“Well, we couldn’t have anyone unaffiliated with our business knowing trade secrets, could we?” There was a sneer to his tone, but I didn’t react. There was nothing about this dynamic between us that I took pleasure in. It was necessary to get to the point where I could take from them what they’d taken from me.
As I knelt to move a book, which was really a small, hidden box in disguise, I heard Gavriel making his way toward the desk. Tipping the book back, I clicked the button on the back cover and slipped my hand under the bottom, feeling relief when the heirloom ring he kept there dropped into my palm. Dad had left a note for me in his home that had simply told me to retrieve the ring here, without any reason why. Hell, I didn’t even know the reason why or the history of it. Just that it had been in the family for generations. Pushing the book back into place, I opened the double doors that lined the bottom of the shelves and sighed dramatically.
“Really? You had to take his good whiskey?” Slamming them shut, I slipped the thumb drive into my pocket and headed toward the desk, where a laptop sat open next to Gavriel, who stood next to my father’s chair.
He shrugged. “Your father had really good taste inthataspect.”
“He had impeccable taste. The best of which was me.” I gave him a huge smile just to get under his skin. Dad would laugh at how often Gavriel would complain about how much time he would take off to spend with me.
His shoulder lifted. “Well, you can’t help who you . . .” His eyes roamed over me again before he continued. “. . . spawn. Though, he could have made you a little less of a spoiled shit.”
“Asshole.”
“Bitch.”
We stood there, locked in a stare-down.
“Well, now that it’s clear westilldon’t exactly like each other, can we get down to fucking business?” His eyebrow lifted again in a suggestive question. “I mean, literally. We are partners in running a club, whether we like it or not. A very successful, predominant, exclusive one at that. If we can’t figure out how to work together, then it’s all going to go to shit. Dad worked too hard on this place for us to burn to the ground.”
Chapter 8
Mycocktwitchedather words. She was feisty as hell and didn’t back down from anything. That was one of her strongest attributes, except when she was doing it to annoy the hell out of me. Though, Elin had a point, as much as I hated to admit it. We were partners.
Mentally cursing my best friend for giving his share to his bitch of a daughter, I offered, “Let me buy you out, then. Two million. Cash in the bank by the end of the week.”
She was staring at her father’s chair as she turned it toward her and, after a moment, let out a heavy breath. Sitting down, she pulled up to the desk and responded flatly, “No.”
What?There was no way she was this stubborn. “You’re going to turn down two million in cash that easily?”
“Password?” It was as if she hadn’t heard me or didn’t give a shit about what I’d said. My blood boiled at the sheer disrespect she was showing me. With a snap of my fingers, I could end her life. I could pull the gun at my waist, press it against her temple, and, with a flinch of my finger, revel in the way her blood would also paint this room. I shook my head to dislodge the fantasy,knowing it would only cause more paperwork and I was already buried in it with other things.
“Your father’s birthday.” I watched as she typed it in, and the home screen popped up. I had to admit that I was impressed. She immediately changed the log-in password then went through the files on the desktop, and the fact she hadn’t responded to my offer had me on edge. I was never ignored. Rage soared through my veins, and I slammed my hand down on the desk. “Answer me.”
Elin simply looked down at my flattened hand before turning back to the computer. “Throwing a tantrum won’t change my answer.”
“You didn’t answer me.”
Her attention swung up to me, and I tried to hide the catch in my breath. The intelligence in her eyes and the way her hair hung over her shoulder like pampas grass waving in the breeze had me captivated. Why had I not noticed just how fucking stunning this woman was? She was fucking beautiful. “I thought, as your father’s second, you would be proficient enough in reading between the lines. Thought you would understand that my nonanswer and asking for the password to the laptop would be answer enough. Obviously, you aren’t as smart as you claim to be.” Turning her attention back to the screen, she scoffed. “Fucking idiot. You sure you don’t need to head downstairs for a release to let the blood return to where it needs to be at for this conversation?”
Grinding my teeth, I forced myself to not think of creative ways to shut that smartass mouth of hers. “So, you’re going to stay in business with someone you hate?”
She clicked on the most current operating statement and glanced over the numbers before closing it and bringing up the club calendar. Elin had been given the last quarter’s figures, but she hadn’t seen the most current set of books. The fact that wasthe first thing she’d gone to piqued my interest.What is she looking for? Is she legitimately looking at the business records or something else?She continued in silence, bouncing between the calendar and the financials.
I was leaning on the edge of the desk next to her, and I couldn’t help but notice the determination in her dark blue eyes and the way her nose twitched when she saw something interesting on the screen. It was adorable, really, but then there was that mouth of hers. It was a problem. She wasn’t under our protection. The assignment of her father’s assets to her included a full NDA on any and all matters connected to the family, but she had noloyaltyto us.
“I can smell the smoke burning,” she grumbled.
“Well, stop thinking then.”
Elin leaned back in the chair and looked up at me with a droll look. “What are you? Two?” When I just stared back at her, she rolled her eyes and continued, “We need to discuss the event scheduled for next month.”
For a moment there, it was like talking to Joel. The way she would go from giving me shit to business in a flash reminded me of many of my and Joel’s conversations over the years. Circling around to the front of the desk, I sat in one of the two matching leather chairs and put my feet up on the surface, lacing my fingers together over my stomach. “What do you want to know?”
“I read the synopsis in the report that was emailed by your second, but I want to hear your expectations and plans for it. What, other than money, are you hoping it will do for the business? For Paradise, not the family.”
Leaning my head back onto the edge of the leather chair, I smiled at her, pure arrogance and control. “Everything is about money for the family. Money and power.”
“Power is an illusion.” Elin let out an irritated huff, and her lips thinned as she pressed them together. “I also need to knowwhen invoices are modified to cover shit for the family.” I glared at her, but she didn’t turn her gaze to me before continuing, “I don’t need to know the why, but I need to knowwhenso I’m not expecting something to be available for the club, only to find out that it was just a cover.” Her attention flitted across the screen as her fingers worked quickly with the mouse pad to get something else to pop up. The light from the laptop brightened her face, her eyes reflecting it, and I swallowed when my cock twitched at how it enhanced her beauty.
