Page 83 of These Family Ties

Nodding, he places another kiss on my skin, sending a shiver through me. “I notice your objection is at the length of time and not the rest.”

I’d already fucked him once. In all honesty, I’d thought about him several times since our night at Toska. I’d turned that over and over in my head, pulling at the threads until I’d untangled my thoughts.

It wasn’t sex with him that was the issue; it was the ramifications of it. If it ever became public knowledge, I’d be ruined. I’d lose my business, the support of the shareholders, who already doubted me because I was a woman. I’d ruin my family name, and my father would turn in his grave. And all of that was without the added knife or blood play.

“Six months?”

“No.” I hold back a smile. He was stubborn, and that was definitely a Harrington trait.

“Fine. What about a month? But you are mine for the whole thirty days to do whatever I want.”

I pause. A month…was doable. No one needed to know, and I only had to meet him a handful of times. No—wait. Why was I even entertaining this? What was I getting out of all of this?

He said he’d back away from Nexus, but even with a contract, how was I supposed to believe that? No. I needed to take the power he’d already gained. Cut him off at the knees.

Swallowing, I lift my eyes to look at him. “I want 10% of your shares.”

West blinks, before pulling away and stroking a hand across his stubble. “It’s no surprise they say you’re a ruthless businesswoman.”

He looks thoughtful, and I don’t miss the appreciative gleam in his eye. Clearly, he liked it when I fought back. “7%, and you can still have your written agreement that I won’t ever become CEO. I won’t go any higher than that. I won’t let you push me out that easily.”

Giving me 7% left him with 10%, which still guaranteed him a seat on the board and a voice at our shareholder meetings. What was one more voice against me at the table?

“7% and I want it added into the agreement that you will never oppose me publicly without prior warning.” If he wanted to go against me, it was better to be forewarned and forearmed than be completely blindsided.

I expect him to refuse, but he reaches out to stroke my cheek. “Since you're mine for the next month, why don’t you come over here and show me just how much you hate me.”

Chapter Eight

West

I hadn't expected Delphine to give in so easily, but then again…I’d offered her a great deal. She’d basically get to keep Nexus in the palm of her hand, with minimal input from me.

Since the night at the club and our discussion in her office, I’d been going over what it was I actually wanted. I thought it would be enough to simply tear down Nexus to spite the family who’d tossed my father and me aside like we were nothing. But I’d come to the realization that Delphine was just as fucked up as I was. Her dark heart called to mine.

And the person I really wanted revenge against—my grandfather—was already dead. He’d escaped my wrath.

While my father had been dying, my grandfather refused to help with any of the medical bills. He wouldn’t even visit his only son, leaving my father to wither away in some grungy hospice.

Was my father a perfect son or even a good father?

No. By the time he’d gotten sick, he was a drug addict who only cared about his next hit. He’d struggled with the transition from privileged rich boy to worthless nobody in a way that he’d never been able to recover from. When he died, my mother had been swallowed by her grief, wasting away to nothing more than a shadow.

My grandfather could have helped at any point, but he chose not to. Not even when my mother begged on his doorstep. She wanted him to accept me, to raise me and give me the opportunities I’d been denied as my father had snorted away every spare cent.

The cunt had laughed in her face. For that, I’ll never forgive him.

When I started looking into Nexus and saw the life Delphine lived, the parties, the expensive clothes, the flashy jewelry—that’s when my hatred reached new heights. How dare she live like that while my father had faded away? While I went to a shit school and worked two part-time jobs just to afford my textbooks while there were holes in my sneakers? That’s when I decided that I’d bring Nexus to its knees.

Only now, as Delphine Harrington drops to the floor and crawls towards me, just like I had at the club, I realize that this was the same thing. She was Nexus. Punishing Delphine was shortsighted, especially when I could own her, body and soul. It wasn’t like I needed the money any longer, my own businesses making me more than rich enough to stand beside the Harrington’s in my own right.

When she reaches me, she continues to mimic my actions from the other night, pushing my legs apart and looking up at me with a coy smile.

With past lovers, I’d liked to take control, but with her I was happy to take whatever scraps she wanted to give me. If she wanted to carve me up, I’d let her. If she wanted me to tie her up and fuck her in a room full of people, I’d do that too. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t agree to, as long as she was mine.

She may have agreed to thirty days, but she wasn’t aware that the rules of the game were shifting, even now. While we were here tonight, I’d already arranged for someone to break into her penthouse and replace her birth control with sugar pills. I wanted her bound to me in every way possible. Even if it crossed every taboo line. Delphine Harrington was going to belong to me.

Tugging my pants down, I don’t miss the way her tongue flicks out over her bottom lip as she frees my cock, letting it land against my stomach with a soft thwack. Now that she’d given in to me, given herself permission to want me for thirty days, she wasn’t holding back. It was a good sign that once she realized how explosive we could be together, she’d submit to me fully.

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