Chapter Two Family Dinner #2
“What I do in my private life has nothing to do with the company,” I snarl, maintaining as calm an exterior as possible even as I’m boiling with anger and not a small amount of embarrassment.
“I’m discreet, and it’s not like I’m the only man of significant means and standing that goes to clubs like that.
At least I’m not going around fucking my way through the company’s employee registry and getting HR complaints.
” I give Ryan a pointed look. The color drains from his face and his eyes go wide, but he keeps his mouth shut in a tight line.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m not the only one with secrets at this table. Fucker better remember that I’m just as capable of digging up humiliating dirt as he is.
“Of course your private life matters!” Dad slaps his hand on the table in frustration, either missing my jab at Ryan or choosing to ignore it completely.
“This is a billion dollar company! You will be under constant scrutiny as CEO, and we can’t risk embarrassment.
If you’re not going to take this seriously, then perhaps you aren’t the one who should take over Parker Global. ”
Dad would love nothing more than for Grandfather to hand the company over to Ryan rather than me.
“That’s enough,” Grandfather barks, glaring at all of us.
We all fall quiet immediately. “Jayce, unfortunately, your father has a point. You need to be careful and take your role in this family more seriously. We agreed you could pursue your hockey career until you turned thirty-five, then you would become CEO of Parker Global. You have six years until that happens, but you need to start proving now that you understand the responsibility that is going to be placed on your shoulders. Not just to our employees, stakeholders, and this family, but to the Parker legacy and its continuation into the future.”
I want to argue that I do take my role seriously, but I keep my mouth shut. I can’t ignore the jab his words cause in my chest. When it comes to Dad, I don’t really give a shit what he thinks of me. Grandfather, though… I hate the thought of disappointing him. Of falling short of his expectations.
Instead, I ask, “How can I prove it to you?”
Grandfather rests his elbows on the table and steeples his fingers.
“I want you to attend the Silicon Valley fundraising gala. I know you don’t have a game this weekend, so I expect you to be there and to be professional.
Until you prove you’re serious about your future with the company, I want you to attend all such events that don’t clash with your hockey schedule.
You need to start building your reputation as a reliable and competent businessman rather than a playboy. ”
Fuck, I hate this. I hate being treated like some unreliable child and having my free time dictated. I clench my hands into fists in my lap but I push back my frustration and give my grandfather an obedient nod.
“All right,” I murmur. “I won’t disappoint you.”
Smiling, Grandfather appears pleased. “I know you won’t, my boy. That’s why you’re the best choice.”
He shoots a cold look toward Ryan and Dad, who both go quiet, but I can tell Ryan is boiling with rage.
Half the table is pissed off, and half the table is feeling smug…just a typical family dinner in the Vaughn/Parker household.
I leave the house as soon as dinner’s over and head downtown toward Club élysée.
A part of me is feeling exceptionally petty and rebellious and going to the club feels like a “fuck you” to Ryan, but I know I need to be even more careful not to be seen there.
He’s probably still got people following me.
Still, I need to blow off some steam, and I tried calling my hockey bros, but they’re all busy with their girls…
except for Wilder, but that motherfucker isn’t answering his phone at all.
Thinking about Jensen, Carson, Owen, and now Zander, my teammates and friends, all tripping over themselves to please their women, I shake my head.
They’re all fools. Real love doesn’t exist, and if it does, marriage is the surest way to kill it.
My parents will be sleeping in separate beds tonight, in their separate rooms. There’s no love between them.
Their marriage was a business transaction, pure and simple.
Arranged by my grandfather to strengthen Parker Global’s reach in the real estate industry.
I grew up knowing full well my parents couldn’t stand each other and only put on a unified front in public.
In private, they stay away from each other, and neither is faithful to their marriage. I hate thinking about all the affairs the two have likely had over the years.
Shaking my head, I shove thoughts of my parents and my lovesick friends out of my mind. None of them matter right now.
As I pull into the private parking garage for the club, my blood heats and my dick twitches with anticipation. Yeah, this is what I need.
I get out of my car and make my way to the elevator, riding it up to the club’s most exclusive floor.
A membership card is required to open the elevator doors, and I pull mine from my pocket and swipe it in the keycard reader.
The doors slide open, and I step into a luxuriously decorated entryway with marble floors and crimson padded walls.
For the first time since arriving at my parents’ house earlier this evening, I feel like I can breathe again.
Like a weight is lifting off my shoulders.
Across from the elevator is a dark wood desk, behind which is standing a gorgeous woman with straight platinum hair wearing a short black skirt and vest with nothing underneath.
She looks up as I approach, her crimson lips curling into a smile.
“Good evening, Mr. Vaughn. A pleasure to see you.”
“Good evening, Vivian,” I reply.
She bats her long lashes at me. “How can I help you?”
I regard her for a moment, letting my eyes sweep over her. Her cheeks pinken, and it’s clear she’s enjoying my attention.
“Are you free?” I ask.
Her lips part in surprise. “Oh! I…yes, I can be. Let me just call up someone to watch the desk for me.”
“Great. I’ll take my usual room.”
She licks her lips and nods. “Yes, sir. It’s ready for you. It’s always ready for you.”
“Good. Don’t keep me waiting.”
Without another word, I make my way past her and the desk and step through a set of long, velvet curtains hiding the entrance to a wide hallway.
There are doors on either side of the hall, all private rooms for other members looking to blow off steam of their own.
My room is located at the end of the hall and I use my keycard once again to open the door.
Every room in this club is different, designed to the specifications of the elite members who reserve them.
My room has plush carpeting and a king-size bed with black sheets and no pillows.
There are several other pieces of furniture, including a curved chaise with bondage adapters, a leather-padded sawhorse with leg rests, a lounge chair, and even a sex swing.
I cross the room to a black wardrobe and open it to reveal a variety of sex toys and bondage equipment, but I ignore those and instead reach for a set of silk ropes and a blindfold.
At that moment, the room’s door opens and Vivian walks inside. Her cheeks are flushed with excitement as I turn to her.
“Undress,” I order.
She begins stripping without hesitation, slipping out of her skirt and shrugging off her little vest. Her body is slender and smooth. Elegant.
My cock grows harder imagining her smooth skin marked with indents from the ropes in my hands.
“Get on the bed. On your knees.”
She hurries to obey. Once she’s in position, I make my way to the bed and slip the blindfold over her eyes.
“Hold out your wrists.”
She does, and I begin to slowly wrap the ropes around them. I’m intentional with my movements, taking my time and savoring her surrender as I bind her.
Ryan might be willing to mix business and pleasure and fuck where he works – and he has, many, many times – but I know better. That only leads to trouble. I will never mix the two.
For me, sex is about control. I derive pleasure from the total trust and surrender of my partner. Things stay neat and clean that way. I don’t do messy, and I don’t let unnecessary feelings get in the way.
I know what I like, and I know how to get it, and if that doesn’t make me an ideal CEO, I don’t know what will.