Page 12 of Heartless Sinner

“Okay. I’ll see you all back at the office on Monday.” He dips his head, then looks at me. “Stay back. I want to talk to you.”

“Sure.” I quickly glance at Brahm, who looks at me.

I nod at him, letting him know I’ll catch up with him later. He leaves with the others, and I return my gaze to my father.

“What’s going on?” I know I shouldn’t ask that question when there’s enough shit happening for me to take my pick.

This conversation will most likely be about one of three things—more details on taking over the leadership, the recent hacking of our systems, or my least favorite subject—marriage.

There’s a high chance he could want to talk about marriage. He’s been talking my ear off about that all year because the don of the family must take a wife.

“Please tell me we’re not talking about marriage again.” I bite the inside of my lip.

“Unfortunately for you, we are.”

“Papà, please. We’ve been over this enough. I told you I’d find my own wife when the time comes.”

“The timehascome.” He stares back at me under his bushy brows as the effect of his words lingers in the space between us with an ominous feeling I don’t like.

“We still have five months until I take over from you.”

“Yes. But that’s for the business. I want you married well before then, so I’m going to make sure that happens.”

I clench my jaw, hating the demand in his tone. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I think Eloise Francesco would make you a perfect wife.”

My chest tightens, and I grit my teeth. “Absolutely fucking not.”

Eloise Francesco is my cheating, lying, manipulative ex. The only reason why my father thinks she’s a good match is because her father, Luis, is his best friend.

Eloise may be the kind of girl who’s been trained her whole life to be a wife to a man like me, but she’s a viperous bitch who will fuck you over and fuck whoever she needs to, to get what she wants.

Our three-year relationship ended back in college when I found her fucking her college professor. Then I learned he wasn’t the only guy she was sleeping with.

“Micah—”

“No.” I shake my head and hold up my hand. “That’s not happening. How the fuck could you want me to be with her?”

My father knows the story.Everyoneknows the story. And it didn’t come from me. Eloise was such a slut, everyone knew what she was up to, so when we broke up, no one was surprised.

“Luis assures me that she’s changed since college.”

“What about recently?” I give him a deadpan stare, wondering if his mind was on some other planet months ago when the scandal broke that Eloise was having an affair with Porter Dean, the new governor of New York. It was in the news for a whole month because she wrecked his twenty-yearmarriage and was thought to be pregnant with his child. The pregnancy was a lie, but it was also a clever ruse Eloise used to get her name out on social media and the tabloids.

“Luis insists Porter Dean was the one at fault, not Eloise.”

“Of course, he does.” Luis was always going to defend his daughter and Papà is quick to believe everything he says. “Papà, I won’t be associated with a woman like her.”

“Listen to me. You two make sense as a couple.” He lifts his chin as if asserting his dominance. “You two have known each other all your lives. You grew up together. She comes from a strong Italian family who know our ways and expectations. Her father is also our most senior investor, and his family are into mining and investments like ours. Leadership isn’t just about power. It’s about alliances. If you married Eloise, it would strengthen the empire we already have.”

I give him a narrow stare. “I can’t believe you can sit there telling me to marry someone who cheated on me when you and Ma got married because you loved each other.”

“I know Eloise has made grave mistakes that hurt you in the past, and I guess that’s why it’s taken you so long to find a wife.”

I want to disagree with him and tell him he’s wrong because Eloise and I broke up over a decade ago and I no longer care for her, but I’ve often found myself wondering the same thing—that I’ve been burned from her cheating.

I can’t deny that I fuck around with women I have no intention of seeing again, and the fact that I haven’t had a steady girlfriend since her seems testament to the possibility. I just don’t want to accept that anyone—especiallyher—could have such an effect on me.

---