House Rules (9 page)

It was a step too far.

In the blink of an eye he was across the room, grabbing handfuls of my shirt and slamming my back against the wall. “Your brother saved that woman. Back the fuck off and get your shit together. I have no idea what the hell is wrong with you lately but figure it out. And apologize to your mother and Elena.”

He spun on his heel and stormed from the room, the door left wide open a clear sign that I had little more than a few minutes to “get my shit together” before joining them for dinner. There was no point in arguing, he was done with the conversation. Maybe I’d been an asshole, but I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Telling them I wasn’t interested hadn’t worked, standing the women up didn’t get the hint across. Hopefully now they’d back the fuck off.

I grabbed the decanter off the side table and poured myself a shot of whiskey. It wasn’t my favorite, but it would have to do. The lovely
chat
with my father had done nothing to settle me, not that I’d expected it to. I threw the liquor back, the whiskey burning on the way down just enough to pull my attention away from the last twenty minutes. My muscles loosened. I flattened my palms against the desk and pulled in a few deep breaths. I knew I needed to go out there and apologize. The more I calmed down, I realized that the only thing I’d accomplished was pissing off everyone in the room. Ashton was probably out there ready and waiting to beat my ass.

Time was up. I ran a hand through my hair and walked down the hall to the dining room. It was hard to miss everyone’s eyes on me. Dad’s were expectant, mixed with a bit of lingering irritation, where Ashton’s were angry and annoyed. Elena looked cautious, like she was afraid to say anything else to upset me.

Mom, on the other hand, had her arms crossed over her chest, waiting to see what came out of my mouth next. Elena was probably the only one at the table who wouldn’t beat my ass in some way, shape, or form if I didn’t get my foot out of my mouth and apologize.

I made sure to keep my focus on Mom and Elena. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s been a long day and you didn’t deserve it. I know you’re only trying to help. And you’re right—someday the woman of my dreams might walk through the door, but until that happens, I’m happy with the way things are. I’m not looking for any kind of relationship.”

Glancing over at my father, I waited to make sure he was satisfied before I took my seat again. When he nodded, I knew I was in the clear. At least with him. Everyone else was a different story. A peek at Ashton and I noticed the tension in his shoulders had relaxed and he’d returned to his meal.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry you had a bad day.” Mom looked over at Elena. “We weren’t trying to rush you. We just don’t want you to be alone. Right, Elena?”

“Of course not.” Elena shook her head adamantly. “From now on we promise to ask instead of just assuming.”

Elena smiled, full of hope that I wouldn’t still be mad. Trying to lighten the mood I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Around my family, I was usually the joker. They didn’t need to know how stressful life had gotten. If Dad truly planned on turning his business over, things were only going to get worse. I would just have to learn how to deal with it.

“Keep your lips to yourself,” Ashton warned.

“But she’s so sexy.”

Ashton’s lip curled at the same time Elena and Mom burst into laughter.

Ashton’s head snapped around to look at her. “What’s so funny?”

“He’s just trying to rile you up and I can’t believe after all these years you still fall for it.”

His eyes went wide when Elena couldn’t stop the giggles and ended up with the hiccups instead. The rest of the table joined in and, just like that, the incident was forgotten and the rest of dinner flowed smoothly.

It was the same as every dinner we had together as a family, at least before Elena and Mom began worrying about my shriveled heart. The whole atmosphere was more relaxed than it had been in a long time, and I found myself thinking that, for the first time in months, things were finally getting on track.

Until the next day, at least. Taking over more of Dad’s responsibilities meant a mountain of bullshit to climb. Dad’s in-house accountant took care of any monetary business that came through our doors. He came at a price, but that price was well worth it when it meant keeping us from getting caught. That still left me to deal with our clients and the regular customers. No easy task, given our brand of clientele.

