Page 51 of King of Hearts

“Ah. Well, we certainly are as horny as them. Let’s set the terms then and be done with this. We have an ultrasound appointment to get to.” Juan snapped his fingers, signaling one of his men to walk forward. He placed a rectangular tablet in front of them. “These are our terms.” Juan’s eyes narrowed on the way my father grappled for the device, narrowing his eyes. I knew from when I was a young preteen that my father would have to put his reading glasses on, but how did Juan know that? It was a way of flushing out my father’s weakness.

“It says to fuck off and leave you alone.” My father’s face snapped up.

Juan sat back, showing his white teeth in a brilliant smile. “That’s where I’d like to start.”

My father spat, lunging over the table to grab for Juan’s throat. Two silencers pressed into his forehead a second later, Juan’s men already surrounding my father’s.

My eyes went to Kyle and the man sitting in front of him; I now remembered he’d attended my sister’s wedding. They must have both been related to Decker in some capacity then. The man watched me with zero emotion on his face, while behind him, Kyle kept shifting, as if he was uncomfortable. I knew he looked up to his older brother, and it made me curious if Decker knew about this. My father was a dangerous man; anyone working for him would be expected to do illegal, unspeakable things…the fact that Kyle was even attending this meeting meant he’d moved up in the ranks faster than most.

My father fixed his sleeves, settling in his chair once more. “Try again, dog.”

“What were the terms with Markos?” Juan asked, moving his hand to my thigh. His fingers dipped dangerously close to my center, making me aware of how short my cutoffs were.

“The deal? She’d marry him, he’d get access to our transportation services and political contacts, and of course we’d be allies.”

“What would you get in return?” I watched the mood shift around the table, and something told me there was more to the deal with Markos than they were letting on.

“One point two million, for starters, and one third of their product to use as we want,” my father answered, his eyes flicking up to my face then over to Juan’s. There was something he was leaving out.

I squeezed Juan’s hand. When he glanced over, I leaned forward and spoke.

“Before anything is official, I’d like to review the initial contract you had with Markos.” My mind kept circling to why he wanted to wait for my twenty-first birthday, and not my twentieth or eighteenth. There was ample opportunity for him to grab me, even if he was busy in Hungary…there was something he wasn’t telling me about the deal with Markos.

“You don’t get to ask me for that. You’re nothing but a—”

Juan’s loud voice cut through my father’s, forcing him to shut his mouth. “If you speak about my woman one more time in an unfavorable fashion, you will force my hand. We’ll go to war with you and that will be fucking that. Do you understand me?”

My father sneered, slamming his fist against the table. “You’d risk a war over a piece of pussy?”

Juan leaned forward but didn’t remove his hand from my leg, his fingers still dangerously close to rubbing the center seam of my shorts. “She carries my child—this is more than a piece of pussy, old man.”

“Fine. Fuck. I’ll get the contract for you to review.”

Juan’s pointer finger pressed into my core, along that middle seam. I nearly grabbed his wrist to hold him in place. Instead, I went lax and spread my legs wider. There were men behind us, but not close enough to see what we were doing, and no one sat next to me.

“Excellent.”

“I want Taylor with me until the deal is finalized. I don’t want her running,” my father demanded, his gaze shifting between Juan and myself.

Juan pressed his digit in, adding more pressure than I could stand. We hadn’t had any type of physical connection since that night on the bed, and I’d been dying to rectify the fact that I had freaked out and walked off.

“She stays with me,” Juan replied easily, adding more fingers over my center. “Until then, we will be in touch.” Juan began to stand, removing his hand from me and leaving me cold.

My father tipped his head back, watching as Juan stood. “That’s as far as you’re willing to go today? We came all this way—I expected a deal.”

Juan barely paid him any notice while snapping, “You came all this way to kidnap my fiancée. You came here to steal her from me—don’t test my patience.”

My father stood, pointing his chubby finger at me. “I should just take her and give her to Markos. He will abort your child and keep her as his whore.”

Something slid from Juan’s wrist, fast as lightning. Within an instant, a small dagger plunged into my father’s left shoulder, another poised to ready to fly.

“I warned you. Now you’ve not only threatened Taylor, but my child. Now get the fuck off my property. I will entertain a conversation with you once I get the contract delivered to me, by someone other than you. You aren’t welcome here again until we’re ready to discuss terms.”

Juan grabbed my hand and walked briskly away, ignoring all the yells from my father behind us. There was no gunfire, so that was at least good news, especially as more men filled the patio space, emptying the house.

Three guards followed us to Juan’s bedroom, walking in ahead of us to sweep the space. Juan delivered me to the bed, and once the men were through, he locked us inside.

Chapter Nineteen

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