of personal things to discuss."
Great. Here comes the beating for so much as expressing my opinion.
His eyes are hard and angry, and I meet them head-on. I'm done fucking cowering in front of this man...this goddamn stranger to me. It makes sense now. I always felt there was no way a man as hateful as him could be my father.
Once the medical staff finishes what they are doing and flee the room, two of my father's goons step inside and close the door, locking us inside.
I don't give the man the satisfaction of backing down this time. "Things are tense because you decided to use and discard the Arturo princess. That's on you."
I clench my jaw and glare at him. This fucking asshole. "Pretty sure you helped with that. I could have had her leashed quickly, secured mind and body, if you hadn't decided she wasn't good enough the second you saw her."
He shrugs. "Well, then she was nothing more than a server. Good enough to fuck, sure, but not be included in the family. You’ll learn, Son, women are only useful when you need them to be. Otherwise, they are nothing to us.”
I shake my head at the hypocrisy. "And now that she's the darling princess heir, she's suddenly good enough to be included in business?"
He snorts. "No, of course not. I'm playing Sebastian. If he thinks I care, if he thinks I'm including her, he'll be content. It's the disrespect he's pissed about. Once I fix that, things will go back to normal."
I scan his face. He's fucking serious. He actually believes himself.
A laugh slips out of me, and I shake my head in disbelief. "If you think that inviting Bel to a fucking party is enough to placate Sebastian, you don’t know shit about him. He won't stop until you're eviscerated on his table and he's winding your entrails around his fork. If he accepts the invitation and shows up, it will be only long enough to tell you to go fuck yourself while he secures the rest of your allies at his side. He's ruthless, cunning, and once slighted, he doesn't forgive. Ever."
My father pushes from his seat and skirts the bed casually. I feel his guards closing in on my back. Ah, I must have said something that hit a nerve. Normal if you ask me. Such a fragile ego he has. I can’t wait to destroy him.
One of the guards' meaty paws wraps around my upper arm, and I jerk free. "Don't fucking touch me. I'm done being a punching bag for any of you."
The other guard moves to grab me, but I duck out of his hold. And right into my father's fist. It comes at my face, and I barely have time to shift so his knuckles glance off my jaw. Pain zings along my lips and neck, up into my temple. Fuck this guy.
I stand up straight and glare right back at him, meeting his eyes. Then I do something I haven’t tried since I was a scrawny kid thinking I was a man. I lash out, and my fist hits him right under the chin.
"Hmm," he says and spits blood at my feet. "Did someone grow some balls while I was away?"
I know this game all too well. He’s baiting me, trying to draw me out, like he always does. My father waves the guards back and walks toward me, each step bringing him deeper into my space. "You might be the big man on campus, but I rule here, in the real world."
Before he can say anything else, I slug him again, this time right across the cheek. I feel the deep ache in my knuckles, letting me know I’ve probably fractured something, but I don’t even care. It feels good to see that flash of anguish overtake his face, even if it’s for a mere second. That anguish morphed into fear that soon becomes anger, that’s red hot matching my own.
He strikes back, planting his fist right in my gut, and I double over, trying to hold myself upright. Damn. I always forget how fucking fast he is. Just once, I want to be stronger, smarter, better than him.
Once I can draw breath into my lungs again, I stand fully, my fists curled. "What do you want? Or is this just you proving a point, beating on me because you can?"
He grasps the bottom of his jacket and jerks it straight. "Maybe a little of both. Maybe you piss me the fuck off when you open your mouth, Drew. If I want to hear your opinion, it'll be with my gun on your tongue. Are we clear?"
Something in me wants to dare him to do it. End this little back-and-forth between us once and for all. Seb, even if he hates me, would make sure my father sees justice if he kills me. At least, I think he would. Bel certainly would.
I don't answer, and my father steps closer, getting in my face. "Are we clear?"
"If you want me dead, then fucking kill me, but we aren't doing this anymore."
His eyes are slits, and his spittle hits my face as he whispers low and fierce, "We will do anything I damn well want to do. I'll lay you down right here, shoot you in the head, and put you in a bed just like your mother. Keep you alive with absolutely no control, no care except my mercy. How would you like that?"
I shrug, even as my heart hammers into my ribs. "I'd rather be dead if it's all the same to you."
