Page 18 of Prized Possession

“That’s not how it works in this world, and you know it. She’s a mafia princess… She was always going to have an arranged marriage. I’m surprised it’s only just been arranged. Most of these things are sorted at birth,” he replies, and I hate the way my stomach flips as he reminds me of the world Chloe has been forced into.

Whilst me and Jacob have always known we’d be leaders, and our paths have been set since birth, that doesn’t mean our families have an easier time.

I’m an only child, so the pressure on me is immense. Whereas, Jacob has Chloe, and whilst she will never be a leader, the expectations on women in our world are, to an extent, even greater.

Their role is to ensure the longevity of the family. They’re raised knowing they’ll marry into a family of their fathers’ choosing. It’ll be a marriage of convenience, not love. It will strengthen their family’s position.

Then, once they’re married, they’ll be expected to produce an heir straight away. They have a level of responsibility that rivals that of the heir, and I couldn’t be more glad I don’t have a sister to protect from all this bullshit.

“Jacob will want to protect her from it too,” I state, knowing my argument is getting weaker by the second.

We all know I’m not trying to help Chloe because I see her as being like a sister to me. There’s nothing familial about my feelings towards her.

“Look, we can argue about you denying your feelings another time. We can also brainstorm ideas for how you’re going to help Chloe delay her impending nuptials in the car. But for the love of God, please get in the shower and then get out here quickly.

“We have to leave soon or we’ll be late. If you’re late to one more meeting, your father says he’s going to chop one of my bollocks off, and I’m keen on them both. They like being a pair. Now, get a fucking move on,” he shouts, and I can’t help but laugh.

My father has been issuing threats to Miles for years in an effort to have him keep me in line. He never wanted me to hire a friend as my Head of Security. He claimed it was dangerous, but nobody will put their life on the line for me more than Miles.

We both know Father wanted to hire someone who would spy on me for him, which Miles absolutely won’t do. He respects my father and his position of authority, but he’s loyal to me.

I shout a few obscenities his way before climbing in the shower. I have to turn it to cold as soon as thoughts of Chloe from last night take over. I only got a small taste of her, and I already know it will never be enough. I want all of her, and all of the reasons I have for keeping away from her are growing more inconsequential with each stroke of my dick.

***

After the day I’ve had, I want nothing more than to cancel our monthly poker night and stay home, but tonight is more important than ever.

I put myself on a big clock when I agreed to help Chloe delay her wedding, or at the very least get her some freedom before the big day. She’s supposed to get married in six weeks, which means I have to put my plan into action today.

Miles and I spent the whole day, when we weren’t in boring fucking meetings, hashing out ideas, but none of them seemed to come together until right at the end. I have a plan… well, it’s more of a fucking wing and a prayer at this point, but it’s all we’ve got.

After taking some pills to get rid of the headache that’s been plaguing me all day, I change out of my suit and pull on my comfy grey sweatpants. Although I hate wearing the suit, my father is right when he says people view me differently when they see me in that compared to my jeans and leather jacket.

I’m quite young for a mafia leader. Most fathers keep hold of their title for as long as they can, only passing over the reins when they absolutely have to. Butnot in Blackthorn. When the peace treaty was drawn up, it was decided that no ruler shall remain in power beyond their heir’s thirtieth birthday.

The idea is that the longer you’re in power, the less you'll want to give it up. Also, bringing in new, fresh blood means more up-to-date ideas, and our relatives felt that was the key to ensuring our treaty remains successful.

Although our fathers don’t have to hand the position over to us yet, they made the decision to do it in stages. We took on the title of rulers when we turned twenty-five, but our fathers remained in an advisory capacity. Whilst we don’t have to answer to them, it would be massively disrespectful not to.

They have five years to mould us into the leaders they want us to be, before they’re forced to retire officially. With that being only two years away now, that is why Jacob’s father is making plans to replace him if he doesn’t get his act together.

After three years in the role, Jacob should be showing the type of leader he wants to be, the same way I am, yet he continues to rebel. Caleb will only tolerate it for so long.

Part of the process of learning the ropes involves building trust and respect with the people who work for me. They may have pledged their allegiance to my family, specifically my father, but that doesn’t automatically transfer over to me. I have to earn their respect, and that’s what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been meeting with each and every business representative. Everyone from upper level managers to lower level pushers. I want to know every single person who works for me, and I need for them to get a feel for the type of leader I am. It’s the only way to foster trust between us.

That doesn’t mean the meetings aren’t tedious as hell. Though today’s first meeting was a little more interesting, as I think we’ve identified a possible rat within our organisation. The fun part will be when we find the rat and I get to show him exactly who he’s messed with.

Sadly, that was today’s only bit of fun. Combine boring meetings with an awful fucking hangover, and a raging boner that won’t go away—since I can’t stop thinking about the feel of Chloe’s warm cunt clamping down on my fingers—makes for a shitty fucking day.

Even worse luck, poker night is being held at Jacob’s flat tonight, which means I have to go out. Granted, he only lives in the building across the street, but still. I pull a black hoodie on and grumble all the way over.

I don’t bother taking any security with me. Miles has the night off, and Jacob has more than enough security to cover us both. When I host, I put on a full security team, so it’s only fair my team gets the night off when we’re at Jake’s.

Having said that, I know someone will be on standby watching the securityfootage, ready to breach in seconds should anything happen. At the end of the day, Jacob’s staff are employed to protect him and his family, so I would never be their priority.

After the obligatory pat-down to make sure I’ve not brought any weapons with me, except the one gun we’re each allowed, one of Jacob’s security team leads me over to the lift, which takes me up to his penthouse.

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