I was three phone calls deep into destroying Marcus Davidson's life when Katherine burst into my office. Her eyes were red from dried tears - her jaw set with determination that made her even more beautiful in her anger.
"Hold on"
I raised a finger, concluding my instruction to the attorney on the phone. "—and I want his licenses revoked. Banking, securities, and every kind of license he has. I don't care what the cost is."
"Tony, hang up the phone." Katherine's voice broke through my concentration. "Now."
There was something in her voice that made me comply. I ended the call and turned to face her, noticing the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers clutched her purse as a lifeline.
"They fired you." It wasn't a question. Vincent had already sent me the information.
"Suspended. Two weeks paid administrative leave." She put her purse away and came over to sit at my bar, pouring herself a shot of scotch as if she'd been doing that in my office a long time. "Which is corporate talk for 'resign or we'll destroy you'."
"Then let me destroy them first." I pulled my phone. "I can get the board of Premier Financial in this office by the end of the day. They will either promote you and issue a formal apology, or they will find themselves faced with regulatory issues that-"
"No." She downed the drink in one gulp, her throat muscles working in a way that momentarily distracted me. "I don't want your help, Tony. I don't want you calling in favors, making threats, whatever the hell it is that makes the problem disappear."
"They hurt you."
"And I'll handle it." She poured another drink, this time for me. "I chose this. I knew there'd be a price to pay. So let me face them on my own terms."
I took the glass she offered, looking at her. Women in her position would be demanding that I use my power to correct what had been done. Katherine was doing the opposite.
It made me desire her in a way that bordered on violence.
"Katherine-"
"I mean it, Tony." She inched closer until I could smell her perfume mixed with the coffee she'd had this morning. "I'm not some kind of damsel in distress waiting to be saved. If we're doing this - and I mean if we're really doing this - then I need to be able to fight my own battles."
"Even when I could finish them off with a phone call?"
"Especially then." Her hand came up to my chest, her fingers spreading across my heart. "Because the moment I let you solve all my problems, I become dependent on your power. And that's not who I am. That's not who I want to be."
Fuck, she was exquisite. Standing in my office, her career torn apart, her life in jeopardy - and yet, refusing to be anything less than herself.
I put my drink down, pulling her against me, one hand fisting in her dark hair, the other grasping her hip. "You're going to be the death of me, woman."
"Probably." She tilted her head back, exposing her throat to me. "But at least you'll die entertained."
I was just about to demonstrate to her what kind of entertainment we could experience when the door to my office swung open unexpectedly. My father appeared in the entrance with Marco following closely behind him, both of them surprised to see Katherine in my embrace.
"We are in the middle of something," I stated coolly, not letting her go.
"I see that." Thomas's expression was set in stone. "Miss Blaire, will you excuse us, please? We have family business to discuss."
"She stays." I sensed Katherine pressing against me, her urge to flee. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her."
Thomas and Marco exchanged looks that spoke volumes. Finally, my father nodded. "Very well. We have a problem. A request has been received from the Torrino family. They want to renegotiate terms."
"What kind of terms?"
"Peace. Territory agreements. The usual." Thomas came over to the bar and poured a drink.
"However, they do have one non-negotiable demand."
I already knew what it would be. "Katherine."
"They want to see that you break the relationship. They'll make a public declaration that this is only a momentary diversion, no big deal. They consider her a trump card against you, Anthony. They'll continue to use her to get to you as long as you are with her."
Katherine tensed in my embrace. I tightened my grip, making sure that she knew I wasn't letting her go.
"Tell them to go fuck themselves."
"I expected that response," Thomas continued. He took a long sip of his scotch. "Which is why I already agreed to a meeting. Tomorrow night. Neutral grounds. We'll hear what they have to offer before we make any decisions."
"You had no right-"
"I have every right," he snapped. "I built this empire, Anthony. I say when we bargain and when we make war. And we're bleeding money, losing our allies, and fighting enemies on multiple fronts because you can't keep your dick in your pants!"
"Thomas." Marco's voice was quiet but warning. "A lady is in the room."
"She's the reason we're in this mess." My father's gray gaze narrowed as he looked at Katherine. "No offense, Miss Blaire, but you're a liability we can't afford. My son may be too blinded by pussy to see it, but I'm not."
Katherine moved away from me, and I released her as I saw the flames burning in her gaze. She approached my father, Thomas Marvin, a man whose gaze could make adult males wet themselves, and looked him in the eye.
"With all due respect, Mr. Marvin, your son is a grown man capable of making his own decisions. If you don't like what he is doing, that is something to discuss with him. Not me." Her voice was steady, professional, with an edge of steel that made me want to bend her over my desk and show her exactly what her defiance did to me. "And for the record, I'm not anyone's liability."
Thomas actually smiled, though there wasn't any warmth in the gesture. "I see why he likes you," he said. "You've got spine, but it won't stop the Torrinis from shooting a hole in your head if they wish to make a statement."
"Then I'd say you'd better teach your enemies better manners," I retorted. She turned back to me. "I should go. You obviously have things to discuss."
