Total pages in book: 767
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
Her eyes, the same watery blue as mine, turn dark with anger. She slaps her palms on my desk, bringing us at eye level. “You’re just like your goddamn father.”
Keeping my voice calm and my gaze indifferent, I say, “If you can’t speak without repeating yourself, and you have nothing new to say, please get out of my office so I can focus on the business of running your business.”
Her nostrils flare. The thick layer of foundation around her nose cracks with thin lines. The pores are big with white hairs standing erect in each follicle. Every minute detail of her age catches my attention.
“You won’t live forever, Magda.”
She straightens and adjusts her jacket. “Neither will you.” A superior smile curves her lips. “Who knows? You may die before me.” She turns, making it clear she’s leaving my office on her terms.
There’s no love lost between my mother and I, and no amount of introspection to figure out where it went wrong will change that. We are who we are.
I pick up the phone and set out to do what I’ve been meaning to when I walked through the door.
Quincy answers with a bright, “Yes, boss?”
“Come to my study.”
I take a deep breath, and steel myself. A short while later, he enters. I want to break his face, but it’s not his fault he’s fallen for Valentina. As little as it’s hers. She’s a gorgeous woman with a courageous heart and a soft spot for animals. How could he not be under her spell?
“Sit.” I point at the chair facing my desk.
He takes the seat, his posture at ease.
“I have a mission for you tonight.”
He waits quietly for me to continue.
“You’re going to fuck Valentina.”
Chapter Ten
Gabriel
I may as well have drenched Quincy with a bucket of ice water.
He coughs. “Excuse me?”
“Take her out on a date. Someplace nice. Romantic. Dinner by candlelight, that kind of thing.” I flip my credit card at him. “All expenses paid. Take two guards to make sure you’re safe.”
His eyes grow larger by the second.
The next part is hard for me to get out. I swallow the bitter taste in my mouth. “Then get a room at the Westcliff Hotel and fuck her.”
His skin is as pale as the whites of his eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand. Wear a condom and be gentle. It’s her first time. Oh, and she’s having her period. That kind of thing doesn’t put you off, does it?”
“Of course not, but––”
Not able to stomach the conversation any longer, I say gruffly, “You’re dismissed.” He jumps to his feet, obviously eager to escape my presence.
“One more thing,” I say as he gets to the door, “I don’t want to see you until tomorrow morning. Make sure you stay the hell away from me until sunrise, and then I expect a full report.”
He all but jumps through the door, leaving me alone with a kind of agony no human being can understand.
* * *
In the afternoon, a visit from Sylvia puts me further on edge. I meet her in my study. It keeps things professional. She declines my offer for a drink and sits down on the corner of my desk, the slit of her skirt riding up her thigh. At some point in time, I would’ve kneeled at her feet and kissed my way down that leg, all the way to her toes. Now, there’s no desire for the woman who married me in a pretty white dress with a fake smile on her face.
“What’s with Carly’s new diet?” she asks. “We already discussed this. You’re not supposed to change her meal plan without consulting me.”
I fight to control my irritability. “I’m not aware of any diet.”
“She’s wheat intolerant, for God’s sake. She’s not supposed to eat pasta. What’s wrong with Marie? Is she going senile?”
“Marie had a stroke. Valentina’s taking care of the cooking.” “The maid who tried to kill our daughter?” she shrieks.
“She didn’t do it on purpose. It was another one of Carly’s attention-seeking, selfdestructive actions.”
“Don’t you dare take that maid’s side over our daughter’s.”
I sigh deeply. “Relax. Valentina has been punished. It won’t happen again.”
“I won’t relax where Carly is concerned. She has a modeling audition in a month. She can’t afford to pick up weight with carbs and creamy pasta sauces.”
“She’s not doing a modeling audition.”
“It’s not up for discussion.”
“Have you called the therapist?”
She stiffens. “Carly doesn’t need a therapist. It’s hormones. Normal teenager issues.”
“Sylvia.” I say her name warningly. “Carly never got over our divorce. It’s time to face the fact that she may have issues we’re not equipped to deal with.”
She snickers. “That’s rich coming from The Breaker.”
“Keep the business out of this.”
“How can I? It’s all that matters in your life.”
“Yet, that’s why you married me. Security and money, don’t you remember?”