Page 128 of Reckless Harmony

“I… thank you?”

He laughed and hugged her hard before picking her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he nuzzled her neck. “I want you to sit on my face.”

“Right here?” She stared at Bea, who was sleeping on her bed. “I don’t think I can do that in front of Bea. She can be kind of judgy sometimes.”

He laughed again before carrying her out of the kitchen. “I was thinking we’d go to the bedroom, but it’s good to know you’re an exhibitionist.”

“What? I’ve just proved that I’m the opposite of an exhibitionist,” she said.

He grinned wickedly at her and started up the stairs, his hands squeezing and kneading her ass. “All I really care about is whether you’re agreeable to sitting on my face.”

“Agreeable? It’s all I’ve been thinking about for weeks,” she said.

“Naughty girl,” he said as he carried her into the bedroom.

“And you love it,” she said.

He nipped at her collarbone. “Yes, Ms. Abrams, I do.”

CHAPTER 43

“A gift?”

Stark could hear the harsh surprise in his father’s voice. He shut his office door and put his phone on speaker, placing it on his desk as he sat down.

“What do you mean a gift?” Alexander’s surprise had been replaced by suspicion.

“I’m not investing in your company, but I will give the money to you, free and clear. No expectation for you to pay it back,” Stark said.

A heavy silence filled the air before his father said, “What’s the catch?”

“Two catches, actually,” Stark said. “The first one is that this is it for us. I give you the money, and you stay out of my life for good.”

“And the second?”

“You fire Jasper.”

“I can’t fire Jasper,” his father sputtered. “He’s my CEO, for God’s sake.”

“Those are my terms for getting the money,” Stark said calmly.

“Isaac, be reasonable,” Alexander said. “I can’t fire Jasper. He’s family.”

“Family? That’s the reason you’re keeping him on?” Stark said. “You let me leave without a single protest, but you can’t fire Jasper even when he’s destroyed your company.”

“He hasn’t destroyed it,” his father said. “A few bad decisions don’t mean -”

“You’re in this mess because of him,” Stark said. “Refusing to acknowledge it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

“Son, I get that you’ve always been jealous of Jasper, but stooping to this level of pettiness isn’t you.”

“How would you know? You don’t know anything about me,” Isaac said. “But for the record, I’m not asking you to fire Jasper because of jealousy. I’m only doing this to help you and your company.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Stark didn’t feel any guilt. His father could either accept his terms or not, and after this, Stark would never have to deal with him or his cousin again.

His father sighed deeply. “Fine. I’ll fire Jasper. But you should know that this lack of commitment to your family is deeply disturbing to me.”

Stark laughed hard and with genuine amusement. “That’s fucking rich coming from the man who whined about firing the man destroying his company but didn’t balk at giving up a relationship with his son for money.”

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