I just nodded.
“Pays to have a job you love,” Greyson answered Janson as he ushered me into the bedroom.
Right. They beat the shit out of people for the fun of it. I forgot. My mood soured, but it was too late. I was in his arms.
The arms of a monster.
Chapter Eleven
Greyson
“I need you to procure the expenditure list of September. I need to sign off on it,” I told my secretary, Lily.
“Do you want October’s as well?” she asked as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was her nervous tick, one that I’d picked up only hours after working with her. She fiddled with her hair when nervous. I understood. I made everyone around me nervous. She just wasn’t good at hiding it.. She was eager to please and hard working.
“If you can get it from my father’s accounting staff. They usually aren’t available this early in the month, but you might be able to at least get a projection.”
She nodded. Lily was new, but she was a quick learner. Her brother worked on the line, and he’d spoken to me privately, asking for the favor of a hire. I promised him an interview, nothing more.
But she was qualified, and I knew if she worked half as hard as he did she would be a good edition. I was right, she worked harder than her brother.
And I liked to torment Janson with her because I saw the way he looked at her. He thought she was cute.
“Anything else, sir?”
“Yes, I need to go get David Murphy on the line. His number should be in the company contacts.”
“Does he work in a particular division?” she asked. She meant of Fitzgerald Incorporated or Mizer Group, the two business groups my father was the CEO over. He also had a dozen shell corporations all linked back to them, the master of business and embezzlement. It was an empire built on dirty dealings. My dad was a master of underhanded, one that no one could ever catch in the act, not that they hadn’t tried. I knew that was why we were so careful in our field. We made sure that nothing ever got connected to us. That we were flawless. Because if anything came out, if there was one scrap of evidence, law enforcement would have a field day. I learned to be wary of anyone and everyone from a young age. It was part of my duty as a Fitzgerald.
I was the heir apparent, but David was the next in line.
“Both, actually. He is the VP of human relations over at Fitzgerald. You should be able to get him there.”
I was the VP of finance and marketing, officially, but I also ran Fitzgerald Chrome as the CEO. Clear delineation made between the two of us.
“Yes, sir.” Lily nodded then turned and walked out of my office to her own. She would do exactly as I bade without question. That’s what I paid her for.
I’d never been one for rivalries, and I’d avoided David at any cost. I didn’t want to do what my father begged of me. I didn’t want to execute him.
It was the final step in my development, according to my father. But it was insane. He was my brother and my father’s son. He loved him. Loved us both.
If he was even capable of love.
I wouldn’t do it unless I had to, but my father was starting to send messages. Little notes telling me that I wasn’t going to get out of it this easily. I had to find him. I had to warn him.
Or I had to kill him.
Joanna
I stared at the letter on my computer screen, searching it for some reason not to send it. For some reason not to print it. But I couldn’t. The more I thought about the dinner last night, the more I realized that Greyson’s father was right. I was going to have to live the life my Aunt lived. The life my mother couldn’t live. At least not while I was married to Greyson. Still, I wasn’t ready to call it quits. At least not yet. So I called it a “leave of absence” surely they would allow that, right?
To Whom it May Concern,
Due to life circumstances I will be taking a leave of absence from UMBC effective immediately. I appreciate the opportunity to join such a dedicated cohort, but studies will have to continue independently for the time being.
I’ve appreciated the chance to study and earn my degrees. I will take what I’ve learned with me as I enter a new path in life’s journey, and I hope to return to UMBC.
Respectfully,
Joanna O’Brien
Dammit. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was getting married, and I had to leave my entire life behind. All because of some stupid tryst. All because my uncle was more concerned with finding a way to bring the Fitzgerald’s down from inside. It was all so fucked up, and somehow I was caught in the middle.
Not somehow. I knew how. I couldn’t say no to Greyson. Fuck, he was a weakness I couldn’t afford. One I couldn’t say no to.
I buried my head in my hands and tried to think of a way out of this mess. It was impossible.
A knock on the door interrupted me. I silently thanked them and stood to answer the door.
“Who is it?” I asked, politely.
“You won’t believe this, but we’ve met.”
“Oh, we have?” I asked. He did look awfully familiar. I opened the door but left the chain on. “How?”
“Last July we were at a mixer together. I’d just finished my MBA at UMBC, and you were there, looking absolutely stunning, in an emerald dress.”
I remembered the party. I remembered that dress, but- oh- I suddenly remembered him. He was a nice guy, said hello to me. Asked me a couple of questions, about my life. I got hailed by a graduate student in my department, or rather, my prospective department.
I remembered that smile.
“You remember?” he asked.
“Uh, yes,” I said.
“I still wish I’d gotten your number.” That cocky smile that was the one I remembered.
“Is that why you are here?” I asked, confused. How would he have known to find me?
“What? No. I’m David, Greyson’s brother.” I looked through the peephole to see a strong, sturdy face staring back at me, and when I saw those eyes, the same eyes as Greyson, I knew he wasn’t lying. Besides, security wouldn’t have let him up if he wasn’t authorized.
“I wasn’t aware Greyson had a brother,” I said as I opened the door.
That smile, it was the same as Greyson’s too.
“Well, half-brother,” he said slowly as he entered the penthouse. “I haven’t been up here in ages. Really love what Grey’s done with the place.” He took a seat on the leather chair and looked up at me. “I wanted to come and wish you luck. I heard about your upcoming nuptials and thought that you might want to talk. Get to know the man you are marrying from a… different perspective.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at him anew. This wasn’t a friendly visit. No, this man wanted something. I could see it all over his face now that I was looking for it.
“What do you mean?” I asked, skeptical. I was second-guessing letting him in. Security did, after all, let my uncle up. I needed to speak to Greyson about that, actually.
“What I mean to tell you is that you are making a huge mistake. Greyson is not the kind of man you should even be bothering with. He’s… well, he might marry you but he won’t stay with you. He’s, regrettably, like our father in that department. Ever the Playboy.” He waved his hand away.
“And that’s why you came here, to warn me? I wish I could say I was surprised about him, I wish I could say I didn’t know that. But I do. And the wedding must go on.”
“Yes, our father told me. No choice. You must marry into the family. Your honor, or some such nonsense?” he asked. It was a flimsy premise, that was my argument, but both families were Catholic. It might seem archaic, but it made total sense when you looked at it through that lens. Even James Fitzgerald could not deny it.
I nodded.
“So now you have to marry the playboy jock and suffer the consequences. Is that really what you want?”
I paused. I didn’t know this man. We were just two people who met once, but I felt like, I don’t know. I felt like he knew me. It was those eyes. Those soul-searching eyes.
So I found myself spilling my secrets even when I didn’t want to.
“I’ll have to quit graduate school,” I admitted.
“Do you want that?”
I hesitated. I didn’t know. Not really. I mean, I’d gone in hoping it would be something entirely different, but now that I had to abandon it I second guessed the reasons why. They weren’t my reasons; they were my uncle’s reasons. The mob’s reasons.
“I really don’t know.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have to.”
“But if I don’t marry him-” I started.
“You mean ‘if I don’t marry.’ Your reputation has been tarnished, at least in the eyes of our family by your unwed status. It’s stupid, and primitive, I know, but they are using it, for whatever reason, to join the families.” David was fully aware of the situation.
I nodded. I knew the reason. Or, at least my uncle’s reason. He wanted a spy. Information. Someone to help take the family down.
“I really should’ve gotten your number,” David said, that smile returning. “Now I’m going to propose something that you’ll probably want to deny outright, but just listen.”
I swallowed. “What?” I asked. I’d already gone this far down the rabbit-hole. Why not plunge even further?