Chapter Fourteen
Mason
“Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Lowe,” I say.
Mr. Lowe sits up straighter and unfastens a button in his jacket. “When I heard about your… predicament, I knew we could be of some use to each other. We are both businessmen, after all.”
I sit down across from him and smile. “Indeed. I’ve drafted up a contract as per our agreement.”
I slide the contract over to him, and Mr. Lowe holds it up to the light and squints. Then he takes out a pair of glasses and pauses to polish them. I settle deeper into my leather chair. When Mr. Lowe glances up and smiles at me, I know I have him right where I want him.
Katia’s hard work has paid off, and all it took was allowing Mr. Lowe entry as one of Mercy’s clients at a discounted price.
I loathe allowing a man of his caliber into one of the most exclusive clubs in the city, but I also know it’s a necessary price to pay for access to the mayor.
I finally have you, you bastard. And you thought you could outsmart me.
With another person from the mayor’s circle on the inside, I now have what I need to begin the next phase of my plan.
Starting with paying our dear old mayor a visit and not having to worry about the consequences.
Mr. Lowe reaches across the table for a pen and is almost humming. “I must admit, I thought the offer was too good to be true, but when your man came to me… well, I knew you and I would see eye to eye.”
I maintain a polite smile. “I take it you already have your eye on someone?”
Mr. Lowe scrawls his signature at the bottom. “Several someones, in fact, and I have those test results you asked for.”
I nod and stand. “You’ll give them to Carlisle on the way out.”
In the doorway, I pause and out hold my hand. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Lowe.”
He shakes my hand, and his smile grows wider. “I’m sure you and the mayor will have plenty to talk about. He could use a good dose of reality.”
I chuckle and withdraw my hand. “Indeed.”
Conniving little shit.
After more than a year of circling and poking, I can’t believe I finally have a foot in the door.
You should have vetted the people around you more thoroughly, Mr. Mayor. You have no one to blame but yourself.
With a smile, I lead Mr. Lowe down the hallway. Carlisle is waiting for us by the back door to escort Mr. Lowe out. I shove my hands into my pockets, giddy with anticipation, until I round the corner and see Katia on the other side of the floor, standing next to an older man and woman.
The woman is wearing a long skirt and clutching her purse.
The man has wisps of hair that are plastered to his forehead, and he keeps shifting from one foot to the other.
They both look vaguely familiar, but I can’t place them right away.
It doesn’t take long for a few of the other clients to realize they’re out of place.
Katia marches over to me with a scowl, the couple in tow. She stops in front of me, steps to the side, and gestures to them. “I thought you’d prefer to take care of this problem yourself. They were going to make a scene upstairs.”
“So, you brought them here?”
“You’re going to want to hear what they have to say,” Katia maintains. “Trust me.”
“We don’t offer a couples membership,” I say. “And since you’re down here, you’ll need to sign an NDA. I’ll draw up the paperwork—”
“We’re not signing anything until we’ve come to an understanding.” The woman steps forward. “You have something of ours, Mr. Payne, and we’re not leaving until we get what we came for.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“We won’t say anything about all of… this.” She waves a hand before clutching her purse tighter. “But you owe it to us to hear us out.”
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I don’t owe you shit. You have a few seconds before security throws you out on your asses.”
“Don’t talk to my wife like that.”
“Ex-wife.”
The man waves off her comment. “Now isn’t the time for semantics. We’re London’s parents, and we’re here to get our daughter back.”
My blood turns to ice as I motion to them, and they follow me down the hallway and to my office.
I can’t decide if they’re stupid, desperate, or both.
I have no idea how they found me, but it doesn’t matter.
They don’t know I’m not going to hurt them.
They know too much, but if I lay a finger on them, word will get back to London.
She might forgive me for Noah, but her parents are another matter.
Goddamn fools.
“London is free to go whenever she wants,” I tell them flatly. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“What do you have on her?”
“You should talk to London. This is between you and your daughter.”
I should have Katia bring London to the office, but I can’t tell if it’s a good idea with the way her parents are looking at me.
London’s mother levels me with a look. “We both know that’s not true, Mr. Payne. I know you don’t think much of us, but we’re still her parents. That should mean something.”
“Mrs. Callahan—”
“We’re not married,” London’s mother interrupts, pausing to shoot her ex-husband a sharp look. “I’m not a Callahan.”
