Page 4 of Daddy's Rules

Owen pulls me tighter against him. “I asked him the same thing, sweetheart. He didn’t want to go down like a frail old man. Image was too important to him. The most important thing to him. You know that. Look how upset he was by being turned down for lead roles lately.”

“Owen, everyone’s here.” Denzi’s voice is impatient behind my door. I clench my jaw and suck in any remaining tears I need to shed. Owen shakes his head, ending our embrace.

“It’s why he married them,” he says coldly, eyeing the door.

“Please tell me that bitch is getting nothing,” I whisper.

Owen’s brow cocks. He’s never approved of my cursing. “She wasn’t a good wife, Jordan, but he still loved her. And watch that mouth, little girl.”

I grit my teeth even though my body heats at the correction. I’ve got to play it cool.

“Go and get cleaned up, Jordy. It’s going to be a hard day.”

He leaves me to wash up and reapply my makeup. I splash water on my face and try to quell the heat that Owen caused to rise in me. I have to get through this. And then I can move on.

Somehow.

* * *

The plush home screeningtheater holds around fifty people, but at the reading only the first few rows are occupied. Owen sits in a chair off to the side of the screen facing us. A laptop rests on his legs. Denzi and Lucinda sit in the very front.

The rest of the seats are filled by my father’s long-time staff and a few others I don’t know. Our housekeeper and cook, Mary, her two adult kids, my father’s personal assistant and bodyguard sit in the middle of the first row. George, our gardener, the pool guy, Walter, who taught me to swim, and the lady that kept our house full of fresh flower arrangements all turn to smile or wave at me. I’m last to arrive so I sit alone in the third row. I’m more comfortable alone anyway.

Owen clears his throat and everyone, including me, turns to him. He looks directly at me and smiles encouragingly. My heart kicks up a notch, both because his smile is as charming as they come and because it’s genuine. Owen is one of the very few genuine people I know. In fact, the only others sit in this room with me. Excluding the steps, of course. And my best friend, Riley, who would be here to support me if I let her.

Owen’s smile also evokes the pull of arousal in me. Seeing him up there and in charge only fuels my desires. I shake my head slightly to end my thoughts of him. It’s the reading of my father’s will.

Owen reads the parts of the will pertaining to the other people first. Even though Denzi and my father were still married, apparently he knew it was over and since he’d insisted on a pre-nup, Denzi’s at the mercy of his will.

“You have a year to live in the house, after that it will be put up for sale. No work or renovations are to be done without my approval.” Owen clears his throat. And for the final reading of her portion, he slows his voice. When he tells her of the sum she’s getting, her face pinches in anger. Although to any normal middle class American it’s a windfall, to Denzi the number’s an insult.

“This is outrageous!” Denzi stands, looking like a bull ready to charge. Her face is red and an ugly vein I’d never noticed before swells purple on her forehead. “He can’t do this!” Her shouts echo and Owen stands too. His broad shoulders square and he crosses his arms.

“Is that your signature?” He nods toward the pre-nup on the screen. She growls but when he pulls up several pictures of her in undeniably indecent positions with another man, she stops a moment. Before any of us can take our eyes off the screen, she throws her high-heeled shoe. It flies over Owen’s head and stabs the screen with its ridiculously long heel. Gasps and startled shouts ring out in the room.

“Enough! Have some respect for John’s daughter and his friends.” Owen’s deep, growling voice makes the tantrum-throwing Denzi freeze. It also makes my heart pound.

“You’re lucky John died before these pictures came through because if he’d had the actual proof you’d have gotten nothing. He was suspicious though, which is why he was having you followed by a private investigator. You can leave now, Denzi.” He dismisses her. Thankfully, it seems she’s trying to save face, because she gives a pert nod, spins and walks in a lopsided one-shoe waddle out of the screening room.

“The next person that throws a fit will be forcibly removed.” Owen looks at the remaining step, Lucinda. His expression’s so firm, he looks like one of those beautiful Greek statues. Lucinda has a sneer on her face. I’m pretty sure she’s only staying to see what my father gives to everyone else so she can report back to her best friend, Denzi, but she’s entitled to her place among us because my father had been allowing her residence in one of his properties and that had to be dealt with.

I roll my eyes. This day is turning out to be a flipping circus act. I’ve wished for the ground to open and consume me on numerous occasions, but today I want it more than usual. Maybe I’ll take my inheritance and move to a deserted island.

Owen continues, and I zone out, imagining my island paradise... with Owen.

“Jordan?” I blink at my name being called. Swallowing hard, I wonder if I’ve been smiling as I fantasize. Owen is giving me a warning look to pay attention so I straighten. Everyone else is staring at me queerly.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Did you hear me?”

“Um, no, sorry.” My face heats and I try to block out the faces staring at me, but Lucinda smiles widely, making my gut drop as if a boulder has suddenly landed in it.

“He said your father’s only giving you a basic living allowance for one year, and if you don’t show that you’re capable of taking care of yourself, you get zip! Nada! Zilch. Only one of the ways in which Denzi’ll get everything.” She laughs and my face grows hotter. I swallow again, harder this time as tears prick behind my eyes and the lump sitting in my throat doubles in size. I can’t believe my father showed his disappointment in me like this—in front of everyone, and especially to the women who never thought I was good enough to be his daughter.

I blink a few more times and try to clear the emotion bursting inside me.

“Lucinda, leave.” Owen points at the door. “You no longer have business here. You got the condo so go.”

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