"Katherine-"
"It's fine, Tony. Really." I could see the hurt in her eyes, the way in which my father's words had struck her, even as she had stood her ground. "Call me later."
After that, the silence in the office was deafening. Finally, Marco cleared his throat.
"She has balls. I'll give her that."
"Shut the fuck up, Marco." I reached for a cigarette, needing something to do with my hands before I ended up putting them around someone's throat. "What aren't you telling me? This Torrino meeting - what's the play?"
Thomas and Marco shared another look. Too many looks. Too much silent communication. The hair on the back of my neck stood.
"What?" I demanded.
"The thing is," my father continued slowly, "the Torrinos' demands are not unreasonable. They want territory redistribution, updated profit sharing on shared ventures, and for you to end your relationship with Katherine publicly. In exchange, they're offering a formal alliance. One that would make us the most powerful organization in the tristate area."
"No."
"Think about it strategically-"
"I said no," I repeated. I mashed out my cigarette. "I won't betray Katherine for territory or profit or anything else. Find another way."
"There is no other way." Thomas put his glass down. "Unless you're ready to go to war. Real war. Blood in the streets, civilian casualties, federal investigations. That's what refusing the Torrinis means."
"Then I guess we're going to war."
"Over a woman you've known for two weeks." It wasn't a question, but the tone of disbelief in his voice came through.
"Over the woman I choose." I looked him straight in the eye. "And if that means burning everything down, then we burn it down."
Thomas looked at me for a long moment. And then, oddly, he laughed. "You really are my son," he said. "Stubborn, reckless, and too darned proud of yourself." He straightened his shoulders. "You're wrong about one thing, however," he continued. "I'm not doing this as a way of controlling you. I'm doing this to save your life."
"By destroying what makes it worth living?"
"By keeping you alive long enough to realize that love is a luxury our family can't afford." He turned towards the door, then stopped. "The bombing of the warehouse. Threats against Katherine. Pressure from the Sterling family. Do you honestly not see that any of this is a coincidence? Haven't I been making a point with everything I've done to demonstrate how dangerous your involvement with her is?"
The words hit like a physical blow. "You've been behind this?"
"Not all of it. But enough to prove my point." He did not look sorry. "I had the Sterling family apply some pressure. I may have hinted to certain people that Katherine could be a useful form of leverage. I've been trying to demonstrate to you, in a language that only you will understand, that Katherine makes you vulnerable."
"You son of a bitch." I moved before I could think, anger getting the better of me. Marco inserted himself between us, and it was all I could do not to push him out of the way to get to my father.
"I'm doing what is necessary." Thomas' voice is calm, his words a contrast to the violence in mine. "What my father should have done for me. I am saving you from the mistake that has haunted me for thirty years."
"By terrorizing an innocent woman? By staging attacks?"
"By showing you the reality of this world before it is too late." He straightened his jacket. "The Torrino meeting is tomorrow night. Be there. And Anthony? Bring Katherine if you want. Let her see what she is really signing up for."
They left, and I stood in my office, trying to keep the anger that threatened to overwhelm me in check. My father had done this and had used his power to demonstrate that Katherine is a liability.
The truly fucked up part is he might be right.
***
My phone vibrated with a message from Marco: Got to talk privately. It's about the warehouse.
I nearly dismissed it, but something in the wording made me respond: My place. One hour.
When he arrived, he surveyed the penthouse thoroughly before saying anything. "We need to sweep for bugs," he stated.
"It is clean. I have it checked daily."
"Recheck it." It had a low, urgent tone. "Because what I'm about to tell you changes everything."
I removed the RF detector from my safe and swept the area. It came back clean. "Talk."
"The warehouse bombing. The Torrinos did not do this."
"We know that," he interrupted. "Someone inside-"
"It was set up, Tony. By one of us. No clever mole operation." "It had approval. From the highest order," Marco went on, his face a mask of despair.
My blood ran cold. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying your father ordered the bombing of the warehouse," I repeated. "He had that done as a cover-up, as a means of increasing tensions in forcing your hand." Marco reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone and display the transfer payments. "These are payments to the demolition crew. They lead back to one of his shell businesses."
The evidence was damning and irrefutable.
Thomas hadn't just orchestrated pressure on Katherine. He had blown up our warehouse to create a crisis for the Torrinos.
All to tearing us apart.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked Marco cautiously.
"Because I'm tired of being caught in the middle of your family drama." He shoved his phone into his pocket. "Second of all, what he is doing is only bound to trigger a war we can't win."
I stared at the city lights below, processing the magnitude of my father's manipulation. He'd burned millions in inventory and risked lives. Threatened Katherine. All to prove a point about love and weakness.
"What do I do?" It slipped out before I could catch it.
"You choose, cousin." Marco's hand landed on my shoulder. "You choose between the empire that your father built and the woman who makes you want something different. But you choose knowing exactly what both options cost."
After he left, I sat in the darkness of my penthouse apartment and knew I stood at a crossroads that I could not avoid.
My father. My family. My empire.
Or Katherine.
And for the first time in my life, I knew in which direction I was headed.