Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
MARCUS
Istare out the window as rain pounds against the glass, a hint of a headache already taking hold. My father sits across from me, staring at his menu, his forehead wrinkled in concentration, as if he doesn’t order the same sirloin steak and bottle of overpriced red wine every time.
After the waitress takes our order, Dad gives me a stern look, folding his hands on the table in front of him. His blue eyes strip me bare, and I feel like a little boy all over again. I fight the overwhelming urge to appease him like I’ve always done.
“I need you to move the timeline on the pub forward.”
I tilt my head in confusion. “What? Why?”
My father sighs, a dark look crossing his features, and I’m struck by how much we look alike.
Is that the resting dick face that Tris was going on about?
“Ryan wants to expand the board, and I’m concerned that he doesn’t have Skynet’s best interests at heart anymore.”
Ryan Michaels is most definitely an undiagnosed psychopath. The guy has no empathy whatsoever. Dad has always been very tolerant of Ryan’s quirks, so the fact that he’s concerned is alarming.
“Should we be worried?”
“He’s been dealing with a personal matter, and it’s made him a bit .
. . unpredictable.” The waitress returns to pour a generous amount of wine for my dad.
My father swirls the liquid and then takes a long sip before answering.
“I think we need more balance so that we can force him out if things go too far.”
I stare at him in confusion. “But isn’t that why you’re bringing me in officially? So that you have an ally?”
He nods. “But Ryan brought in someone of his own. A woman. She seems sharp enough, and her résumé is impeccable, but something just isn’t right about her. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“So now, even with me, we don’t make a majority.”
Dad leans forward. “I’m going to share something with you that’s confidential, but I need you to agree to go along with this without a fight. It’s nonnegotiable.”
My stomach sours. His voice has a threatening undertone that I dislike, but I nod. “I know we agreed that you won’t be doing any work for Skynet until the pub is finished, but we’ve been negotiating with Pine Investments.”
“Your competitor?” I lean back in my chair, giving him a skeptical look. “You hate Ben Pine.”
“Keep your enemies close and all that.”
“What exactly does negotiating mean?”
“A company merger.”
“Okay.” I shake my head. “But I still don’t see how this involves me or how it helps us get the upper hand over Ryan.”
“His daughter, Sabrina Pine, has agreed to join the board. Ben will be retiring in the spring, and Sabrina is being groomed as the next CEO.”
“And how do you know she’s on our side? She could easily be just as crazy as Ryan.”
“Because you’re going to marry her.”
I choke, spitting water across the table. I wipe my chin with the back of my hand, staring at my father like he’s lost his damn mind. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Dad gives me an icy smile. “Lower your voice,” he hisses.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Perhaps I misheard. I thought you just suggested marrying off your eldest son like in a fucking Jane Austen novel.”
My father sighs like I’m inconveniencing him. “Marcus, be reasonable. You’re not in a relationship anyway. If you marry Sabrina, at least it furthers your career.”
The hint of a headache is now a throbbing roar. “No. No fucking way.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Can you stop with the profanity?”
This fucking guy. Fuck him. I’ll say fuck as much as I fucking want.
“I’m being dramatic? I’ve given you control over my professional life, Dad, but I can’t give you my personal life, too.”
His face hardens. “And I said it’s nonnegotiable.
” He gives me a look that makes me feel like I’m a little kid in trouble.
“Do I need to remind you that this Seattle location exists because of me? I outbid every other offer for the property. I fast-tracked your building permits for the remodel. I’m on the fucking deed.
Maybe I should have a chat with your brother.
We can tell him how Skynet is financially involved in the instrumental success of his ludicrous career.
” My father places his phone on the table between us and pulls up Sebastian’s number, his finger hovering over the Call button.
“You can bet that Skynet withdrawing its support because of shady business practices would be a big reputation hit for your brand.” He makes an exaggerated sad face.
“In fact, your little brother’s career may never recover. ”
Anger vibrates through my whole body. “Jesus, Dad, you’re talking about one of your kids.”
“The one who failed. He would be nothing if not for us. You’d do well to remember that.
” He gives me an appraising look. “Your stepsister is in the same precarious situation. One call and Rosewood Publishing will cancel her book deal.” He gives me a sly smile.
“She’ll hate you when she finds out you’ve tied her to me. Probably more than she hates me.”
