Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“He’s best friends with the devil. Who the fuck knows?” Clay mutters. “I’m not folding to this. We worked too hard. I’ll figure a way out.”
I groan and close my eyes. Rage consumes me. I’ve sacrificed way too much for my father to pull this now.
His timing is totally fucked. I’ve already got so much going on. I need to find answers to my problem in Dubai. Everyone is out to control me in some way. I’m tired of this shit.
“Fuck, I don’t need this right now. This is total bullshit.”
Cane snorts as he leans against the bookshelves. I turn to glare at him. I spot right away something is different about him.
“Why are you so calm about this?”
“Because Dad seems to be giving him grace. Unlike you and me, he’s been given an extra year and a half to meet the terms,” Clay says bitterly.
“You’ll have this figured out by then,” Cane says. It’s a statement, not a question.
“The old man started this, but I’ll be the one to finish it,” Clay seethes.
His anger fills the room, matching my own. It took me five and a half years to get where I am. Five and a half years to stand on my own two feet, without my father’s help or his name.
When I left for Morocco, I left the Hennessy name behind, along with the childish Brodi I’d become. I couldn’t bring myself to be called by the name my brother once used as an endearment. I was too embarrassed to hear the five letters my love once cried out in my ear.
I’m a different man from the one I left behind. The man I left behind has regrets, he failed to find solutions. He walked out on the woman he loved to rebuild his life. For five and a half years, I’ve tried to convince myself I did what was right.
“Clay, he doesn’t get to win. Not like this. Not after what I’ve given up.”
“He won’t, but we might have to play his game. Luckily, Cane has time. That might work to our advantage. Only the two of us have to look like we’re going through with this.”
My heart pulses like an open wound. This is the last thing I need. I can’t be forced into another thing in my life.
I won’t survive it. I’m already shredded from the cages I’ve busted through. The vise grip I’m in is threatening to crush me as it is.
I tell myself over and over, I left because Chloe had a life of her own. She had responsibilities I couldn’t drag her away from. Yet, for five and a half years I’ve had a hole in my chest. Now this.
“Play his game,” I seethe. “Clay, the man is trying to force us into marriage. He wants to control our future. This isn’t right. This is our empire. We built every single thing we have. We’ve out-earned anything that has the Hennessy name on it.”
“How dare he try this shit? I’m not marrying some woman of his choosing just to please him,” I bellow.
“Then don’t. It doesn’t say we have to marry who he wants. Just that we have to marry and take over the family business. Once we’re engaged, he’ll back off. Then I can find us a way out of this.”
I work my jaw as I think over his words. I’m thirty-eight and never married because there’s only one woman for me. If I can’t have Chloe, I’ll die alone. I’ve tried to move on only to have it blow up in my face.
I know for a fact it’s Chloe or nothing. I could have come for her sooner. I almost did, but I promised her that I’d never bother her again.
I tried. I tried to stay away. The woman is just my weakness. I stay away from New York as much as I can because her presence is too much of a temptation.
I’m proud of her. She hasn’t reached the level she talked about, but I see she’s worked her ass off. I know she’ll do it in time.
I often wonder what happened to set her back. She was neck and neck with Sidney, but somehow, Sidney James became a star and Chloe has been coasting. She’s hardworking, but still, something seems to be holding her back.
“Are you suggesting what I think you are?”
“Yes, I’m ready to go after Sidney. This is an open door. I need her and she could use me. May the chips fall where they may,” he replies. “I think a million dollars will make this all the more appealing.”
“What?” Cane chokes out. “You’re not serious. Do you always offer so much?”
“Never, but Sidney is different. I’ll do what’s necessary.”
“What do you know about her? About the people in her life? Clay, you have so much more at stake now.”