Chapter 6
Pete didn’t know who this man was that Trin was marrying, but he was going to put a stop to that.
There was no way that he was going to have his future daughter-in-law dictating what was going to go on between him and his son.
Peter was a fuck off, and everyone knew it.
Trin was a wealthy woman who had come up from nothing, and he was going to manage her too.
He’d been trying to call her for the last two hours, and all it did was go to voicemail.
He wasn’t one to leave a voice message to people, so he didn’t this time.
Hanging up his phone on his desk, he looked at the door that was closing him off from the rest of the house.
Just the way he liked it too. Bellowing for his butler, he liked it when he heard a crash of something dropped.
He kept his household on their toes for a reason.
Because he was in charge and he was going to make sure they all knew it.
“I want you to find out who that Banton woman is hanging around with.” He said he could do that.
“I know you’d better. I want to know how long they’ve been seeing each other and whether or not they’re really getting married in the morning.
And if so, I want you to stop it. Pay the man whatever it takes to get him to back off.
I want her for reasons that he can’t understand. ”
“I’ll get right on it.” As soon as he left the room, he picked up the phone again.
She’d better damn well answer him, or he was going to have to do something drastic.
And by that, he would ruin her. While he didn’t know what she did for a living, he knew that she’d only become wealthy because her family had left her well off.
Women didn’t have a head for money, and his wife was proof of that.
She’d been wealthy when he married her. But as soon as her father had died, he made sure that the old bastard had left him in charge of her money.
He’d made enough money over the years that they were worth nearly a million dollars now, and it had only taken him fifty years to get there.
He was a man who got things done, and having his son drain him all the time was something that he thought should have been nipped in the bud a long time ago.
“I indulged him too much as a child.” He knew that the blame lay squarely on him.
Margaret had washed her hands of their child when he turned sixteen and killed that girl he’d been out with.
It had cost him a great deal of money to get him out of jail, but it had been worth it.
The family name of Jacobson was still clean, and he’d been cleaning up after him since.
Now he was putting his foot down. “I should have said no more often. He might well be in prison had I not helped, and that wouldn’t be good, but he might be a better man had he had to pay for the things that he did.
” Now it was too late, he told himself, and he was reaping what he had sown now.
For the next several hours he tried to get in touch with the Banton woman.
There was no way that someone would have their phone off nowadays, and she was just ignoring him.
He vowed that when they were married she’d not do that again.
He was going to rule her hard until she understood that he was the one in charge, not her.
Women drove him crazy with their needs and shit, and this one was going to learn the hard way that he always got what he wanted.
And her in line was going to be the first thing that he took care of.
He was still under the belief that she would be a calming presence to his son.
Once he got her in line with his way of thinking she’d be a perfect calming influence on him.
He’d make it so that she would cut him off sexually when he didn’t do what he wanted.
And that would be only the beginning. She would also cut off his spending too.
The Banton woman would understand that he was in charge, but he’d also let her think that she was in charge of Peter.
Pete needed her to bring him in line again so that when he died, he’d be able to take over the family business and they’d all be better off.
He’d also get her with child so that there would be a male heir to his estate so that the good name of Jacobson was passed down to each generation from now to the end of time.
He tried to call her again and was startled when a man answered. He asked him who he was and sat up straighter in his chair when he told him. Everyone knew that the Hathaways were not a family to mess with.
“I must have dialed the wrong number. I was trying to reach that damned Banton woman. You know of another woman that doesn’t have her phone plastered to her face?
She must have set it down someplace and can’t find it.
That sounds like something that she’d do.
” He laughed and was surprised that the man didn’t laugh with him.
“I say here. Which one of the Hathaways are you? I hear there are quite a few of you men.”
“Audon Hathaway. I’m the artist.” He no more believed that than he did Banton was going to be hard to tame. “What is it you want with Trinity? She’s busy right now with her daughter.”
“I forgot about her having a kid. Damn, I should have remembered that.” She’d probably let herself go now that she’s popped out a brat.
” He said that she looked fine to him. “Yes, well, some men go for that extra weight on women. I don’t, and neither does my son.
I don’t suppose you know who this is, do you? ”
“Pete Jacobson.” He was impressed that he knew his name and asked him if he’d been doing research on him. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I have been. You’re not as bad-assed as the people around you think you are, are you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m a man that gets things done when he needs them.
” He asked about the Banton woman, calling her by her first name.
“She’s going to marry my son in a few weeks.
I have to plan the wedding. Women have no head for that sort of thing.
They’ll have it all wrong and cost me the world. I’ll not have that.”
“She didn’t want a big wedding. I asked her.” He said that she’s just saying that because she’s a woman and doesn’t know what she wants. “I don’t think that’s it at all. And besides, I find her to be smart and can think on her own.”
“You just don’t know women like I do. You stick with me, young man, and I teach you all you need to know about women that will blow your mind.
She should be proud that I’d even consider her to marry my son.
After popping out that bastard kid of hers, she would be lucky if anyone wanted her.
And I’ll make sure of that even if I have to get rid of that kid to keep her in line.
” He said that he thought he had a good grasp on women.
“Not at your age you can’t. Let me give you some advice: you should keep them in line by knocking them around a bit; then they’ll worship you until the day they die.
That’s what my wife has now. She won’t say a word without my permission, and that’s the way that it should be. ”
“I would never hit a woman. Even if they hit me first.” He called him a pussy. “Really? It’s my belief that men who knock around women should be put in prison. And if your son does that, thinking that he’ll get Trinity in line with the way he’s thinking, I’ll kill him.”
“Kill him? What on earth? You don’t just go around killing someone—how do you know my son anyway?
He’s not a part of your crowd.” He laughed.
“Do you have any idea who I am? I’m a man that gets things done, and I don’t care who I have to push around to get them finished.
You listen here. If you even go near my son, I’m going to have you arrested.
I might not like him being around me right now, but he’s going to father a child by that Banton woman so that my name will go down in history. ”
“You listen here, old man. I’m marrying Trinity in the morning at the courthouse.
She doesn’t want your son around. Nor does she want a big wedding.
I’m going to marry her and father a lot of children with her.
And if you ever say anything bad about my daughter again, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself.
” The line went dead. Looking at the number, he figured that the phone company screwed up.
He’d dialed the correct number, and they must have connected him with someone else.
For the rest of the afternoon, he waited for his butler to get back to him. He wanted that information now, and he was going to have it. Whoever she was hanging out with was going to learn that he was Pete Jacobson and what he wanted was right.
Just as he was going to call the man to see what the holdup was, he walked into his office. The man looked positively pale compared to what he looked like before, and that bothered him a bit. He asked him what he knew.
“A license has been filed for the Banton woman and one of the Hathaway men.” He asked him which one. “Audon. He’s this artist type that has moved in with her as of an hour ago. I saw the moving van myself.”
“I just spoke to that man. Some kind of artist is he? Well, that should make him easy to turn away from her. What do you know about him?” He told him what he’d been able to find out.
“Rich? Just how rich does he have to be when all he does is paint by numbers all day? He’s no more an artist than I am a congressman. ”