Page 27 of Gilded Kisses

I know what he means and I know what he wants from me. For now I will stay, but I need this job so I can have enough wealth of my own to fight back against my father.

My jaw goes slack for a second and then I blurt out, “I didn’t know you did drugs, Harlon. Do I need to call someone because there is no way you are not high out of your mind right now?”

“I’m serious. Answer me.”

No one knows of my father’s blackmail so I scramble for a legitimate answer he will accept.

Despite warning red lights flashing inside my head, I lift a slender shoulder and huff, “Probably a fucking miracle and you know it. Sapphire is only a couple of years older than me yet our cousin is knocked up, working as the current undertaker of this placeandsleeping with the enemy. All damn three of them. Come on. It’s my turn. I don’t exactly see anyone lining up at your office door to throw their name into the hat, either.” Harlon Constantine doesn’t like to be challenged. Too bad for him it has become my favorite pastime.

A thick finger taps the papers and matches the thudding of my heart against my ribs.

With a hand latched around the edge of his desk, I lean forward and ignore the rush of blood in my veins. “I want this, and I have every right to claim the position.”

You want something, you take it. Remember that.

My father directed his words to my six older brothers, but I still hold them dear to my heart. I am not a weak flower to be seen and not heard. I want this. It’s mine.

Harlon says nothing.

“Sapphire can’t stay on as undertaker forever and you have no one to wrangle your motley crew of assassins or handle the contract side of the business.”

“Is that so?” Harlon’s yet to look at me and it is pissing me off.

Unlikely as it seems, the air suddenly thickens and the large office my cousin shares with his two business partners closes in around me.

So this is what it feels like to be on the opposite side of Harlon’s good graces.

I know I am playing with fire here and my heart is entering heart-attack levels, but I want to see how far I can push my unmovable cousin.

I slap a hand down on the papers before he can shoo me along like I am some pesky sibling. Twenty-odd years of that with my brothers is all I can take.

Damn it, why can’t something be easy for once? “Don’t fuck with me, Constantine. I’m not some underling you can use scare tactics on.”

Dark eyesfinallylift off a stack of papers neatly tucked under one another to bore into mine. But it’s not the wrath of a dark lord I see. Hard, cold and calculating, sure. There is never a moment my cousin isn’t working all angles and three steps ahead of the other person. But he looks more preoccupied and thoughtful than flaming mad.

I return his unmoving gaze and double down my stance. Most people would flinch under the heavy gaze of a Man of Genesis. But I learned at the knee of several criminal masterminds that showing weakness in any form is a sure death sentence. To dreamsandlives.

Molten steel molds over my shoulders to lock my body into a firm stance. The hard, icy gaze I return is filled with the same stubbornness that runs in his veins.

“Looks like we have a bit of a standoff, huh? I want this. Sapphire backs me up and so do some runners. Even your sister, Belle. I can do this. Give me a shot. That’s all I want.”

He leans back in his chair and considers me for a moment. “Why?” And for a second, he genuinely looks perplexed by the idea someone would want this job.

I want to say because my life has no meaning without my godfathers and I have nothing else to live for. But no one wants to hear how much pain I live in every single day. So I lie. “I’m not cut out for being a boutique owner or a nail tech. I don’t own a dress and I can’t grab a gun with long, fake nails. I mean, look at me. Leather pants, knee-high boots and the stink of our family history clinging to me like cheap hooker perfume. What else can I do but work here? And don’t you dare tell me I can get married. I will drop you where you sit, cousin.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Do I need to break out the crayons and construction paper?”

That earns me a grunt, but not much else.

“Being the next undertaker is practically a birthright.”

His angular jaw hardens, and his expression turns cold as stone. But he speaks his next words gently. “Walk away, Aster. You have a whole life ahead of you. Don’t dig in deeper. Search for what can make you happy and don’t be like the rest of us.” For a second, the plea for me tosee the lighthas me pushing away from his desk.

He falls silent for a moment and pushes to his feet. Tailored gray material of his pristine suit hugs his strong, muscular frame.

I match his tone and lock eyes the second he takes his gaze off the floor. Ghosts of the past linger in the depths of his dark eyes.

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