Page 61 of Royal Flush

“Oh, okay.” Of course he was lying his ass off. He had no clue why I was really here and certainly wasn’t going to be up front about whatever relationship they’d had. At least his facial expression allowed me to confirm there was a reason he was on my father’s list.

“What do you want, Mr. Royal? As I said, I am a busy man. We’ve just arrived. I have a house to set up, an office at the embassy to visit, and I need my daughter here.”

“As a crutch or as a target?”

He was ready to jerk to his feet, once again his face turning beet red. “Stop with your accusations. I love my daughter.”

“If the men who tried to hurt your daughter have any resolve, and I assure you they do, they will return. They’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.”

“I have men to protect her.”

“Even if she continues to evade the man you hired specially to be on her detail?”

He took a deep breath. “If you know anything about her, you’d know my daughter is conniving.”

“Cunning, yes. Clever, you bet, but I wouldn’t use the word conniving. She simply doesn’t want to feel like a prisoner for the rest of her life and you and I both know that’s exactly what will happen. Especially in trying to sell her off. Shocking but I can see that about you. And those men you’re talking about roaming your grounds? They couldn’t protect a stray dog.”

“You don’t know crap. I pay them well.”

“Right. They are wearing their guns in places that won’t be easily accessible when necessary, which means the enemy will shoot them dead before they retrieve a single weapon. While it’s apparent I was expected, not one of them bothered to question my arrival. I could be anyone who’d learned about this meeting and interfered. Should I continue with my evaluation?”

At least Sinclair knew I had him by the balls.

“Then what do you want? If my goddamn security is so bad. What is it that you want? Or are you telling me you want to marry her?”

“The woman can choose who she wants to be with on her own. This is America.”

He burst into laughter. “Don’t be a fool. There isn’t a mafia syndicate in this country who doesn’t use arranged marriages to keep power, gain more, or simply keep certain enemies under foot. Perhaps you knew the connection would be powerful.”

Now I knew the bastard had planned on selling her to a member of the Honoured Society. It was all I could do not to wrap my hands around his throat, not thinking twice before I snapped every bone.

“For you to admit that means you should know bringing your family here wasn’t in your best interest. Two-timing any mafia organization will result eventually in your death. But not before some pretty vile things happen to your wife and daughter. For kicks and giggles, they might force you to watch.”

“You’re disgusting.” He finally did jerk to his feet, coffee sloshing out onto the saucer. He stormed toward the set of French doors and while he appeared to be looking outside, I knew otherwise. He was trying to make heads or tails out of what I was getting at.

I honestly hadn’t thought completely about how best to handle the situation. I’d simply reacted at first, determined to keep her safe and far removed from harm’s way. The fact I’d never had that strong of a reaction before wasn’t completely lost on me.

He rubbed his jaw and I remained quiet, a prudent thing to do. Let the man hang himself.

“When I started out in politics, I had a dream and some money. My parents had been fortunate so I could live in a nice house, drive a nice car. It was a stressful time then. I won’t bore you with details, but we have as much strife and unrest in our country as you do in yours.”

“Go on.”

“I had ideals, huge ones. I wanted to change not only the country but the world.” He laughed bitterly. “But I learned quickly those with ideals are trampled. By then, I’d needed a way to vent my frustrations. I turned to gambling. Just simple shit at first, card games with a couple buddies. It helped significantly and I felt renewed. But their careers were taking off and we had no time to get together.”

“So you turned to the mafia.” No wonder she’d learned to play cards.

He nodded as if embarrassed. “I didn’t know who they were at the time. They were fronted by a few businessmen and an attorney, trying to keep their identity unknown for as long as possible. I was still green, thinking crimes could be controlled. Everything was legit at first, merely gambling in a couple of their rather nice establishments. I was also making significant headway in politics, able to take my platform to the press and beyond. I won a couple local elections and set my sights higher. None of my fellow opponents seemed to be attacking crime so I used that as a platform. Rumors started to fly, which hurt me in the polls, something I couldn’t have occur.”

“That’s why you decided to piss off the hand that was feeding you.”

He chuckled but not in jest. “I did, believing at that point I was infallible. I was already too arrogant at the time to care. Anyway, I was offered a couple high stakes poker games and I jumped at the chance. I was up for a bigger election and needed the release.”

“And you lost a significant amount of money,” I said casually.

“A huge amount, which I think was orchestrated of course. At first, one of the representatives patted me on the shoulder and told me no big deal. I was gullible enough or maybe just arrogant enough that I believed the guy. Of course, they were setting me up. Keep in mind, this went on for years. Years. By then I was a name, someone to be reckoned with. I had men and women across the entire country terrified of me. If I discovered anything wrong in their lives, I destroyed them.”

He was such a fool. Although I wondered just how much of the shit he was telling me was believable. “They eventually made you a deal you couldn’t refuse.”

---