The clock on the wall continued to taunt me, while the piles of paper on my desk never seemed to shrink. It was like they were fucking rabbits, constantly multiplying. Dad had to take off early and I needed to get out the door on time. One of my best clients had requested a private Black Jack game for himself and a group of friends. With the amount he paid me for the privilege of using the back room at Orbit, not to mention one of my dealers, I had no intention of leaving things to chance. I also had no intention of watching the action, but even in my section, I could take care of any problems and look for a woman to take home for the night.

A soft knock sounded on the door to my office. “Come in.”

Stephanie, my secretary at the dealership, poked her head around the door. “Mr. Karlstad is here to see you.”

Mr. Karlstad was one of my dad’s oldest clients and I’d only ever dealt with him when Dad was away from the office and unable to take the appointment. Shocked that he was there to see me when I knew that my dad was in his office a few doors down, I jumped to my feet.

“Please, let him in.”

Mr. Karlstad strode into the room.
Despite the graying hair and the somewhat drawn face, this was not a weak man. I’d heard stories, some of them from my dad himself, and all of them left me certain that I did not want to be on the wrong side of Karlstad.

“Miller, it’s good to see you again.”

Stephanie closed the door on her way out. After shaking hands, I gestured to the chairs in front of my desk. “Please take a seat. What can I help you with, Mr. Karlstad?”

He leaned back in the chair and assessed me for a minute. My instincts went on alert. He was not here for my help. This was something that would only benefit him.

“I’ve heard your father might be getting you ready to take over the business.”

I nodded, still wary. Dad had made it clear for years that I would be succeeding him someday, so my taking over was not a secret by any means. This didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be people waiting in the wings to try and manipulate the change for their own benefit. “We’ve talked about it, but nothing has been decided yet. Was that all you stopped by for?” I had no intention of telling him anything we’d discussed earlier in the week, not until I knew what his end game was.

“Since you ask, I do have a reason for coming by.”

I waited but he didn’t continue. Whatever the purpose of his visit, he was pissing me the hell off with the game of run around he insisted on playing. I did my best to rein in my temper. “What would that be?” I bit out, hoping he’d get the hint and spit it out.

He leaned back into his chair as if this would be a long story. Did Dad put up with this shit every time this asshole needed something?

“Since you’re new to running the business, I thought I could assist with the transition. There are many things to be addressed. The first of which being that I believe I deserve a lower rate.”

Most people would have laughed, recognizing a joke for what it was. Not in this business. The fucker actually thought I’d go along with this. I rested my elbows on the armrest and steepled my fingers, my body language belying the rage such a suggestion would cause.

“Is that how you see it?” I asked in a low, controlled voice.

He stiffened for a moment, then visibly forced himself to relax. “Without your father’s reputation, people will be running to Nathan Marcello. And as someone who is willing to stay, I believe you owe it to me to reward my loyalty and lower my rate.”

I stayed exactly where I was, my voice deadly calm as I said, “You will get no such thing. I’m still a fucking Hawes and you will show me the respect my name deserves. If you want to take your business to Marcello, be my guest, but I make no guarantees about the security of your information. Considering how long you’ve been a client, there is always the chance that one of your files might be . . .
misplaced
in the handover.”

He skin took on a pasty white pallor I wasn’t accustomed to seeing on him, and he ran a finger beneath the collar of his shirt, loosening the constricting material. “You’d risk your own business?” His voice rose an octave as reality slammed into him. He’d made a very poor decision in going there with me.

I knew a lot about this business, one of the most important things was respect: how to get it, when to utilize it, and probably most importantly, how to keep it. If I was to take over my father’s role, clients needed to know that I was no pushover. And that started here and now. With Mr. Karlstad.

“I wouldn’t be risking anything. My father has only ever hired the best to keep our books. You know as well as I do that your information could hit the streets tomorrow and no one, not even the best forensic accountant would be able to trace it back to me. Times are changing, Mr. Karlstad, and please be assured that your lack of respect for this change has been noted. And right now, you’re lucky I haven’t yanked you out of that chair and beat the ever-loving shit out of you.”