His finger twitches closer to the Call button, and fear mingles in my gut, cooling some of the anger. “Fuck. Fine. But can I at least meet this Sabrina before we make this public? Give me a chance to make sure she’s on board with everything?”
My father’s grin brightens his whole face, and there’s a hint of pride in the expression. I hate the little surge of dopamine that still hits my brain when I please him. “Of course! I’ll set up a meeting after the Thanksgiving holiday.”
“Great,” I growl.
Our food arrives, and we eat in silence for a few minutes before Dad speaks. “I know originally we agreed on a July soft opening for the pub, but all this needs to happen by April instead.”
I grimace. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I should also warn you that Ryan is extra paranoid right now.”
“You don’t say.”
“You just need to be careful. He said he was going to put a tail on you.”
I pause, the burger halfway to my mouth. “A tail? Are you serious? Why?”
“Like I said, he’s paranoid. He thinks I’m trying to force him out.”
“You are trying to force him out,” I deadpan.
“Just don’t do anything stupid, Marcus. He’ll find some excuse to cry nepotism if I try to get you onto the board after he digs up some dirt.”
“Sure, Dad, I’ll try to keep my meth lab on the down-low. Got any old trailers I can use?”
“I’m serious, Marcus.” My father looks at me like he’s a fucking king and I’m a lowly peasant. “Keep your nose clean.”
I grunt in reply, but the idea of Ryan tailing me gives me pause. I could have led him right to Jeremy’s apartment last night.
The idea of tangling Jeremy in this mess makes my stomach burn, and I drop my french fry. If Ryan or my father even suspects that we mean something to each other, Jeremy will become a target, and my relationship with him would certainly be a scandal, especially if Sabrina and I are engaged.
I wait until I get to my truck and climb in the cab before I pull out my phone and scroll down my contacts to John Evans.
He picks up after the first ring. “Hey, Marcus. What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, there’s just been a hiccup in our plans. Can we move the investigation up to April?”
There’s silence for a minute, then “What happened?”
“My father wants to stack the board against Ryan by merging with Pine Investments.”
“Ben’s company? How’d he swing that?”
I sigh. “He wants me to marry Sabrina Pine.”
“What?” John scoffs. “He can’t be serious.”
“Oh, he is. He blatantly threatened Sebastian and Charlie if I didn’t agree.” I run my hand through my hair, tugging at the strands. “I mean, he’s done that before, but this felt more . . . real.”
“Martin has always been a prick.” John’s voice is tight. “But I can’t believe he’s threatening his children like this. Ellen would have been appalled.”
My throat tightens at the mention of my stepmother. “He’s not who he was.”
My stepmom’s affair with John was the catalyst that broke our family a few years ago, but that’s all water under the bridge now.
John’s son, Lincoln, is one of my sister’s boyfriends, and John has proven time and again that he’s a good person who made a poor decision because he was in love.
I can’t really relate as I’ve never been in love, but I’m sympathetic, nonetheless.
And now John’s using his sizable assets to help my family escape my father’s hold.
Still, his motives aren’t completely selfless.
On top of their personal shit, my father and John have a rocky business relationship.
John’s tone is heavy. “I know. Look, I’ll make a few calls to my private investigator.
I’m sure we can accelerate the timeline, and the paperwork for the ownership transfer is easy enough, but we do have to make sure we have enough on the table to force Martin and Ryan to sign over the pub and back off your siblings. ”
“There’s one other thing,” I say hesitantly.
“I’m listening.”
“Dad thinks that Ryan might put a tail on me. The guy is completely losing it. So going forward, we should be extra careful about where we talk and meet up. I don’t want him to get wind of all this.”
“Great.” He sounds annoyed. “Yeah, okay.”
“Sorry, John. I know this hasn’t been easy, but I appreciate what you’re doing.”
“You know you don’t have to convince me it’s worth it, Marcus. Charlie is pretty much my daughter-in-law at this point, and after what happened between me and your mother—”
“We don’t hold that against you,” I cut in. “None of us blame you—or even her—for what happened. After the truth about my dad came out, it’s no wonder she wanted to leave.”
“It still wasn’t right.” The remorse in his voice is thick.
“No, but it’s forgiven.” My throat feels tight again.
“Let me know if you need anything. I’ll help however I can.”
I hang up and drop my phone into my lap. Despite how complicated everything has gotten, Martin Conner deserves everything that’s coming to him.