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When my father doesn’t reply, I glance up to find him gone, his gaze glassy as he stares at me. Through me. “Kate,” he whispers. “I need you to know, Kate.”
I roll my hands into fists. “Kate isn’t here, Father. She died, remember?”
He blinks at me, forcing tears from his eyes. “Bring me Kate, please. Arran. Bring Kate. I must speak with her.”
Sheer frustration fills me, and I leave him crying out for my sister. Making me feel as helpless as the day she was murdered.
* * *
After the visit with my father, I attempt to work. I go to the Maxton corporate office and sit in front of my laptop with the intent of catching up on emails and calls. But I can’t shake off the overwhelming darkness looming over me.
It’s like this every time I visit him, which is why I usually go in the evenings. The blame for my mistake can be placed solely on a certain gray-eyed beauty waiting for me at home. I went before noon because I wanted Father to give me a sense of absolution for keeping Skye. I went to tell him that I have Thomas Cameron’s daughter. That she belongs to me and that, even in the grave, I can make him pay through her.
It was supposed to give him a sense of closure.
But I didn’t say a word for the same reason that I never told him that it was me who ordered the hit. Because when he learned of what I’d done to Yegor, he begged me not to touch Thomas. He made me swear.
“Please, Arran. No more bloodshed. Swear to me that you will not hurt him,” Father pleaded. “Kate would be ashamed.”
I swore to him that I would not touch Thomas. Instead, I called in the favor Noah Esposito owed me. That was what the agreement was, that I’d give him the name of one of Maxton House’s clients, a list I keep very private. In exchange, he’d do a hit for me. No questions asked.
At first, he was reluctant. It seems the hitman-turned-Don of the Gianni family has morals.
“I don’t want innocent blood on my hands,” he’d said to me.
“There won’t be. Thomas Cameron is anything but innocent and he deserves to burn in hell for what he did. I want you to send him there.”
Then I told him everything, and, in the end, he agreed. He followed him to Louda Underground Lounge and took him out in the bathroom, leaving him half naked with his head in the urinal. He was shamed, humiliated after death, just as my sister had been.
Father heard of the death, of course, and was horrified by it. How could anyone be capable of such a thing?
He’ll never know I was behind it. ThatIam capable of it and so much more. For Kate.
If Father was opposed to the judge being hurt, he would certainly be opposed to the things I’m doing with Skye. He’d demand I let her go, make me promise to. And that’s something I’m not prepared to do.
Fuck no. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her go now. Not when her scent still clings to me. Not when I can close my eyes and conjure up the way her skin feels against mine. The way she tastes. Not when I haven’t been inside her yet.
Blood flows to my dick at the mere idea of her, and I curse myself for having taken Wesley’s bait. He knew I’d pay a much higher price than anyone else. Now he has one million dollars of my money and I have a fucking perpetual hard-on for my enemy’s daughter.
“Fuck me. Devon!”
“Sir?” Devon pokes his head into the office.
I’m already up and collecting my things. “Cancel any meetings I might have for the rest of the day and tomorrow.”
“Even the Williams meeting? They were expecting the proposal for their return on the fifty loans.”
“Fuck.” I grind my teeth in annoyance. Michael Williams is Maxton Holdings’ largest client during the day, investing millions with us. At night, he’s one of the wealthiest guests at Maxton House.
“Change the meeting to Maxton House Saturday night. Tell him he’ll be a guest at my tableandI’ll zero out the auction house fees on anything he wants.”
Devon’s eyes widen because he knows that some of those fees can be staggering, depending on the item. “Yes, sir.”
Shit. That pussy is going to cost me more than one million. I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Thank you, Dev.”
He makes to leave but turns back. “Oh, Lilly’s Den called. They have the order ready and asked if you wish for them to deliver it.”
“No. I’ll pick it up on the way home.”