“I don’t care,” I reply. “Parents or not, neither of you has the slightest idea the kind of trouble you’ve caused by coming here.”
How the hell did they know where to look for me?
“It was my idea to come,” Berrett Callahan says. “I knew that if we stirred up enough trouble, they’d bring us to you.”
“You’ve taken a very big risk coming here.” London’s mother pales slightly, but she doesn’t look away. “You don’t stand to gain anything if you hurt us.”
I let out a low, humorless laugh. “Allowing you two to get this far has already been enough trouble. Who said anything about hurting you?”
Stop dragging your feet and call Carlisle in. Have him scare them enough to make sure they don’t tell anyone about what they saw.
Before I can reach for the phone, I make the mistake of looking over at London’s mother. Something about the gleam in her eyes makes me pause.
The resemblance is striking.
Fucking hell.
Why can’t I take care of business like I normally do?
“Whatever deal London has made with you, I want you to let her out of it,” she says.
I scoff. “I run a business, not a charity. You don’t get something for free around here.”
London’s mother doesn’t budge. “I’ll take her place.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You don’t even know what kind of agreement your daughter has entered into.”
Even if London’s mother could take her place, I don’t have any use for a woman of her age.
She is an attractive woman, but she’s not worth the risk.
“That woman who brought us in tried to keep us from seeing what goes on around here, but I’ve seen enough.”
I step out from behind the desk and advance on her, but she doesn’t falter. “You have no idea what you’re asking for.”
She doesn’t break our gaze. “It doesn’t matter. I’m her mother. I’ll do what I need to do to keep her safe.”
I admire her for it.
Why are you indulging them? You’re not going to let either of them anywhere near the club, and it isn’t just because London would never forgive you.
“As admirable as that is, your particular skills aren’t of any use here.”
London’s mom swallows and glances over at her ex, who shoots his ex-wife a glance before clenching his hands into fists. Then he looks back at me with determination.
“I’m willing to work off her debt as well.”
“Funny how you call it her debt when the only reason London is here is because of you,” I say dangerously. “What kind of man lets his daughter enslave herself for him?”
Rage and disgust rise within me, and I’m tempted to give London’s father a taste of what he should’ve gotten, the punishment he only narrowly avoided.
It takes every ounce of self-control I have not to throw a punch or slice him open with my dagger and leave him within an inch of death.
The coward deserves nothing less.
“I didn’t let her do anything,” he replies. “London is a grown woman. She makes her choices. I told her to stay out of it.”
“I know you’re not as stupid as you look, Callahan,” I say. “You know your daughter is selfless and loyal to a fault. You didn’t really think she would leave you at my mercy.”
I have the grim satisfaction of watching him flinch as I move closer. “After the way you treated her when you found out, I should serve her your head on a silver platter.”
“You’re disgusting,” I continue. “Leaving your ex-wife to fight your battles for you and ripping your daughter to shreds for trying to protect you. I’d be doing the world a favor if I got rid of you.”
The monster inside me is practically chomping at the bit.
I picture dragging London’s father down to the basement and tying him up next to Noah. I see myself with a pair of pliers first, and then the drill.
I would take my time with him.
“You’re despicable.” London’s mother wedges herself between us and stares up at me. “He’s trying to do the right thing now.”
I ignore her. “He didn’t even tell you the truth, and you’re defending him?”
At least now I know where London gets her sense of self-preservation.
It’s no wonder she doesn’t know when to walk away for her own good when she had her parents as role models.
At least they’re trying. It’s more than you can say for a lot of your other clients.
I step away from them, walk over to the cart, and pour myself a drink.
“I’m not an unreasonable man. I’ll consider letting London out of her contract…”
The one that no longer exists …
“…and in return, you’ll give up the diner,” I finish.
London’s father frowns. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“I don’t believe you,” he says.
“You’d have to sign over the diner.”
London’s father continues to stare at me. “If the debt is forgiven, why do I have to give up the diner?”
“Consider it an olive branch or a token of friendship. Whatever the fuck you want to call it, I don’t care. This offer has an expiration date, and it ends when you walk out of the office.”
I know he won’t take it.
London’s father loves her enough to come and get her back, but after the amount of work he’s dedicated to the diner, he won’t give it up easily.
He won’t give me the diner without a fight, not even to save London.
It makes me hate him even more.