Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I looked into her eyes and told her the only thing I needed. She might not understand it, but she would tell Luc, and he would.
“Revenge. I need revenge.”
CHAPTER 38
MARKSEN
Isat in the leather seat I had claimed as my own since I was twenty and bought my membership to the club.
The executive lounge was rarely used during the day. Most of the patrons preferred the rooms near the billiards tables, where all the waitresses in the shorter skirts served top-shelf liquor. Members would meet and talk about who the fuck cared. Or they would be a few stories higher in the lounge that overlooked the water.
The older retired men preferred the higher view. I liked to think they pretended they were still on top of the world, as if they still commanded industries. They made choices that impacted not only hundreds of thousands of jobs but the economy as a whole. They sat and played pretend like children, but instead of imagining what they would be when they grew up, they pretended sitting presidents still took their calls and that they had more sway and leverage over the world than just threatening to take away their children’s inheritance.
If I was being honest, it wasn’t too long ago that Luc and I would meet here and play pretend as well, just looking forward to what could be instead of what was. This lounge was several stories up and had a fantastic view of the Hudson. It was mesmerizing watching the river. The ships docked and were ready to be unloaded, the men working.
Luc and I would sit here sipping his family’s private reserve and talk strategy.
Who was ripe for a takeover, who was going to retire and leave their business to someone who couldn’t hold it, what new ventures were worth our attention, and which were not.
He and I sat here and talked about the kind of men we would be, what lines we would hold, and which we would cross. We even planned our first attack here. He brought up a competitor that had gone too far, and together, we attacked from two separate angles. Not only did we make our first several million, but we also ran an entire legacy into the dirt.
Our first hostile takeover was done together.
It was supposed to be the first of hundreds. Of course, it didn’t stay that way. Our fathers started aiming us in different directions. I doubted we could ever go back to where we were when we were just starting out.
Still, we could at least end this growing feud and team up to take down the conniving person who was trying to have us destroy each other.
And more importantly, who hurt our Olivia.
No. I swallowed. His sister Olivia.
She wasn’t mine. I had no right or claim to her.
After all, I was one of the monsters who hurt her.
After everything, I wasn’t bold enough to have ordered a bottle from his private stock. Instead, I had a bottle from my family’s vault brought up. A Macallan double cask forty-year-old Scotch. Truth be told, I preferred the Manwarring labels, but that was neither here nor there. I had the bottle decanted and waited with three glasses.
I told Luc to come alone, but I just knew he wouldn’t be the only one showing up.
It didn’t take him long to get to the club.
He approached by himself, not even trying to hide the gun holstered under his arm. I didn’t blame him. If someone were to do to my sister Alva what I did to Olivia, I would have a gun, too. Alva and I weren’t even as close as Luc and Olivia.
Maybe that was something I should change.
I nodded toward the gun. “You won’t be needing that. Take a seat and have a drink,” I said, pouring the two glasses.
He ignored me. “Where is my sister?” he growled like some starved wolf.
I looked at my Cartier watch, pretending to look at the time when instead I looked at the gears, how they all turned so precisely. Much like I had. I had let the actions and influence of one person dictate my behavior.
They manipulated me into hurting a friend and an innocent woman.
And they would pay for it.
My thirst for revenge this time was nothing like what I had felt toward Luc.
Then, it had been about bruised pride and my stupid ego.
This time they’d hurt the woman I loved. Yes, loved. There was no point in denying it.
I loved her. Loved her sweet, intelligent mind. Loved the way she stuck out her cute little chin when she was feeling challenged. And how her beautiful eyes widened in wonder every time I touched her. I even loved how she was useless in the kitchen but an amazing mastermind in the boardroom. And like a fucking idiot, I had let my ego and rage blind me enough to be manipulated into almost destroying all that amazing fire and brilliance.