He stood up so fast you might have thought his ass was on fire. He stood there fidgeting, his eyes glancing back at the door, like he was waiting for his chance to bolt from the room. “I can see I made a mistake in coming here.”

With his hands raised, he backed slowly toward the door.

“Sit the fuck down. I’m not done with your sorry ass.”

His eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape. He’d eventually understand there wasn’t one. Little bastard would soon realize that the only way he was leaving the office was when I let him.

I scooted forward on the chair, my elbows on the top of the desk, my eyes boring into his beady ones. “Right now, you’re really fucking lucky I don’t plan on telling my father about our little tête-à-tête.” Mr. Karlstad swallowed hard at the blatant threat. “He’d already have Brock or Dean escorting you outside for a little chat for even thinking that. But what you will quickly learn is that my father may be a scary bastard, but he’s got nothing on me. I’m the motherfucker who won’t bother wasting his time waiting for someone else to beat your ass. I’ll take care of you myself and you’ll never be the same.”

Karlstad swallowed hard, eyes trained on me, braced for me to attack. “I . . . I didn’t mean—”

“You didn’t mean to what? Come in here spouting bullshit that’s only going to get you in trouble? What you’re going to do is get up and get out of my office. And if I hear any more of this shit, I can guarantee I will make good on my promise.”

Proving just how much of an asshole he really was, Karlstad jumped up and ran from the room, the door swinging behind him.

I slammed my fist down onto the desk. How many more of my father’s clients would think they could pull this shit?

I could let Dad deal with it, but then they would only respect me because he forced them to. If I wanted to take full control, I’d have to prove that I would accept nothing less than full respect from anyone I chose to do business with. Anyone who tried to harm what we’d built would be dealt with in my own fashion.

Blood still pounded through my ears. What I really needed was to get the fuck out of there and over to the bar. Besides a naked woman beneath me, a night of liquor and half naked women dancing was just what I needed.

CHAPTER 8

Miller

Dad: Here. 30 min.

I didn’t bother responding. When Dad sent out messages like that, everyone knew you didn’t ask questions. You did what you were told, when you were told to do it. The consequences of not showing up far outweighed the benefits of staying home and relaxing. Slipping my phone into my pocket, I grabbed my keys off the dresser and left for my parents’.

Pain reverberated around my head. Shot after shot had gone down easily the night before, once I was sure everything in the back room was running smoothly. I wanted to erase another shitty day. It seemed that every day since Tess had snuck out of my bed ended in a mass of chaos. Warning bells went off in my head and I ended up drinking the night away.

I thought about calling her, getting her in my bed one more time, fuck her from my system.

Shit.

I never got her number. What was it about Tess that had me acting differently than I had with any other woman I met? Calling a woman after we’d spent the night together never usually registered with me. Hell, I’d been known to go out of my way to make sure we
didn’t
swap numbers.

Whatever it was that had me all twisted up, I’d worry about it later. Dad was worked up over something and I needed to deal with that first. I’d work on finding Tess’s number and getting the answers I was looking for afterward. I reasoned with myself that I was only seeking her out to find out why she’d left without a word. Women didn’t sneak out on me and I wanted to know why she had.

The elevator stopped on my parents’ floor and I walked in without knocking like I always did. I wanted to stop and say hi to Mom before sitting down and talking to Dad. Mom usually got upset with us when we came over and locked ourselves in Dad’s office to talk about business. She’d raised us to put our family first and when we couldn’t make time to say hello, we broke the golden rule.

The scent of fresh blueberry muffins drifted from the kitchen. My decision to see Mom first was definitely going to pay off. Looked like I would be able to talk business on a full stomach. I took one step toward the kitchen before the yelling started.

“Miller, if that’s you, you better get your ass in my office right now, before I drag you down here.”

Shit. This again.