Page 112 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

He shoved the papers toward me, exasperated. “Just fucking take them.”

Something told me not to. Call it a gut instinct, but there was no way in hell I was holding on to anything that could be a piece of incriminating evidence.

“I don’t think so,” I said, keeping my arms crossed.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no. I’m not getting involved in whatever you have going on.”

I’d never seen my father’s face turn several shades of red so fast, but he was practically scarlet as he snarled, “You’re my son and the future head of my company. Youwilldo this for me.”

“Company? What company?” I dropped my arms by my sides and took a step toward him. “The one supposedly meant for me that you just flushed down the toilet by wheeling and dealing illegally? I always knew you were ruthless, but call me crazy, I thought it was because you were good at your job and worked hard.”

“That’s rich coming from you. You’ve been handed everything your whole life, and now that one thing goes wrong, you’re ready to jump ship?”

“Better than going down with a sinking one.”

“You ungrateful fuck—” He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and jerked me forward, and I’d braced myself for the hit I knew was coming when the door slammed open.

“Take your hands off him.” King’s voice was lethal behind me.

My father looked up and narrowed his eyes but didn’t loosen his grip. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“You’ll find that it does. Let. Him. Go.”

His moment of hesitation gave me the time to extricate myself from his grasp and back away to where King stood, hisblack eyes so full of fury that I was shocked my father was still standing.

With the envelope still in hand, he straightened the lapels of his suit jacket and went to hand me the documents again. “My son and I were just discussing a personal matter.”

I shook my head. “I told you I’m not taking those.”

“James, do what I say?—”

“No.”

“This isn’t a request?—”

“And I’m not your scapegoat. Deal with it yourself.”

Shock crossed his face before my father started forward again, but King moved to stand between the two of us, blocking him from taking another step. I’d never seen my parents lift a hand toward me or anyone, so the fact that he was so obviously in a desperate way told me things were far worse than he was letting on. And that scared the shit out of me.

“You won’t raise a hand to him again,” King said, his voice betraying a calmness his rigid stance belied. “Because if you do, you won’t enjoy the consequences the way I will. And Iwillenjoy them. Immensely. So try me. I dare you.”

My father’s mouth parted, like he’d never been spoken to that way in his life—he probably hadn’t—and then his expression hardened again, his jaw clenched tight.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are?—”

“Tyrone Kingston, a professor here at Astor, and you, Niles Easton, are trespassing.”

“I’m not?—”

“The terms of your bail include a strict house arrest order, which means you’re in clear violation by setting foot here. One call from an anonymous source and the court will not only revoke your bond, but they’ll issue a warrant for your arrest.”

My eyes went wide, my heart thundering so loud I wondered if they could hear it, but if either of them noticed, they didn’tacknowledge it. They were too busy engaging in a power struggle that my father wouldn’t win. He couldn’t. King held the ace, and everyone in this room knew it.

“You really should think about leaving now.” King cocked his head like there wasn’t an insane amount of power vibrating off him in waves. “I’m sure you’d hate for your son to see you in handcuffs up close and personal. That’s the kind of thing that could really fuck someone up for life. Don’t you think?”

I always thought my father was a scary son of a bitch, but there was an edge to King’s voice that told me this was him playing nice for my benefit only.

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