Page 10 of Whiskey Kisses

Daddy lifts his hands in awhat can you do?manner. “I’m afraid I have not.”

Tristan gives him a small smile. “I’ll give you another chance to consider it now, then.”

“Another chance?” My father bristles. “Tristan Kelly, I have known you since you were in diapers.”

“I know,” Tristan says, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “It’s incredible how quickly time flies, isn’t it?”

“I will decide on the offer in my own time,” Daddy says.

“Timeis a luxury you no longer have,” Tristan replies calmly. “My father has been more than patient with you over the years.”

My stomach flips unpleasantly. What on earth? I knew our finances were troubled, but it sounds like the Kellys are giving him an ultimatum.

Daddy’s eyes narrow. “I don't respond well to threats or pressure, son. You think you can intimidate me in my own home?”

Tristan clasps his hands and sits back. “I’m not threatening you. I’m apprising you of the situation.”

“You’re delusional if you think I’d hand over a century’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears on a silver platter,” Daddy says, his mask starting to crack. “This is my life. My family’s legacy!”

“With all due respect,you’redelusional if you think you can keep ignoring the very real debt you owe my family,” Tristan says. “And you don’t have to give up the distillery if you can get us the money. But you will pay up, one way or another.”

A beat passes.

“Do you have the money?” Tristan presses.

Daddy closes his eyes briefly. “No.”

Tristan gives a brief nod. “Then we’ll go with the alternative.”

“I’ll give Owen a call by the end of the week,” Daddy says brusquely.

“I’m handling this, so you can call me. I’m staying in town,” Tristan stands, extending a business card. “Look at it as an opportunity for you to salvage your finances and your pride. If you agree to this, all past debts will be forgiven.”

I pick nervously at my nails. Does he mean signing over the business? As refreshing as it is to see my normally formidable father cowed by someone half his age, I worry about what this means for us. For me.

Daddy ignores the card so Tristan hands it to me instead. “I’ll be in touch.”

The restof the day goes by in a blur. This morning’s tense encounter between Tristan and my father is all I can think about—the revelation that our situation is way more dire than I ever imagined. What’s goingto happen now? Are we going to lose the distillery that has made our family what it is in this town?Dammit, Daddy.

Also, try as I might, I just can’t reconcile the adorable boy with the sparkling eyes and the quick laugh with the quietly threatening man that put my father in his place this morning. I knew his family was wealthy and influential, but plenty of Daddy’s associates are like that. There’s a lot more to the Kellys if today’s power play is any indication.

After work, I go to Phoenix Rising for my usual class. And then, eager to exorcise the anxiety from my gut, I stay for open mat, sparring and rolling until I’m a sweaty mess.

Eddie watches me drain my water bottle as we linger in the parking lot later. “You good?”

“Yeah, why?” I unlock my truck and toss the empty bottle inside.

“I don’t know.” He shrugs out of his gi jacket. “You seem stressed.”

“Eh, just stuff with my dad. You know.”

“Mhm.” Eddie nods, sliding into his car. He’s known that my dad’s a dick since we went to my senior prom together. He took me as a friend, because Opal asked him to, but when Daddy saw us in that limo, he could barely hide his distaste.

He’d made comments over the years, so his racist bullshit wasn’t a surprise, but he’d always been cordial to Opal. Not Eddie, though. Guess having Black friends was one thing, dating Black men was another.

“What’d he do now?” Eddie asks.

I bite my lip, wondering how much I should indulge. “He’s in a lot of debt, and I think it’s catching up to him.”

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