Hooker(81)

‘She’s a damn whore. I was only returning her to her rightful owner. She has no place being with you.’

‘You had no right to interfere. She was forced into working for that monster. I saved her, and you threw her back without any regard for her safety or my feelings.’

‘I did you a favour.’

I let go of his jacket and he falls back into his seat. I clench my hands by my sides to stop myself knocking his smug head off his shoulders. I shake with the effort. How can we be related? How can this man’s blood be running through my veins? We’re so different. I have a heart.

‘Pack your shit and get the fuck out of my building. You’re fired.’

‘You can’t fire me,’ he says. ‘This is my company. I founded Weston Global.’

‘And then you gave it to me, remember? I’m CEO now. Either you go or I do.’

‘Giving you this company was the biggest mistake of my life.’

Is he for real? I made this fucking company. It was going nowhere until I took over.

‘Then tell me, Father, why did you sign it over to me?’

‘Because you’re my son!’ he screams, smashing his hand down on the desk. ‘I wanted this company to be my legacy. Was that too much to ask?’

It isn’t, but since when did he give a fuck about his family?

‘I can’t believe you’re going to throw everything away over a piece of pussy.’

‘She’s not just a piece of pussy. I’m in love with her.’ I don’t even know why I’m telling him this. He’s proved countless times over the years that he has no compassion for anyone but himself.

He laughs. ‘You’re pathetic.’

It takes everything in me not to lunge at him. ‘At least I’m capable of having feelings.’

‘I thought you were different, but I was wrong. You’re just like your brother. I wanted sons, but instead I got fucking pansies. I’m ashamed of you—both of you.’

‘Listen here, old man,’ I grate through clenched teeth. My hands latch onto the armrests on either side of his office chair so I can lean right into his face, and my fingers dig painfully into the leather. I’ve never experienced rage of this magnitude before. ‘You’ve managed to push me pretty far in the past, but believe me when I say you’ve never seen me pushed to my limit. I’m warning you now, I’m teetering on the edge. So, I’d shut that fucking mouth of yours if I was you. Don’t test me because, trust me, it will not end well.’

‘You think I’m scared of your idle threats, boy?’ He knows damn well this isn’t an idle threat. He may be wearing a composed look of his face, but his dilated pupils tell me an entirely different story. I’m trained to read body language. I know all the tell-tale signs. It’s time to show this fucker just how serious I am.

Letting go of the chair, my hands roughly grab his tie as I draw him even closer. Our noses are practically touching. If he wasn’t twenty-eight years my senior, I’d knock him out.

‘Put it this way, Father, you go anywhere near Jade again and I’ll fucking kill you.’ I give him a shove as I let go, making the chair tilt backwards when he lands with a thud. ‘Consider yourself warned. I despise you. I’m ashamed to be your son,’ I say. I don’t even wait for a reply as I turn to leave. From this day forward he’s dead to me.

Fuck him, and fuck this company. I don’t need any of it. Storming past Renee and down the corridor, I head for my office. I need to calm the fuck down before I get behind the wheel again. As I pass my secretary, Amy, I hold my hand up to stop her before she speaks. The last thing I want to do is lose my cool with her. I’m fucking livid.

I slam my office door so hard the windows rattle. I wouldn’t give a fuck if they broke. I swipe my hand angrily across my desk, sending everything flying across the room. I want to scream—no, I want to hit something or someone. Unlike my father, though, I know the meaning of respect.

A crushing feeling forms in my chest as I slump into the chair and rest my head in my hands. I’m angry, but more than anything, I’m hurt. How could my father have such blatant disregard for his own flesh and blood? I’ve disliked him for years, but I still loved him—he’s my father and I’m his son. It’s quite obvious to me now that the love only runs one way. A father is supposed to love his children.

All those feelings from the moment I learnt my father wasn’t the great man I’d always believed him to be, come flooding to the surface. I actually feel like doing something I haven’t done since I was a kid—cry. Fuck him, I won’t give him the satisfaction.