“And the other one for good measure. And maybe a few of his teeth,” Marcus mutters.
Well, Marcus and my mate may not be my vengeful bad boy who wishes on shooting stars for me, but they’re not afraid to throw a punch or hex when necessary. I appreciate that far, far more than I should.
Marcus steps back into one corner of the conference room, ready to act, as Cassian opens the door to permit my father and his lawyer entry.
“I’m afraid Mr. Aspen Rose isn’t welcome in these proceedings,” Cassian says firmly, blocking the door.
My father’s sandalwood-and-yew scent spikes into something sharp and dangerous.
“He’s been party to the solicitation of Juniper’s mating contracts. He has a legal and familial stake in the matter at hand,” my father says sternly.
Saints, Aspen has been involved in soliciting my mating contracts? The admission is like a blow, and while Aspen’s presence is meant to intimidate me, it’s this knowledge that sends me reeling. While I don’t know how deeply involved my father is with the inner workings of the Soldiers of Saint Aldous and Project Halcyon, I have no doubts about Aspen’s involvement.
“Your son insisted that my mate, his own sister, allow her intended, Andrew Radcliffe, to rape and mate her against your will and instructions on the night of Yule,” Cassian says, his voice level.
I scent my father’s shock and fury. He turns on my brother, his pale blue eyes icy. “Is that true, Aspen?”
My eldest brother sends me a seething look. “I encouraged my sister to do her duty to our family. Her claims are nothing more than histrionics and manipulation. I should expect nothing less from her.”
“I would advise Mr. Aspen Rose sit this meeting out,” my father’s counsel says. I’ve met my father’s head lawyer before, and he’s always struck me as slippery. Slimy. His leather-and-cognac scent might be attractive on another alpha, but on him, it turns my stomach.
Damnable boy.The thought flashes through my father’s mind so quickly I nearly miss it, but there’s no mistaking his aggravation.
It’s the most encouraging thing I’ve heard all day.
Aspen bows his head in acquiescence and backs away from the conference room.
“Mr. Rose, I’ll leave you to your discussion with Mr. Leclerc. In the meantime, I will review the contracts provided by Pack Leclerc’s counsel with my team. Please, don’t hesitate to call on me at any point during this meeting.” The lawyer leaves, closing the door behind with a thunk of finality, trapping me in this conference room with a viper.
“Haley?” my father demands, stepping into the room and noticing Marcus. “What the hell are you doing here? Your services were terminated. Let me be bold and hazard a guess: my daughter has manipulated you intocaringfor her.” He shakes his head as he takes the seat across from mine.
“Ah,” Cass says smoothly, ignoring the latter half of my father’s statement, though it’s the one that pierces my heart. “Since you terminated Mr. Haley, who was not in any breach of his employment contract with you, the non-compete clause in that contract is now void.”
What’s my mate getting at?
Cassian draws a document from a file folder on the table. “Mr. Haley, please consider this an offer of employment to serve as Miss Rose’s private security. Review it at your convenience. The terms within are negotiable.” Cassian whirls on my father and smiles. It’s a reasonable sort of smile, like he and my father are two alphas discussing mutually beneficial affairs. “Now, to the matter at hand.”
Cassian is calm, while my father fumes. My mate just undermined him without even breaking a sweat, but my father ignores Cassian entirely, turning his full attention—and his rage—on me.
“You conniving littlewitch,” he spits. “This whole media circus has to have been your idea. Your kind disgusts me. I’m ashamed to call you my daughter. Manipulative, scheming girl. What did you do to entrap this poor alpha?”
For the first time since my father entered the room, Cassian’s confidence wavers. He turns to my father, a frown etching lines on his forehead. “Is it so hard for you to believe that someone loves your daughter? I was thrilled to tell the world that she had consented to be my mate.”
My father sneers. “So, she manipulated you, too. And you orchestrated all of this. I was wrong to think Juniper would have conceived of such a thing. She isn’t that clever.”
“Mr. Rose,” Cassian says. “I can’t imagine hating anyone as much as you seem to hate your daughter.”
My father sputters for a moment. He knows he’s supposed to say that he doesn’t hate me, but he can’t bring himself to say it. Not without the world as his audience. In front of a man who truly loves me, my father can’t even pretend to. “My daughter was good for one thing and one thing only, and she failed at even that. She was intended to Andrew Radcliffe.”
“Andrew Radcliffe is a loose cannon,” my mate replies, his voice calm and reasonable. “He’s unpredictable. He was going to mate your daughter without your consent. Saints know what else he’d do to her. An alpha like him cannot be trusted; he’s a sycophant and a zealot. He only ever did as you asked because you had something he wanted. Had he mated Juniper, you would instantly have lost all of your leverage, and he would have been free to do whatever he wanted to her. You may not care about your daughter, but the devastation Andrew Radcliffe could do to your reputation should give you pause. I don’t think anyone in this room doubts that he would have killed her within a year of mating her. You’d be castigated for selecting an alpha like him to mate your daughter. You’d lose all the favor you’ve curried with the public and the confidence of your stakeholders and board. Youcouldburn my bite off your daughter’s neck; you could call the interview we did a hoax and say we never mated at all. You could hand her over to Andrew Radcliffe, but it would never be worth the risk.”
“The contract with Radcliffe has already been signed. I stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“So, break it,” Cassian says, maintaining his composure. “Contracts are broken all the time. You’re a smart man. Surely you can recognize a better offer when you see one.” Cassian jots a number down on a piece of paper and slides it across the table to my father. “This should easily cover all four of Miss Rose’s mating contracts, and then some. More than whatever you would have made through a business partnership with Radcliffe Industries.”
My father picks up the piece of paper and makes a show of examining it, like he’s carefully considering my mate’s offer, but I saw the way his eyes widened. He’s a greedy man, and Cassian is speaking a language he understands: money. Saints, I can’t even imagine what number Cassian could have written down to compel him so.
Finally, my father nods, snatches the contract from Cassian and signs and dates it.
