"Do you want to meet to discuss it?" I asked.
"Well, I want to meet, that's for sure."
Any moment I got with her was fleeting, and she knew as well as I did that each time we did, we might never get another.
"When can we meet?" she asked. I could hear the lust in her voice.
"Not right now, baby." Not right now was an understatement. I was about to walk into the biggest deal of the century.
We were about to untangle a mess that was of our own making. Greyson's making.
But I'd never actually say that to him. Especially knowing what I knew about my own relationship.
I had no room to talk.
But I didn't want to be here. I wanted nothing more than to have my woman in my arms right now. To fuck her until she couldn't take it anymore and to impregnate her. It was a crazy scheme, but it was one I'd been working on for the past few weeks we'd been apart.
Every time we fucked, she forgot any willpower, she couldn't say no to me. She took me in each time. Hell, she might even be pregnant right now.
The thought of her secretly pregnant made me groan and I knew I had to figure out my shit.
I had to get my head in the game.
I walked up to the table in the conference room of James Fitzgerald's main office to watch this sit-down. To the outside observer, it was just two business tycoons working on a deal, but we all knew the truth.
These were two men who were hell-bent on promoting their family organization to the very top, no matter what the circumstances.
"Are we ready to discuss this?" Greyson asked. He was at the head of the table. "This war can't go on. It's one thing to fight amongst ourselves, but now there are children involved. My child."
"I do not want to put my granddaughter in harm's way," James said. "I am willing to renegotiate if you are."
"I am. It is a stupid fight. For what? Because we forced them together then forced them apart?" Dennis said. His brother was sitting right next to him. "I think if you can concede the disputed territory, it would be easy just to end this."
They were talking about Brooklyn Park. Glen Burnie belonged in part to both of them, but Brooklyn was all Dennis's territory. The space between that was what they were fighting over. What they'd always been fighting over.
"I will not give you the territory. But I am willing to allow you to have it in exchange for Cherryhill."
"I think that is a fair assessment. You get those businesses, but we need to have access to the buildings we own there."
"Fair, if we also get access to our buildings. And no more war."
They'd sorted it all out in a quick arrangement. We'd been losing bodies over this shit, and they sat down, drank coffee, and came up with a plan in less than a fucking hour. It was insane.
I was pissed as hell, but there was no way I was going to say anything to any of them about it. It wasn't my place. I was just an enforcer. Just one of the people who provided back up and made decisions only when given permission.
I was second in command under Greyson and fourth under his father, but I was still under someone.
I still had to listen to any order given to me. That was the rule, those were the terms. Even when I disagreed with them. It was annoying as fuck, especially when machismo ruled the business between us. So much more could get done if they could just set it aside. So many lives wouldn't need to be lost. But then, I think, our fathers would get bored.
And we couldn't have that.
Kathryn
"What did you say to me?" My father's voice twisted up.
"I said I was going out. I have a big gig." I blinked at him. It wasn't anything controversial. It wasn't anything insane. He knew what I was doing. When I was doing it. It was part of why I was back here.
What the fuck was his problem? That's when I saw it, the giant glass of scotch in his hand. He'd been drinking.
Shit. When he was home and drinking, he was one of two things, happy as hell or pissed as fuck. It didn't matter if he came home to celebrate, or whatever his reason for drinking was, he always turned into one of those two things.
Tonight it must've been pissed as fuck.
"And who the hell said you could leave my house?" he asked, his eyes constricting. When he got like this, he was more than just my father. He was fucking menacing.
And it sounded like he was looking for a fight.
"Dad, I have to go, I have this gig." I tried to get past him, my violin case clutched in hand, but he came at me.
I was scared.
Until he grabbed my case out of my hand and opened it. That violin was one of the most important things in my life. My uncle gifted it to me for my sixteenth birthday. It was a Guarneri. One of the best instruments I could hope to have. My parents viewed my playing as nothing more than a hobby, but Uncle Patrick saw it as something more.
He was the only one who pushed me to do what I wanted.
"This stupid piece of shit? This is what you care about? Not your family. Not your parents." It wasn't really a question, he was declaring it. My father was drunk, but he wasn't totally out of his mind. He knew exactly what he was doing. He always did.
So, when he pulled out my violin and smashed it against the hallway wall, he did it with such precision that it broke down immediately, collapsing in on itself.
It was the nicest thing I'd ever owned, and it was completely destroyed.
"Good luck playing your damn ‘gig' now." He grinned at me and threw it down. "Just remember, little girl. I do worse than that to people who fuck with me." He took another sip of his scotch.
I didn't care anymore. I was fucking out of there. I wasn't going to spend another minute near him. I needed to get out. I needed to go somewhere. Anywhere.
I needed Janson.
Kathryn
"
I can't stand him," I cried as I clung to Janson. He'd been holding me for what felt like hours.
"You don't have to go back, baby. If you are in danger, I don't want you to." He said it with serious conviction. "We'll figure something else out. Anything else."
"How can we? How is that even possible?" I asked. He had no choice, he had to follow orders. It was his life. His duty to the family. Anything he was telling me was just to make me feel better.
"We'll think of something, baby girl. We always do. I'll talk to Greyson about it."
"Does he know, about us?" I asked. I hadn't said a word to him.
"No, but that doesn't matter. What matters is you felt unsafe at home, and you feel safe with me. Plus, you have the information that you gave Michael. It's only a matter of time before he figures out what it means. Before they get closer to capturing him. You've done your part. You've done more than enough." The way he said it stripped all of the anxiety from my mind. Any fear, any bit of terror that was weighing me down, was gone.
"But my violin," I started.
"I'll buy you a new one. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about the gig."
God, it felt so damn good to be held by him. Like I knew that everything was going to be all right. That he would take care of all of it.
"We're done talking about that. Now, it's time for you to just do what I tell you and for you to not think about anything else."
"You want me to follow orders?" I asked. He loved being in control, but this was a bit different than I was used to.
"Strip down, Kat."
"But-"
"I said strip down," Janson growled. He was so very serious.
I looked into his eyes. It was now or never. I had to do what he asked me to. Had to give him exactly what he wanted. Janson was so powerful in my mind, so strong, that I just wanted to obey him. I didn't want to think. I didn't want to worry. I'd spent enough time doing that, and I would have enough time to do that.
So, I stared at him intently as I took each piece of clothing that I was wearing off right in front of him.
Giving him his own personal strip tease. Each piece of clothing fell off, revealing just a little more of me. First my shawl, then my dress fell to the floor. Then I was left in just my bra, panties, stocking and garters.
"Is this what you wanted, Janson?" I asked.
"Yes," he said unapologetically as he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me forward into him. I was on his lap in my undergarments. "It is exactly what I wanted. You don't need to think about anything else but pleasing me."
He reached around and grabbed my ass, giving it a light squeeze as he slid his hand inside my panties. Panties that were completely soaking wet.
"Do you know why I like to be in control, Kat?" Janson asked. He hissed it against my ear. Fuck, it was sexy voice.