Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? #4
I shook off the obvious reminder that I was slipping with my partner and put my attention on observing the people at the table. WJ didn’t seem to be dissuaded from pushing his desire to know every detail of our day.
“You still can’t impinge on people’s time without notice.”
Asha only smiled as she cut another bite of steak giving her a chance to temper what she truly wanted to say.
“Thankfully for us, the people who love us would move heaven and earth to be there on whatever day we chose. If you’re not among that number despite your very open calendar that sounds like a personal problem to me. ”
I smirked happy to see that Asha had stopped being so meek.
I was used to her being fully in control of situations but she always seemed to take a step back into herself.
Not quite dissociation, but that she didn’t feel as though her family were important enough to be bothered with arguing with.
I could understand the sentiment but sometimes people needed to be checked.
And it was clear everyone at this table, including her twin, needed to understand just who they were dealing with.
Her love made her loyal but I needed her priority to always be herself. Even with how she moved with me.
For a while, nothing but the sound of silverware and crystal tinkling filled the room and I could almost feel the sadness coming from Pappy.
He’d wanted me to have better than this and I could tell he wanted the same for Asha after meeting her.
Pappy confessed that he’d had a soft spot for my mother, given how the Franklins treated her, and I was sure the same was true for Asha.
Not being made a priority in our wedding seemed to strike a nerve and WJ sat forward as if he were going to move someone. Whoever he was used to bossing around had clearly over-inflated his ego because I would kick his fish and chips ass all over this room if he tried me.
“I’m not some freeloader and I do far more—”
“None of the grandstanding is necessary. We all know the truth and we’re family.”
Asha’s wine glass was in her hand and pressed to her lips and I watched helplessly mesmerized, as the Malbec flowed across them.
They were painted a deep berry color that almost matched her drink of choice and I felt my dick growing eager to get done with this dinner so we could make our way back home and hopefully between her thighs.
I’d been careful not to slip any part of me but my tongue inside her.
A precaution that felt necessary to keep my brain intact and try to maintain a semblance of distance between the two of us.
That shit didn’t work but I knew if I allowed myself to become completely engrossed in this woman, more than I already was, that any hopes of being emotionally distant would evaporate.
Hasn’t it already, though?
“So how are you going to manage the shipments between Asmara and the other ports?”
I looked at WJ from the corner of my eye and then glanced at his father who lowered his eyes.
I knew then that WJ couldn’t be trusted.
His father hadn’t vouched for him nor had he put his name in when it came to the circle of people that could be involved in any of this.
The only name he’d given was Asha’s so only she would be trusted with the information about the shipments.
I wondered why he even knew about them but I was sure that Asha’s mother was to blame for that.
Or maybe William hadn’t seen the harm in speaking with his son in generalities.
Realization dawned on me. The question that had lingered in my brain for so long.
Why would William Avery, if he loved his daughter so much, throw her into an alliance with a man she didn’t know?
And the answer was sulking right in front of me.
I fully understood the reason he was so anxious for his daughter to marry someone with sense.
She was going to inherit his company and everything that went with it.
He needed us to protect her from what was coming when she took control of his business, in addition to helping Eritrea.
Her being in control of that type of portfolio meant a big move for the Consortium but I wondered if this was something she even wanted.
I had a lot of business acumen but I already had a multi-billion dollar business to run.
This family squabble wasn’t about to prevent me from ensuring the Nakoa family business stayed afloat, no pun intended.
I’d put a bullet in everyone’s head who thought they could come for Asha and be done with it.
This infighting with yet another family wasn’t about to happen on my watch.
If anyone is going to stress her the fuck out it’s me.
“Why is that any of your concern?” I didn’t give him any information since it was none of his business and was more than happy to challenge him on why he felt as though he was privy to anything I had going on.
I leaned back, my glass in one hand and the other placed carefully around the back of Asha’s chair.
The move was casual but was still intimate and I knew that everyone was clocking our behavior, attempting to figure out why we were moving the way we were.
Her sister was as happy as Pappy to see that we were more than cordial, her father seemed relieved and the other two in her family radiated envy.
William Jr glanced toward his mother as though he were seeking her approval to speak before he cleared his throat and addressed me again. “Well, you’ll be working with me when my father retires. You’ll have to let me in on the information at some point.”
I credited him for bringing up a potentially valid point but I wasn’t falling for it. His desires would never come before mine so he would have to stay in the dark.
“If that point arrives it will be handled then. But I don’t involve people in my business unnecessarily. It creates liabilities and more issues that potentially have to be cleaned up. I don’t like to create extra work for myself unnecessarily.”
His offense was shown on his face and although he quickly schooled his features it wasn’t fast enough for me to miss the mini fit I knew he was throwing in his mind.
“But you were just talking about family, right?”
Ahhh so he believes that Asha is the weakest link.
“Right. And when it pertains to things with my wife, that will be handled as family. But you’re talking about Nakoa business, the family that my wife will belong to. That hasn’t got shit to do with you.”
“You know we’ve already discussed your sister being the point person when the time comes, WJ. I doubt you’ve forgotten the conversation.”
I knew William Senior was trying to allow his son to save face but this muthafucker couldn’t take the grace his father was offering him at all.
WJ shot pleading eyes to his mother and she turned up the charm by gracing me with a smile I was all too familiar with.
It was one of well-mannered manipulations that I would never fall for.
Her mother, Jacqueline, was the type of woman who was used to her physical features getting her what she needed in life.
To say she had blessed her daughters with her looks was a fact.
With a face that was extremely similar to theirs and her long hair bone straight, Jacqueline was beautiful.
But there was an undercurrent of maliciousness that couldn’t completely be disguised by her smile and excellent manners.
“Surely you don’t want your wife to be involved in something like that.
William would never ask me to do something so menial as working within the family business.
” She thought her words were a challenge to my ego but I wasn’t as fragile-minded as her son.
Asha working wasn’t a reflection on my ability to provide and she knew that because our bank accounts far exceeded theirs.
Why she felt the need to triangulate Asha into this squabble was because of her obvious jealously of her daughter but I was more than happy to shut that down.
“Probably because he knew you weren’t capable and he’d spend all of his time cleaning up your messes.”
Sasha gasped, WJ frowned, William Senior simply chuckled and Asha’s fingers brushed my knee in appreciation. If my reward for defending her was always going to be a physical touch on her part, I’d be beating muthafuckers up on a daily to ensure she forever granted me access to her.
But you’re not moved by her at all, right?
“Well, it seems you weren’t taught the proper way to behave in society. You shouldn’t speak that way to a lady. Especially not one that you don’t know.”
“Abo, I wasn’t aware that you’d made your way into the peerage. I guess Mother has finally gotten her wish.” Another sip of Malbec the same smile dancing on her lips as her eyes danced. Asha shared a look with her sister who was biting her lip but she was clearly enjoying the show.
“You know better than that, Mira. I’ve never been a man to chase meaningless whims and titles are only important to those who buy into the systems that give them power. That will never be me.”
His eyes met mine in silent solidarity as his wife fumed silently at how easily he brushed her off.
“Then, mother, you should really stop using those types of terms. Ori is actually close personal friends with Lord and Lady Bhaltair Merrick the Earl and Countess of Orkney. I doubt they’d just want anyone using those types of words in polite company.”