Chapter Twenty-Two
MONEY COULD BUY a lot of shit, but it couldn’t buy taste.
Gaudy was the first word that came to mind when the shocked butler—that’s right, butler—admitted them to McCarthy Carver’s home. The round foyer boasted a dark wooden statue of a horse rearing back on its hind legs. An intricate mural had been painted on the ceiling, the kind typically seen in ancient European castles. He had no doubt the gold trim around the ceiling was real gold instead of fake. The place reeked of old money and snobbery.
“You okay, baby?”
Kelsie stood with her hand in his, stiff and with a pinched expression. She definitely wasn’t okay, and he hoped she didn’t brush him off with a quick “I’m fine.”
She sighed and leaned into him. He automatically circled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. “I’m not sure what I am. Nothing has changed. I could have walked away yesterday for how little has changed.”
“It makes a statement.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back. She fit in his arms as though she’d been crafted to be set right there, the missing piece he hadn’t realized he’d been searching for.
Her chuckle fed his soul. “That it does. It was like growing up in a museum. A very ugly museum.” She rested her chin on his chest and peered up at him. “Being here makes me miss your home. It’s so warm and comfortable. I love being there.” Her face flushed, and her eyes went soft.
Without even trying, she hit him in the feels every time. “I love you in my house.”
He’d just used a very powerful word to describe her in his home. He didn’t regret it. He’d tried fighting it, but it’d happened anyway. He’d fallen for this woman and wanted her in his bed and by his side for the rest of his days.
Was it fair to ask her to be his? To tie herself to him and be his ol’ lady when he had so many years on her. Probably not. Definitely not. She deserved someone to walk through life in the same season as her. Hell, she was young enough to have a whole horde of children if she wanted. It’d been his dream once, but no longer.
“Well, isn’t this cozy? Hello, sis. What a lovely surprise.” Lorenzo strode into the room, wearing a suit that likely cost as much as Ty’s Harley. His wingtips clacked on the marble floor, which had probably been imported directly from Italy.
Kelsie stiffened and tried to pull away, but Ty didn’t let her. He gripped the back of her head, leaned down, and kissed her hard. As he raised his head, his gaze met Lorenzo’s. The tick in the other man’s jaw was nearly as satisfying as the kiss.
Nearly.
Lorenzo cleared his throat. “So, to what do I owe the honor of this unannounced visit?”
Ty released Kelsie. She turned but didn’t move away from him. Instead, she rested her back against him. He wrapped his arm around her and splayed his hand over her stomach in a possessive, blatant territory marking.
“I see I was wrong in my initial assumption that you’d come to your senses and returned home to accept Andrew’s proposal.”
“Yeah. You assumed wrong. I wouldn’t marry that asshole if he were the last man on Earth.”
Lorenzo wrinkled his nose. “Your language has certainly deteriorated in the time you’ve been away. See what happens when you slum it?”
Was that supposed to be an insult? Ty snorted. It would take a hell of a lot more than a few well-chosen words by an entitled prick to pierce his skin.
Kelsie seemed to be of the same mind, seeing as how she didn’t take the bait. “I’m here to see Father, actually.”
“He’s busy in his office. I’m positive I can take care of whatever it is you need. Money? Is that it? Or are you hoping you will melt Father’s heart, and he’ll back off Tyler’s business?”
Kelsie barked a loud laugh. “Look at you, making jokes.” She shook her head. “No, Lorenzo, I figured out many years ago that Father doesn’t have a heart. I’m not stupid enough to appeal to his emotions. What I need to discuss is business.”
“Discuss it with me.”
“No.”
Ty grinned. Dayum. A confident and forceful Kelsie was a sight to behold.
Frustration flashed across Lorenzo’s face, but he banked it quickly. “Fine. I have my own business to attend to. I trust you know the way to his office?”
With a snort, Kelsie took Ty’s hand and started for one of the two staircases circling up to the second level. “Seeing as how not a damn thing has changed, I’m sure I can find it.”
“This changes nothing,” Lorenzo announced as they hit the first step.
Ty turned around with a feral grin. “You’re wrong. This changes everything.” He winked, then trailed Kelsie up the long staircase.
“Regretting this yet?” she asked as she reached the long hallway at the top of the steps.
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Fuck no. Who’d regret a chance to see how the other half lives?”
Making her laugh never failed to boost his ego to the stratosphere. Given the way they’d met, when she’d been so traumatized she couldn’t function, every laugh felt like a gift.
He vowed to himself he’d never take those smiles and laughs for granted.
“There is no other half. My father is a one-of-a-kind asshole. Hope you’re ready for this.”
“Bring it.”
She snorted and then stopped in front of a heavy set of mahogany double doors with intricate carvings. Her slender fist looked out of place, knocking on such an ostentatious door.
