History?"We fucking hate each other," I reminded her because, apparently, she'd forgotten in her insanity to see me married to some showgirl.
"That's why I told your grandfather he should at least have considered giving Maxie a vice president position, too, when he brought you into the company." Another put-upon sigh. "Maybe if your brother had been given more responsibility, he wouldn't be gallivanting all over the world, as opposed to mending his rift with you."
"Or maybe he would've driven this company right into a brick wall, like my father," I shot back.
Triple Ice. That was what my employees called me behind my back.
And I liked it.
But the old anger rose like a volcano, threatening to crack the icy mask I'd constructed and worn proudly during my tenure as the CEO of Benton Worldwide. "I'm the grandson who didn't fuck off. The one who took over for your son and put the company back on course. We're turning a considerable profit now. Because ofme. And you’re threatening to giveMax, of all people, your controlling interest in the company I saved?"
"Yeah, why not?" Nora shrugged. "Max is a gas, and I bet he wouldn't fight me so hard on marrying Sunny."
I stared at her. Lobo, the founder and head of the Los Lobos Cartel, was always available to do my dirty work. But he drew the line at grandmatricide. I'd asked. Back when Nora somehow convinced a majority of the board to keep on the Benton Girls Revue, even though it had been running in the red since the '90s.
"Coley, don't look at me like that," Nora simpered. “I know this is a harsh move on my part, but it's my dying wish to see you married to this woman."
"Are you actually dying, Nora?" I asked from between clenched teeth.
"Not yet," she admitted cheerfully. "But I will, one day. And I want grans before that day comes."
"You have grandchildren."
"Chubby lil' great-granbabies!" Nora clasped her hands, and her expression went dreamy. "Grans I won't fuck up, like I did you and your father. Now that your grandad's gone, I realize the true meaning of life and love, and I'm ready to giveallthat love to a child who won't call me by my first name. Plus, Sunny will make a lovely mother, won't she?"
Nora leaned over, and her voice took on a conspiratorial tone. “If we're speaking frankly, I don't think much will be required of either of us once you get her preggers. She truly is the best wife you could ever hope for, Coley. You're so lucky I'm making you do this. Anyhoo, you have until the next board meeting to put a ring on it, as that delightful Beyoncé would say."
She couldn't be serious. "The next board meeting is in March!"
"It only took your grandad threedaysto propose to me," Nora pointed out. "Then, y'know, three months to draw up the iron-clad prenup. But still. When you know, you know. Would you look at that? We've finally arrived at the big red schlong!"
Nora broke off from her extortion speech to smile up at the AudioNation headquarters—a red glass skyscraper that admittedly looked like a red dildo, sticking up as it did among all the mid-rise office spaces surrounding it in the Downtown Las Vegas central business district. "No need to pull all the way into the garage. You let us out here, Johnny. That traffic was ghastly, wasn't it?"
"Gets worse and worse every year," John agreed from the front seat as he pulled over to the curb. Proving he'd been listening to every word of our conversation.
Nora clamored out before I could argue with her any further.
But that was fine. I was done arguing.
Some accused me of being a nepo baby, following in my father's footsteps of becoming the CEO of Benton Worldwide without deserving it. They had no idea how hard I had to work to save this company from the brink of bankruptcy. And my grandmother just flat-out refused to appreciate it.
Both my grandmother and those naysayers failed to understand that you didn't become an effective CEO by leaving it all to chance on your inheritance. Or by playing along with the marriage schemes of meddling old ladies.
I smiled and glad-handed through my meeting with Gregory Latham and his sons, Geoff and Griffin. Geoff was the music industry version of me, the eldest scion who everyone already knew would take over as CEO of AudioNation when his father was finally ready to hand over the reins. His other son, Griffin, was a semi-retired-but-still-popular country trap artist. One we hoped would serve as our first residency when the AudioNation deal went through.
Which it would. I'd make sure of it.
As soon as I arrived home at my penthouse suite on top of the Benton Grand, I pulled out my special burner phone to make the call.
"Calling instead of texting," Lobo answered without bothering with a greeting. "I'm assuming you need something you don't want written down for the record."
There was a reason Lobo and I had remained friends beyond my stint in juvie, which my grandfather had paid handsomely to cover up. "You assumed right."
"What do you need?"
"Dirt." I bared my teeth at the memory of my grandmother actually thinking she could blackmail me into doing what she wanted. "I need any dirt you can find on a woman named Sunny."
"Sunny what?"
