His Rules

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

S ebastian

“Glad you could make it, dude,” Daniel said as he shook my hand.

“Wine. I had no clue what you were going to burn on the stove so I selected red.” I thrust a bottle of cabernet into his hand as he glared at me. If I’d been smart, I would have cancelled sharing dinner with the two of them. I wasn’t just playing with fire. I’d brought a can of gasoline with me.

But I hungered to see Kacey away from the office. She’d done her best to avoid me after the disciplinary incident, managing to slip the requested financials on my desk when I’d left briefly.

The memory of spanking her would forever remain in the back of my mind. I flexed my fingers before fisting my hand while Daniel laughed at my rag on him. He was quite possibly the worst cook I’d ever encountered.

“Don’t worry. I had a friend of mine prepare the dinner. You want a drink?” He moved through the house to the kitchen, knowing I would follow.

“Always. It’s been one hell of a week.”

“Business that bad?”

“Not bad. Just… infuriating. I think someone is trying to sabotage me. It’s quite possible my partner has betrayed me.” I’d warmed up to the idea, thinking about the various conversations the two of us had endured over the last few months.

“Ouch.”

“I’ll say. I don’t even know how I feel about it at this point. He could be working with our main competitor.”

He threw me a look and chortled. “I’m surprised you’re not pacing the floors fuming. That’s what you would have done just a few years ago. Then you would have gone after them with both barrels.”

“You sound like Steven.” Hearing the exact words was a reminder that I’d been more ruthless in my youth.

He chuckled. “Smart guy.”

“Yeah, well, working six days a week with fourteen-hour days takes a lot out of you.”

“Tell me about it. Let’s get that drink. Now I need one.”

Daniel said nothing as he moved from the kitchen to the entertainment room, heading immediately for the bar. I stood just inside the doorway, remembering all the times we’d shared in this very room either playing a game of pool, tossing back shots of tequila, or suffering through a brutal game of poker.

“So I understand. How’s my daughter working out?”

I’d questioned whether or not she’d told him about obtaining the position. “She’s quite the catch.”

He said nothing while making our drinks, turning around seconds later with a look on his face I’d only seen a few times. “I don’t think I need to share with you my feelings on her working with you.” He walked toward me slowly.

“What are you talking about?” I accepted the drink, curious as to whether Kacey had said anything to her father about the afternoon she’d experienced. “I’m an excellent boss.”

“Let’s face it, buddy. You’re an asshole. I wouldn’t want to work for you.”

“Really?” He’d told me that more than once.

“Don’t you remember when you hired that girl in school to help you with research for your term paper?” Daniel’s expression was one of amusement.

“Vaguely.”

“So typical. She couldn’t tolerate you after two days. Only two days. I asked her why she was leaving and she stated in no uncertain terms she’d rather work for the devil. I don’t know what you did to her, but you left a lasting impression.”

We were both laughing and the memory was actually bittersweet. “I had a crush on her. She didn’t like that.”

“Perhaps because you had a reputation at nineteen years old of being a complete womanizer. Do you remember Sam? Our other roommate that one year. He and I had a bet going that you’d go through the entire class of junior females by December. I think you came close.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh, yes, you were.” He took a sip of his drink. “Which is why I feel it’s my place to tell you that if you ever lay a finger on my daughter, I will kill you. No joke. There are some lines that can’t be crossed.”

“I assure you that nothing will ever happen between us, Daddy.” Kacey’s sudden appearance resulted in a tightening of my balls. She sauntered in, looking very much like a college kid cramming for an exam. In faded jeans with holes in the knees, a sloppy oversized shirt in a delicate peach color, and Converse high tops on her feet, she appeared no more than nineteen or twenty.

It was a subtle yet effective way of adding another barrier between us. As she walked closer, her hair swung back and forth from her ponytail. Whether or not she’d dressed this way on purpose didn’t bother me in the least. She was creating her own personal line in the sand.

