Page 6 of A Linton Scandal

His lips quivered. “I… I only remember one name,” he gasped out.

“Oh,” I said, tossing his phone aside. “And what name is that?”

“Stern,” he spat out.

I slowly clapped. “There we go.” I placed my hands on my hips. “Now you can die in peace, Callin?”

“Yes.” One of my men who stood near the door, stepped forward, his dark features harsh. Callin had worked with me since I’d taken over my father’s business. Like the rest of those who directly worked for me, he wore a black suit but unlike the others he wore the pendant denoting him as a close relative of the Linton family.

“Take him out, if you see Nao outside send him in.”

He cut the ropes tied around the crying man and dragged him out. A few minutes after they exited, Nao entered the room, his expression tight. He’d never liked the other side of my business. I spent my days dominating others in the business world, but that wasn’t enough for me. I also needed this nitty, gritty night life to steady me out.

The sensation of beating the shit out of someone took care of an itch that couldn’t be scratched when doing regular business. My father had always said that Linton’s had a savage side to them that could only be assuaged by the feeling of defeating someone with our hands. As I got older, I slowly grew to understand what he meant and wondered whether the myth about our family being descended from ancient warriors was true or not. Either way, I kept up my sessions in the boxing gym, and diligently practiced controlling this urge.

Destroying the enemy in business was nice but defeating someone with your hands was exhilarating. The only next best thing was fucking a woman until she screamed and called my name like I was her god. But lately, I’d found myself growing numb to both practices.

“He said it was Stern. It looks like we’ll being going after him first.”

Nao nodded, pushing his glasses up. “Do you think he was the only one?”

“No, there’s no way he’d do something like this without being pushed by someone else. He doesn’t have the balls. Still let’s start with Stern, he’s been sorely needing cutting anyway. His son’s been embezzling funds from the cosmetic company his wife owns. Little Stern got himself a lover who thinks she’s savvy at business and of course the idiot thinks he can give her support.” I shook my head, grabbing my jacket. “With the amount of money we’ve invested in his transport company the minute we threaten to pull funding he’ll fold like a pretzel.”

The excitement of seeing another arrogant shit on his knees begging me for money filled me with cheer. His ego had allowed him to think he truly belonged in my circle. He was about to learn the truth about his real position in my world. Leaving the room, I didn’t check to see if Nao followed me.

“Yeah, I think I want to hunt the Stern family first.” I grinned as we made our way out of the mansion, I didn’t bother to check on the masculine scream that was shortly followed by the pop of a gun.

Decisions

Juliette

“You haven’t been answering my calls,” Sophie said from where she stood in my doorway the next day. Her hazel eyes narrowed as her long braids shook as she rolled her neck. “I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me.”

“I can see why you and Noah work,” I said with a roll of my eyes as I stepped aside so she could enter my apartment. While both she and Noah both had a key to it, they usually only used them for emergencies. “You’re both more dramatic than necessary.”

“Pfft, we’re chefs, it’s our job to be overly passionate and dramatic,” Sophie said, as she tossed her coat and purse on my couch and walked into my kitchen to wash her hands. “I don’t think I could marry someone who didn’t have the same energy as me.”

“Well, he definitely has that,” I muttered following her, I took a seat at my bar counter. “What brings the great Sophie Kilpady to my house?”

“I told you already,” she said grabbing a paper towel, she faced me as she dried her hands. Her expression was serious. “Are you having this baby? And if the answer is no, do you need me to accompany you for emotional support?”

It had only been a day since I’d talked to her and Noah and obviously, they were anxious. Maybe they feared I would lock myself away and suffer in silence. Not that being pregnant was suffering, but emotionally I had a habit of locking up rather than expressing myself clearly. I leaned forward and crossed my arms.

“If I said yes?”

She rolled her eyes at me as she walked over to my fridge and jerked it open. “I’ll be here for anything, as your friend I’m here for you no matter what you choose.” She started pulling things out indiscriminately. “I’m a bit more intimate with your family dynamic so I can understand a little more why this choice is hard for you.”

“You’re making it sound a lot weirder than it is.” I walked over to the stool across from my fridge.

“You’re the one who’s making it less than what it is,” Sophie said, glaring at me. “Your mother remarried. What when we were like twenty?

“And suddenly it’s like you were no longer her daughter. I mean, the woman forgot to show up at your graduation because your stepbrother had a basketball game. A basketball game, that wasn’t even a factor in his teams’ qualifications for the final tournament.

“That whole damn family thought nothing of it. Then she claimed to accidentally throw away your baby clothes because she was trying to clean out the garage because they were building a studio for your stepsister. With money they claimed they didn’t have when you asked them to help you with rent. And yet, those same people asked you to send money to help your sister go to school?—”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” I sighed, knowing if I let Sophie continue, she’d rail on my mother more and more. Sophie was the type that, if she was loyal to you, she was solely loyal to you, and it was this same loyalty that had eased the loneliness I’d felt when I’d gone to university. She’d been the person who helped me think of how to pay my rent and get a side job doing work study. “But that’s not why I’m indecisive, it’s more like I feel as if I don’t have this child, I won’t have any.”

She frowned. “What?”

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