“Enter.” The commanding voice belonged to the man Ty had seen on the news countless times.
“Let the games begin,” Kelsie muttered.
Their gazes met, and Ty nodded. “Piece of cake,” he whispered. By the time they left here today, a nasty little virus would be working its way through McCarthy Carver’s network, finding all the little details Acer needed to cripple the man.
He pushed the heavy door open and gestured for Kelsie to walk ahead. As she passed, he caught her hand in his. He sure planned to keep as close as possible as they entered the viper’s nest.
McCarthy Carver sat behind an imposing desk made of the same dark wood as the rest of his house. Behind him, a tall, wide window revealed the vast beauty of his Alabama property, including the pool with two men working on it. On either side of the window stood built-in bookcases full of leather-bound books with gold trimmings full of things that would put Ty to sleep in no time. Not a thing was out of place. Even the dust knew better than to get on Carver’s bad side.
The man himself gazed up from his computer. “Kelsie,” he said with surprise in his voice. His snowy white hair had been styled perfectly and he, like his son, wore an impeccable suit for a day spent in his home.
Fucking weird.
Even if Ty woke up the richest man in the world tomorrow, he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a suit to work from his home office. But then, Carver probably came out of the womb in a three-piece suit and alligator shoes.
“Hello, Father.” Her grip on Ty’s hand became crushing.
Carver’s eye shifted to Ty, then narrowed to a displeased glare.
“What a surprise. And I see you’ve brought a thug into my home. Please don’t be offended if my security pats you down before you leave, Tyler Daxon.”
Kelsie gasped, but Ty just laughed. “They’re welcome to try.”
He was tempted to fold his arms across his puffed-out chest and stretch to his full six-foot-two height, but that would mean dropping Kelsie’s hand. Beyond wanting and needing to be connected to her, holding Carver’s daughter’s hand would probably piss the man off more than any macho posturing. Not that Carver gave two shits about his daughter, but he’d sure as fuck hate the fact that a biker had her.
Carver removed his reading glasses and leaned back in his regal leather chair. “I assume you are not here to accept my offer but to plead for your friend’s business in person. Bikers, Kelsie? Really? They’re nothing but common criminals. Look around.” He waved a hand around in the air. “Remember where you come from. This is beneath you.”
If Ty were in a more humorous mood, he might have laughed at the fact that he was closer in age to Kelsie’s father than to her. A quick Google search revealed the man was sixty. Fourteen years separated him from McCarthy Carver, as opposed to the more than twenty dividing him from Kelsie.
What on earth does she see in you?
“That’s rich coming from you,” Kelsie said, shaking her head. “How’s your ankle jewelry feeling these days.”
Carver’s eyes flared wide, and Ty had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing.
That’s right, asshole, she’s not a meek little kid anymore.
He had not been involved in his daughter’s life for nearly a decade. Yet to him, she was still the little girl who kowtowed to his every wish. It was about time he learned that girl grew into a woman who controlled her own life.
Carver’s lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval. “Mr. Daxon, I’d like a moment alone with my daughter, if you don’t mind.”
He minded.
Christ, no one had called him Mister in nearly a decade. No one ever used his last name. Hell, he didn’t even have a handle for the club. He was just Ty, had always been Ty, and would always be Ty. “Long as she’s in my line of sight.”
He swore smoke billowed from Carver’s ears. “Certainly,” the man said through clenched teeth.
When was the last time anyone had shown Carver he didn’t have the biggest dick in the room? Ty was happy to make sure he knew it.
“We’ll head out to the balcony. You’ll be able to see her right there through the window. You may have a seat on the couch while you wait.” He pointed to a brown leather monstrosity with tufted gold buttons. “Kelsie, come along.”
It wasn’t lost on Ty how he’d not asked Kelsie to join him but ordered her while asking Ty. A fact that wasn’t lost on Kelsie either, if the set of her jaw was any indication. If not for today’s ultimate mission of gaining access to Carver’s computer, she’d probably tell her father to shove his offer right up his wrinkly ass.
“Yippie,” Kelsie mumbled, making him chuckle.
He squeezed her hand before releasing it. Their eyes caught for a brief moment, so he nodded and fingered the flash drive in his pocket.
Kelsie preceded her father through the large French doors to the expansive balcony. Before he shut the doors, blocking him out, Carver said, “Don’t worry, Mr. Daxon, you won’t get lonely.”
The office door opened, and another man in a suit strolled. This one had an earpiece and a weapon holstered at his side. A security guard.
Fuck.
Ty ignored the man and sat his ass on the leather couch. The thing was so stiff that his big body didn’t even dent the cushion. Humming his favorite AC/DC song, he pulled out his phone and fired off a quick text to Curly.
In office without Carver. Have security eyes on me. Need a distraction. ASAP.