A line I intended on crossing.

“Why is that, pumpkin?” Daniel asked. He was laying it on thick as his own personal reminder that she was his daughter.

The look she gave me was as if she was ready for the game she believed we were playing. And she anticipated winning. At least this round.

“Because I respect Mr. Winfield. I can learn so many valuable aspects of business, including how to nurture client relationships from him. I’ve already seen him in action. While I’d concede he has rather unconventional, even brutal methods, it’s exactly the way I want to be when I’m CFO one day.” Her smirk was vibrant.

Touché, Ms. Taylor . I didn’t say it out loud, but then again, I didn’t need to. Between the stark chemistry we shared and her utter dislike of me, our communication extended to mere glances to convey our thoughts. I lifted my glass in appreciation.

Daniel looked from one to the other. “Be careful of my daughter, Sebastian. That’s the only warning I’ll offer. She may look innocent and sweet, but she does have a venomous bite.”

“Daddy!”

“Just telling the truth, pumpkin. How about a drink?” he asked.

“I’ll grab a glass of wine from the kitchen. That will allow me to check on dinner.” She offered me another steamy gaze before heading from the room.

Daniel lifted his glass as soon as she’d walked out. “She’s set her sights and expectations high.”

“Yes, just like her father. I only hope she’s not sorely disappointed.”

“Me as well.” He took a sip, his brow furrowing. “You know. I was always jealous of you. Did you know that?”

“You had no reason to be.”

He laughed. “My dad was a pipeline worker, my mother a schoolteacher. He worked his butt off so I could go to college. Thankfully, I received a few scholarships, or I’d still be paying off my loans. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”

“How so?” My best buddy had never talked about my wealthy family and neither had I. He’d come home with me a couple of occasions, so he was well aware of my family’s holdings and their status within the community we lived in. Yet he’d never seemed impressed or put off by the money or our surroundings. I’d admired that in the man more than he knew.

“Oh, come on. Your entire future was laid out for you from the day you were born. As firstborn son, you were required to carry out your father’s legacy. Yeah, you started your own company instead of taking over his, but that’s only because he sold the majority interest in his firm.”

“Yes, against his own attorney’s advice.”

“But you were thrilled.” He grinned. “I had a sense you had a painting of what that future would look like stored away in your bedroom at your father’s estate. Cars. Houses. Yachts. Designer suits. My guess is you had a lifetime membership to all the best clubs in town, including the kinky ones. And women. I can only imagine how many fathers of daughters are lined up waiting to talk to you about marrying their daughter. It must be tough to slide into your shoes every day.”

“You sound envious.”

“I used to be. Not any longer. I can sense the pressure building. Your dad has likely pushed you into getting married a second time, pushing for grandkids. Yes?”

I tried not to laugh. “Pops is almost seventy years old, but he hasn’t softened in his old age. He still thinks of me as a bad-mouthed kid who needs direction after all these years. But marriage? He knows better than to suggest that. He saw what my relationship with Ashley did to me.”

I’d blamed him for our failed marriage since he’d insisted I get involved with her in the first place.

“I know. You went through a tough time. I’d be gun shy. But there are other pressures.”

“There are always other pressures, Danny. You know that. You save lives every day. That is all about pressure.”

“The difference is I enjoy what I do. Can you honestly say that any longer? Oh, I know you. When you started Aeronautical Enterprises, you were like a kid in a candy store. You were so happy and eager, you even slept at the office. I remember the day you secured your first medium-size contract. Two planes. You were on cloud nine. It was the first time I’d spent more than thirty minutes with you in almost a year and a half.”

“Yeah, I remember. I had to put everything into it just to make it feasible enough to possibly survive. Dad didn’t raise a quitter as he told me more than once.”

