Page 5 of To Catch A Rook

His balding head shined back at me as he nodded, spewing muttered assurances I really had no time for. I strode around to the other side of my desk and took a seat, scanning the pile of paperwork Marty had set out for me this morning.

“Moving on—where are we with the Blackthorn file?”

After two hours of strategizing for my next two business acquisitions, I checked my phone for messages, absently scrolling through Kellan’s chain of texts to the one I’d received last night.

Kellan ViKing:Can’t make it tonight. Work stuff.

That was it. A reunion after five months of sporadic texts and missed calls, and that was all he could be bothered to write me by way of explanation.

It was why we could never actually be a real … anything. Kellan was a gorgeous god of raw power and determination, my equal match in most ways, but his tortured soul and dedication to a family that would literally be the death of him was his most unattractive quality.

He couldn’t commit to me so, because of that, I wouldn’t commit to him. Who he was letting off steam with in his own time was his business, and I awarded myself the same luxury.

My thoughts drifted to the handsome Irishman, and I allowed myself one solitary minute to undress him from head to toe in my mind before I got on with my afternoon of meetings.

There would be plenty of hot men to distract me when I needed to scratch the itch. I had an important commitment tonight, and I had to prepare.

All thoughts of men and their annoying tendencies left my mind as I called down to my driver to take me to my next destination.

Daddy had summoned, and I was in an ass-kicking mood.

“Miss Lane to see you, sir.”

“Ms. Lane, Alaric.Ms.Do I look like a twelve-year-old girl to you?”

I cocked a defiant eyebrow at my father’s insufferable butler, then pushed past him, ignoring his muttered response.

Alaric was the newest of my father’s staff. I couldn’t stand the man; he was dismissive, belittling, and a blatant chauvinist, despite the factmymoney was paying for this home and every paid staff member inside of its walls.

Daddy had lost access to his money years ago because of his own poor choices, and all of his assets, including the ownership shares of multiple companies, had transferred to me. With my grandmother’s inheritance, I could have purchased them outright, but the tidy little clause in the fine print handing over his empire to me in case of ‘unethical behavior’ saved me a wealth of money and time.

He should have been in jail, rotting with the other miserable corpses who wore their greed like a badge of honor, but he knew too many powerful men and he got off with house arrest instead.

Which is why I had been summoned to the monstrous lakeside manor today. As I always was when he needed information about something. His paranoia wouldn’t allow him tospeak on the phone, and this place, like my office, had to be one of the most secure buildings in the state.

I marched into the room my father liked to spend most of his time. Camden Lane looked up from one of the dusty books in his library and dipped his head in greeting. He was slimmer than most men, his wiry frame taut skin over bones, and his blond hair held more strands of silver than gold.

“Hello, Hillary.”

The words were formal—stiff even. An apt description of my relationship with the man since he no longer controlled my future or my assets.

For most of my life, I had been my father’s marionette mouthpiece until my ex-husband and my best friend handed me the opportunity to walk away. My father had lost everything because of his own actions, but I had hammered the final nail in his coffin.

I should have screwed it shut instead.

“You summoned, Daddy Dearest?” I folded my arms across my chest and maintained a few feet of distance between us.

We didn’t adhere to the false niceties of hugging or outward affection. There were no cameras to pander to, no paparazzi to appease. Just a father and daughter who knew where all the bodies were buried, and the only way to walk away from the graveyard would be to become dead ourselves.

My father sighed, as if my lack of affection was an egregious slight. “Take off your armor, Hillary. I have information that is highly valuable.”

I tilted my head disbelievingly, knowing any information from him would come at a cost. “And your price for this information is?”

Hisopportunistic ass didn’t miss a beat. “I would like a day of leave. Please arrange it with him as soon as you’re able. There are a few things I must … attend to.”

My brows rose at that admission. There wouldn’t be much he could ‘attend to’ even if I chose to abuse my relationship with Kellan to swing the request for him. He’d be watched like a hawk and would have an FBI escort at the very minimum. As usual, Daddy was playing games to exert what minimal power he had left.

I could deny him the privilege and walk away, but his networks were still vast, and for whatever reason, he still had many loyal associates whispering delicate underground information into his ears.

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