Page 57 of Enemies with Benefits

Shocked laughter barked from my throat. ‘All of this because some guy made a pass at your wife?’

Volcanic rage built in his eyes. ‘He disrespected me. No one disrespects me, boy. No one.’

My humour evaporated. ‘I’m not a boy. And in case you haven’t heard, George Bingham is dead. Don’t you have better things to do than to wrestle with a ghost?’

His nostrils flared but the hard rejoinder I expected didn’t arrive. Eyes eerily similar to mine considered me for several seconds, before a hard smile twisted his lips. ‘I heard you were sleeping with her...the Bingham girl. I didn’t think you would be so dense. Obviously, I was wrong.’

‘I’d seriously watch it, old man.’

The flicker in his eyes said my warning had got through. ‘Answer me this, son. Would you let it go if someone made advances on what you considered yours?’

He clearly knew which buttons to press because the answer washell, no.Wren was mine. She’d been mine long before that first sizzling episode in her maze. But scent-marking her was one thing. Destroying countless lives over an overblown feud was another. ‘No, I won’t,’ I answered my father. ‘But neither would I use a bulldozer to squash a gnat.’

‘Ah, ever the peacemaker, eh, son?’

A flash of pain and anger twisted inside me. Then curiously the ache eased, leaving in its place a feeling of...acceptance. Calm. Some things just weren’t meant to be. ‘You keep calling me son, and I really wish you’d stop.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Excuse me?’

‘No, you’re not excused. Stop calling me son because you haven’t earned the right. You were simply a biological ingredient that helped form my existence. You made it clear your children were simply a means to an end. So do us all a favour,Hugh, and go back to wherever the hell you came from.’

I headed for the door, the urgency to get to Wren a nuclear force inside me.

‘Come back here, Jasper. We’re not done.’

I delivered the same corrosive smile his genes had helped me perfect and had the satisfaction of watching his eyes widen. ‘Oh, yes, we are.’ I turned away from him, then veered back to make the final, vital point. ‘Stay away from Bingham’s, too. Or so help me, I’ll devote every single penny of my many billions to crushing you.’

Every second of my trip to Wren’s house four harrowing days later felt like a light year. Unsurprisingly, Hugh hadn’t heeded my warning. And even without the weight of the Mortimer board behind him, he managed to cause an uproar that gripped the city. Every photo I saw of Wren looking anguished as the tabloids hounded her intensified my fury. Staying away from her until I resolved this disaster had felt like death by a million cuts.

My mouth dried as I turned into her street. While my trusted spies had confirmed she was home, gaining entry was another matter.

But I couldn’t give up now. Striding to her front door, I leaned on the doorbell. My heart leapt as I heard faint steps and her voice ending a phone call.

Then, ‘Fuck off, Jasper.’

‘No, sweetheart. I’m not leaving.’

The door burst open. ‘Who the hell do you think you are, coming here like this?’

‘Let me in, Wren. Please.’

‘Are you deaf? I said fuck off.’

God, she looked glorious. Fierce pride elevated her chin even as pain clouded her beautiful eyes. Unable to heed her request, I simply shook my head. ‘No.’

Her face twisted as she tried to hang on to her composure. ‘You cut me off. Wouldn’t even take my calls. Now, my lawyers tell me I’m all out of options and I have forty-eight hours to accept your terms. So, I guess you’ve come to gloat?’

‘No, I haven’t. And I’m not the one threatening you. It’s my father.’

She paled, her hand dropping from the door. ‘What?’

‘Let me in and I’ll explain.’

Numbly, she stepped back, then flinched from me as I turned to her.

Gritting my teeth, I went down the hallway into her living room, relieved when she followed. Since there was no point beating about the bush, I launched into explanation. ‘I didn’t answer you because I was dealing with my father. The board backed me against him, Wren. Our contract is airtight. As for that farce of a takeover, it’ll happen over my dead body.’

Her jaw sagged open. ‘What are you saying?’

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