“No, he didn’t. But he didn’t raise a robot either. You were a hell of a lot more fun without all the pressure. Maybe it’s time you think about selling your half of the company. Start something new. Something that will excite you again. Hell, maybe that would allow you to engage in a real home life. You know exactly what I mean. Maybe you’d want to spend time with your wife so she wouldn’t need to find attention elsewhere. Maybe you’d enjoy going to little league and tossing a football in the front yard. Christmas and Thanksgiving with all the trimmings. In other words, maybe you could get a life.”

He was right in that I’d been born into a life where my future had likely been a topic of agenda when I was less than two years old. However, his words angered me enough that I bristled. “You should talk, my friend. You’ve kept yourself a grieving widow for how many years now?”

I sensed my terse words were going to start an argument.

“He’s far too greedy to give up what he has, Daddy. You know that better than anyone. And as for you,” Kacey said as she walked in my direction, her smile even more egregiously sly than before. “My father has had his hands full being a single father. He sacrificed his own happiness and any life you’re talking about for his only daughter. Meanwhile, you amassed a fortune selling planes while my father has been saving lives.”

“I think that’s enough shop talk for the night,” Daniel said. “This is meant to be a celebration dinner of my daughter returning home.”

“And poker?” I asked, trying to liven up the tense tone.

“The guys are coming over around nine,” he answered. “Just remember what I said.”

“During which conversation?”

“Both.”

It was his own way of drawing a line in the sand.

They were lining up like quicksand expanding in the grass. The next few weeks would prove to be very interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

“Why are you here?” I threw out as soon as I opened the door. Seeing my ex-wife at this time of night put me instantly on a precipice.

“You’re not keeping your end of the bargain.”

She had the nerve to barge into my home at one o’clock in the morning with demands. “What bargain are you talking about, Ashley?”

“You wanted my silence regarding our marriage. Remember? In exchange, you sold off hundreds of shares of your stocks to me. With the codicil they wouldn’t drop below a certain level. Well, they did that yesterday. Now, if you’re purposely causing an issue within your company to fuck me over, I will bury you.”

I had no idea why I’d allowed my father to talk me into marrying the woman in the first place. I’d done so out of loyalty to the family and the fact at the time that it would mean her father’s company and my dad’s would merge, becoming a powerhouse in the hospitality business. The deal had been to stay married for a year. I’d thought I’d fallen in love, so the marriage had endured three more.

My father had sold the majority of his shares, now barely involved. It still burned me.

Meanwhile, it had been all about business to her. Given she was now the head of what had been my father’s operation, she’d gotten her cake and had eaten it with cherries on top. My father didn’t seem to care. I did.

Although I blamed myself for allowing the conniving bitch to win in the end. In order to end my life with her, I’d been forced to agree to the codicil even when my gut had told me I’d been out of my mind.

“Business is fine. Stocks fluctuate. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a busy day tomorrow.” I headed for the door.

“You do realize your father still owns a portion of the company that you refused to step up to the plate and work for. Don’t you? He’s still getting a salary. A salary I might add he needs to keep.”

I turned around abruptly, getting in her face. “Is that a threat?” I wasn’t privy to the terms of the deal he’d made with her father, but I knew he’d been allowed to remain as VP with an office, although he almost never made an appearance. The money he’d made in making the deal had been substantial. Why would he even care?

“Let’s just say a deal is a deal. If you don’t keep up the end of the bargain we struck, I’ll be forced to find a way to kick him out, which will mean him losing a significant amount of money. With his gambling habit, he might find that difficult to live by.”

Gambling habit? My control freak father?

“What the fuck are you talking about?” While Ashley had sunk very low in her methods to try to remain married to me, I’d never believed she was capable of something so atrocious.

“You don’t spend enough time with your father, Sebastian. Ask him and see if I’m wrong.”

“If you dare try anything, Ashley, I’ll make certain I ruin you.”

“I don’t think threats look good on you, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

She skirted around me, throwing open the door.

“And don’t try and cross me, Sebastian. All women have claws.”