Liam I sit in my office, looking over the request for more information from Luminary & Co. I
like what this company has done, offering a dignified and beautiful way to let your loved one
go, and the business it plans to expand into. We’d better get this contract, even though it
isn’t that big. I have a gut feeling about it. The partnership we form will be beautiful. “Hey,
don’t try to block me. I’m family,” comes a grating voice through the open door. “Family?”
Emmie says. “Yeah, I’m his father. Didn’t he tell you?” What the hell? “I know who his
father is. And you’re not Auric Kingswood, sir.” “No, not that father. The new one he got
when he married my daughter.” Oh, Jesus. I st ep out of the office, since dealing with Hugh
isn’t part of her job. On the other hand, seeing him before tonight’s date with my wife isn’t
my job, either. Just looking at him dampens my appetite. Actually, everything about him
annoys me. Just what kind of an asshole chooses a cheap mistress and an awful brat over
someone like Olivia? Hugh beams at me, spreading his arms. “Hey, son!” “Son?” I shift to
avoid the incipient hug. He doesn’t even flinch. “Fine, son-in-law. Do we have to be so
nitpicky?” “The word you’re looking for is ‘precise.’ And yes, we do.” “You sound
aggravated.” He gives me a look full of sympathy. “Oh God. Is Olivia PMSing? Giving you a
hard time?” What the fuck? “Leave,” I grind out. “If you want to talk to me, make an
appointment.”
“Hey, I’ve tried to talk to you outside of the office, som eplace more private,” he says,
speaking fast. “But every time I went to your house, your security wouldn’t let me through. I
think there’s a problem with it.” “No, it’s working as designed. Ke eping the pests out.”
Hugh’s face turns red. “Are you purposely being a jackass? Disrespecting your
father-in-law? I’m just here to warn you about Olivia, okay? You think she married you out
of love?” I scan the office. Emmie isn’t the only one with her ears perked up. And my wife is
not going to become gossip fodder because this subhuman dumpster reject can’t exercise a
little decency and self-control. “In here. You have five minutes.” He shoots Emmie a
triumphant look—asshole—and st eps into my office. I slam the door behind him. His head
swivels in every direction as he takes in the designs and photos of some of our best stones,
including the Rubedo. “Wow. Nice office.” He sits down in an armchair opposite my cherry
executive desk. I take my leather seat and lean back, ankle propped on my knee and fingers
ste epled. “What do you want?” “Don’t I even get a drink?” “I don’t make a habit of serving
drinks to people who barge in, uninvited and unwanted, like a rat in a kitchen.” I smile a
little, r epeating the description Olivia used earlier. He scowls. “That’s harsh.” I glance at
my watch and pick up my phone to call security. “If you don’t have anything to say—” “No,
no, no, no, wait.” He waves a hand. “I’ve got plenty to say. It’s about Olivia. I know things
about her that you can’t even imagine. I’m her father, after all.” “Only technically. You were
her sperm donor. Beyond that, you haven’t done anything a father should for his child.” “I
raised her—” “You k ept her in your late wife’s house. With your late wife’s money. Who, by
the way, didn’t even get a decent husband out of the trade, because you cheated on her and
fathered a child with your side-piece just a few months after your wife became pregnant.”
“That’s not how it went!”
“Right. You’re probably up for the Husband of the Century Award.” He runs a rough hand
through his hair. “Look. Olivia resents what happened between me and her mom, okay?
Understandable, I get it. I’m sure she gave you her side of the story. She wants to drive me
to the brink!” “That’s right. And who could blame her?” He continues as though I haven’t
spoken. “She plans to kick me off her mother’s trust by using you. She doesn’t have any
feelings for you. The second she gets what she wants, she’ll toss you aside. That’s just how
she is.” Hugh throws everything he can think of at me. Doesn’t seem to realize that some of
it rings true. But I’d rather bite my tongue off than let him know that any of it managed to
draw blood. “Okay. And?” “‘And’? What do you mean, and?” “I mean, what do you want me
to do about it?” He licks his lips and leans forward. “Tell her she can’t just heartlessly use
you to punish her father.” “Why? If the situation were reversed, she’d do the same for me.”
“But she’s using you!” “You mean the way you used your late wife?” I shrug. “Pot. Kettle.
Besides, I offered.” His jaw tightens. “You’re such an asshole.” “Insults aren’t going to put
me on Team Hugh.” “You ball-less, spineless, gutless pussy!” he screams, his face
apoplectic. “Yeah. I’m sure that balls, a spine and guts are what made you cheat on Olivia’s
mother with that selfish whore. She makes my parents’ assistants look classy.” Hugh turns
purple. “You’re going to regret this. Know why? Because one of these days, she’s going to
throw you away like a used Kleenex, and you’re going to realize that you’re nothing to her.
Nothing! Despite all your sacrifices! She has no feelings for you. She has no feelings for
anyone. You know what it’s like when she looks up at you with those soulless eyes? She’s so
fuckin’ crazy she thinks everyone is out to get her. She believes I killed her mom. She
claims we killed her dog. Why the fuck would we do that? We’re not psychos. Nobody wants
to go to jail.” He’s trying to make himself the victim and Olivia a heartless monster, but I
hear far more than what he’s saying. My heart aches for what she
must’ve suffered. “And yet the jails are full of people.” For a moment, he looks like he might
actually pop a vein. But then he subsides and finally bites his lip. “You, you...” He struggles
for words. It’s hard not to sneer at this ridiculous man-child. Just how trusting was Olivia’s
mother that she fell for this asshole? “One of these days, Hugh, you’re going to touch
something you shouldn’t.” He jumps to his feet. “You stupid bastard. You’re going to be
sorry.” “I’m already sorry. Sorry I actually listened to you bleat like a goat. But guess what?
I’m still living a great life.” I smile. “You don’t know what it’s like to wake up next to the
woman you love. Olivia’s a wonderful wife, and she’s going to be an amazing mother to our
children.” All the color drains from his face. “Time’s up. Get out.” I point to the door. He
comes around the desk, grips my shoulders and tries to shake me. “You can’t get her
pregnant, damn you—” Enough of this bullshit. I throw an uppercut that clacks his jaw shut
like a bear trap. “Fuck!” He backs off, covering his mouth. Blood drips from between his
fingers. I suppress a sigh of satisfaction. “Told you.” But that blood is going to be a bitch to
get out of the carpet. I ought to send him the cleaning bill. “This is assault and battery,” he
says, wincing. “Uh-huh. Call Jeremiah Huxley and tell her aaaallll about it.”