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“No, but he was very graphic about our situation. It pissed Elias off…” I shrugged. “Like I said, he got what he deserved.”
I wouldn’t give her anymore. At least not now. He’d shared something intimate with me and sharing it with anyone else felt like betraying his trust. He didn’t offer that part of himself to people. He trusted me enough to share it with me. I wouldn’t make him regret the decision.
“When your parents told you about Klay, was there anything about him that you would have considered a deal breaker?”
“A deal breaker that would stop me from marrying him?”
“Yeah.”
“He was rich. Very sweet and I knew he wouldn’t cheat. Sexy in a nerdy kind of way and he didn’t disappoint with the necessary tools I needed to make a happily ever after, so no, not really. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Come on, Cress. You’re asking for a reason. Is there something about him that feels like a deal breaker?”
“No.”
“Then why ask.”
“Because bitch, I wanted to know,” I argued and she stared at me like she didn’t believe a word I was saying, so I pushed off the sofa to go get more wine. I brought the bottle with me, refilled her glass with what was left and curled my legs up under me again but this time I pressed my back to the arm of the sofa and faced her.
“I hope you don’t think giving me more wine is going to make me drop this.”
Her eyes narrowed my way.
“There are no deal breakers. Okay, relax. He’s not perfect but there’s also nothing you need to worry about.”
That was more or less true. She didn’t have to worry about him. I chose to trust Elias until he proved to me that he couldn’t be. Regardless, I didn’t feel like he would ever hurt me. Intentionally or not. If it came down to it I truly believed he’d harm himself before he ever hurt me.
FIFTEEN
elias
“Isthis the only place in the city where you can have a business meeting?” Ez glanced at me over his shoulder as we navigated through the main area to get to the private room that had been reserved for the evening.
“There are plenty of places but here we get overlooked because the majority of the crowd is occupied by their own personal agendas.”
“Too busy fucking to recall a face.”
“Exactly.”
As soon as we entered the private room, we were greeted by Chief Commissioner Reid and Governor James who brought his son-in-law Fisher. Might as well get him acclimated. Didn’t take much for James to make his decision about where his loyalty needed to be rooted.
“Evening, gentlemen. Glad you could join us. I also appreciate you coming out this late so I won’t waste your time. We’ll get down to business as soon as Christian gets here,” Ez spoke, lifting his chin in acknowledgment to the three men.
There were two large sofas facing each other and two matching armchairs. One on each side. I sat in one, Ez the other while James and Fisher filled one sofa facing Reid who sat alone on the other.
“Sorry I’m late. Accident on the highway,” Christian muttered after he walked in closing the door behind him. He took the seat next to Reid.
“Now that we’re all here. Let’s get started.” Ez lifted one leg placing his ankle on the opposite thigh. I sat arms resting on the outline of my chair, legs spread wide, an alternate position of power to the one Ez displayed. Christian chuckled, peeping the display of dominance. He always chose the more laid-back approach. Just as dangerous because you didn’t see it coming.
“Commissioner.” Christian motioned to him to begin.
“I’m sure you know things have been a little disrupted over the past couple years. Your two families have been on opposing sides which made the demands of our job more complicated.”
“What you mean is you’ve had to get off your ass and do the job the good citizens of Crescent Falls pay you to do.” Reid shot me a nasty look but knew better than to follow it up with the disrespectful thoughts I would no doubt believe were sitting on the tip of his tongue.
“There’s only so much we can do when our hands are bound by obligations you put in place. Those obligations, however, have been self-serving over the past few years.”
