Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Why is it so important to you for us to be married? Must you control everything? Let this go. We’re paving our own lives.”
“You and your brothers think I’m out to control you. At one time that may have been true. Now, I’m just a father who wants to see his sons happy, a man who wants to see his legacy live on. The Hennessy name can’t end with me.”
“Then back off. Stop trying to dictate our every move. It’s not going to work. I’ll find a way out, I always do. I’m not Brodi or Cane.”
He scoffs. “Clooney and Cane are an entirely different story. You have your shit together. You should start a family. Stop looking at this as a trap.”
I bare my teeth as he pointedly calls my older brother by his first name. He’s the only one who does, and he knows how much Gregor hates it.
He continues when I remain silent. “You’re thirty-eight, Clayton. How long do you expect your mother to wait before she becomes a grandmother?”
I stand, stub out my cigar, and button my suit jacket. I’m done here. This man knows damn well why I am the way I am. I’m so far from being able to marry anyone…I don’t have it in me to have that type of relationship.
Sidney comes to mind. Little does he know, I plan to play my father’s game. Although, I’m questioning myself when it comes to the one woman I want. I might be playing with fire, but I know how to get what I want. I grin and turn to leave.
“You never know, I might surprise you. You have a good day, Dad.”
He sighs but says nothing more. I make my way out of the house, not even bothering to look for my mother. I need to check on my plans. I check my phone and see my assistant Levi has confirmed the delivery of the package I placed him in charge of.
“Where to?” David asks as I climb into my waiting car.
I smile. Tonight I have an important meeting. I’m going home to get ready for the meeting I’ve been waiting three years for.
“Take me home. Did you find Brodi? Does he know about tonight?”
“Check your texts. He had to leave, but he wants you to move forward as planned. I took care of the keys. They’ll be waiting for you tonight.”
“Thanks.”
The invitations have been sent. All I have to do now is wait. It’s been three long years. I’ve watched from afar, waiting for this day. Vault has come through on a number of occasions. Every time Sidney’s name comes up, I know about it.
It’s my only regret, bringing this shitstorm into her life. A storm I plan to fix. There’s just one hole I need to figure out. For that to happen, I need to put my plan into play.
I need to connect the dots as to why our paths are crossing the way they are? I know her enemy is mine, but who the fuck do we have in common?
“Well, that’s what we plan to find out,” I murmur to myself.
Sidney needs to come to me. From there I have it covered.
Chapter 3
The Invite
Sidney
After I finally found some heels for tonight, I made it home. Now that I’m in the apartment, I’ve kicked off my shoes and have myself a glass of wine. I’ve been in kind of a funk after seeing Amanda.
It’s been almost a year and six months since I worked at Steinway & Schwartz, but I loved my job so much. Even to the last day, before the indictment. I was the manager of one of the biggest ETF funds in the world.
I helped many corporations and individuals invest their money and set up for retirement. The rush I would get to see ten percent returns in a quarter can never be replaced.
However, when the people upstairs were under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it changed everything. My life was turned upside down because I was framed for skimming funds from the ETF account. None of it made sense. I worked at Steinway & Schwartz for ten years and I never had any problems.
While reading one of the monthly statements, I noticed a few things that seemed out of place. I took action and mentioned it, but I was ignored by Patrick Dupont. Yes, Amanda’s Patrick, the very same husband.
He is the main account manager at Steinway & Schwartz. He always felt threatened by me for some reason. Like I was gunning for his spot or something.
I never paid him any mind, until those statements. I always felt like he knew something but wasn’t talking. Once the Securities and Exchange Commission named me as a suspect in the fraud and embezzlement, I couldn’t believe it.
I was in shock. They froze all of my accounts so they could trace my money. I kept telling them they had the wrong person.