Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“There you are,” she says, coming toward me. “Hello again, Conlan. I knew you wanted to see me, but going through Daddy? That’s very bad—” She comes in for a kiss, but I stiff-arm her back, practically palming her cheek to shove her face away.
“Hello, Allison.” She seems nonplussed and tries to get around my hand. “It’s nice to see you.”
I sidestep out of the way as she comes in for another kiss. “You’re being very slippery,” she says, eyes narrowing. “What’s going on here?” She glances at Isabel then at Damon. “You do know Daddy sent me here, right?”
“You’re a day early,” Isabel says. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”
Allison looks around like she doesn’t understand. “I thought Daddy said you needed to meet with me? I thought—”
I glance at Damon. How am I supposed to handle this mess? I could instruct him to grab the girl and haul her off—he’d do it, no questions asked—but there are other guests around, and Allison’s drawing too much attention. I need to make her understand that she’s stuck here for a while without causing a massive scene.
But before I can think of a solution, Isabel speaks up.
“Why don’t we have our meeting in the conference room?” she says, falling into assistant mode. “Ms. Leyland, if you’d come with me? Would you like anything, some water or tea?”
Allison looks bemused but lets herself get gently led away. “Water would be nice, my throat’s sore from yelling at that awful girl.”
“I’m sure it is,” Isabel says, throwing me a look over her shoulder. She is not happy about this.
Well, shit. That took care of that, at least for now. I run my hand through my hair and turn to Damon. “Tell the staff. Allison Leyland’s going to be staying at the hotel for a while, and she cannot leave the premises under any circumstances.”
Damon nods once. “All right. I can handle that. How serious are we about keeping her locked down?”
“Serious, but only tell men you trust. Only the ones in the family.”
“Understood.” He stalks off, ever the good soldier.
I take a moment to compose myself. I expected a day to prepare everything for Allison’s arrival, and her early appearance has all my plans thrown into chaos. Now I have to deal with this problem all while trying to acclimate to my sudden marriage.
I rub my forehead. I never wanted this. Getting married feels wrong, even if I’m doing it for good reasons. I’m not the kind of man worth marrying, not at all, and if Isabel were smart, she’d stay far away.
Except I’m paying her to be stupid.
I take a deep breath. This is going to be fine. What happened twenty years ago isn’t going to happen again. Isabel will be safe with me; I’m not the same kid I was back then.
But doubts plague me. Isabel’s been a good employee. Hell, she’s the reason I’m holding myself together at all. If it weren’t for her gluing my pieces into place again and again, I don’t know where I’d be right now.
Dead or in rehab or in jail.
Which means I’d better not fuck this up for her.
I head back to the conference room. Allison’s sitting at the head of the table, legs crossed, staring at her phone with pursed lips tapping away at the screen with her thumbs. Isabel’s lurking on the other side of the room looking both terrified and supremely pissed off. I let the door close hard behind me.
Allison looks up and beams. “There you are. I was wondering what was taking you so long.” She hops to her feet. “Honestly, Con, I figured once you found out that I was lying to you about how old I am, you’d never want to see me again. Then I hear that you’re reaching out through my father, of all people, and really—” She stops right in front of me and puts one hand in my chest. “It’s filthy. Kind of fucked up. And I like it.”
My stomach lurches.
“No,” I say, knocking her arm aside. She looks startled. “This isn’t like that.”
“Sorry, what?” She laughs, cocking her head. “You called me here for a meeting only like a day after we had sex. I kind of figured—”
“This is not a booty call,” I say the words through my teeth. I’m going to need a fucking shower after this.
“We don’t have to be so crass.” Allison waves a hand. “We can call it a date. A little rendezvous. An excursion—”
“Allison.” I say her name sharply. “I am not ever going to sleep with you again. In fact, I’d like it if we pretended like that never happened.”
She snorts. “I wish I could. Seriously, Con, you fucked me—”
“Stop it.” I step forward, jaw working. “You will not ever talk about that mistake again. If I had known you were nineteen, I never would’ve gotten involved with you at all. Hell, if I had known who you were—” I don’t finish that part, since it’s not exactly true. She’s not the first daughter of a powerful man I’ve brought home and made some very bad decisions with. She might not be the last. I glance at Isabel, and she’s frowning at me. “You’re not here for anything like that. You’re here because your father thinks you’re a problem, and he’s dumping you on me instead of cutting my fucking head off.”