Page 4 of Twisted Contract

“You will do no such thing. I will not be embarrassed. A driver will be here to escort you to your apartment.” I know there’s winning this argument, so I resign myself to his demand.

“Thank you, Father. Have a good night. Please be safe.”

“I will. Congratulations, my dear.” I nod and watch him leave too. I stayed for a bit longer before taking the car he had requested back to my apartment. I’d left two lights on so someone would think there was someone home. It’s a little trick I learned when it came to living alone in a big city. Still, the driver waits until I’m inside my building before pulling away.

I lean against the wall and look at the stupid, gaudy ring on my finger, wondering what the hell I’m going to do. There’s no way I can marry Nick. I want to vomit just thinking about it.

A notification hits my phone just as I’m pondering my miserable situation.Get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.

Oh crap. I have the Fieri & MacNamara cake taste-testing tomorrow. I kick off my heels, unzip my dress, and shimmy out of it. It’s a huge deal, and one that could make or break my career. Nora told me the sky’s the limit on her budget, but the cake has to be made soon because her husband wants a quick wedding and she loved my images on Instagram. Frankly, I was shocked she saw them. I’m not popular, and there are so many fancy designers in the city—and she picked me, so I have to do one hell of a job for her.

I set the ring in my jewelry box, wanting to forget it even exists. Unfortunately, my father will make sure that won’t happen.

Thankfully, I do have a brilliant excuse to keep it tucked away, which I am most certainly taking advantage of. Cleaning off the light makeup I put on is a must. I didn’t do a bunch of it, but it’s more than I normally wear on a daily basis. I wash the crap off my face and feel a bit freer before I leap onto my plush bed. Sleepy time for me. My eyes glance at the clock on the nightstand, and it’s already midnight. Ugh—four hours.

Is it terrible that I hope whoever they go to arrest gives them trouble and he just happens to shoot one, or maybe both, of my problems?Of course, it is, I mutter to myself. That’s not who I am and that’s a terrible thing to consider even if they are shitty people. My father is verbally cruel, but he’s never laid a hand on me and Nick is just a slimy worm. I should just stick up for myself and move on—when I grow a spine. Putting the pillow over my head, I let sleep take me for the few hours I can get.

Chapter Two

Connor

The alerts hit my phone just before everything went down, so I hit all the locks and hidden vaults. Then I stand and adjust my suit as if nothing is amiss. I’ve dealt with matters like this before. “We’re about to be raided, boys. Let’s welcome our guests and make sure everyone leaves here safe.” My security nods and follows me as we move to the door.

The sound of music comes to a screeching halt as power is cut to the building. My men know damn well it’s not a rival organization attack; no, it’s a political one. From the looks of the armed fucks outside, it’s the ATF and the SWAT team brought to me by the asshole governor of the state. I’m on the phone to my security when the generator kicks on, but with only the basic lights—exactly what these assholes wanted.

On the loudspeaker from outside the club, they say, “The club is closed due to violations. Please exit in an orderly fashion.” I come out of my office and address the crowd. “Calm down, everyone. The governor’s a prick. Please follow his request, but remember that when you go vote next time.” I look to my men and say, “He’s only pissed because his mistress is fucking one of my employees.”

I wink over at one of my guys who has the brunette by the waist. It’s the latestfuck youto the governor I added. It’s not my fault the asshole couldn’t stay in Springfield where he belongs. We have enough crooked politicians in Chicago and don’t need his shady ass here causing more trouble. He screwed up, showing his hand, and now my man Tommy was getting a blowjob from Saunders’s mistress. Tommy had only tucked into his pants when the lights came back on, and I’m not going tocomplain because that was the point of him coming to the club tonight. I wanted a lot of proof to give the asshole. I got it on video, and there were multiple witnesses.

“Open the door and follow them out,” I address my men.

The team of armed men wait for the people to leave before they enter with their guns. “Are those really necessary, Governor Prick Face?” I wave at all the suited-up, jacked men with their weapons aimed at my guards.

“Precaution.” I smirked because he answered as addressed. It’s childish, but it is still funny. I stride toward them with my own level of arrogance and my men following behind me.

“Do you have a warrant for this raid?” I challenge him. I’m sure he has some bullshit that he calls legal, but it won’t stand up in court. It’s enough to ruin my night. What he thinks he’ll find here is a wonder to me.

His little puppet behind him waves the piece of paper with authority. “We were given a tip that you were holding women against their will in your basement storage.”

“Well, if that was the case, you just let them out.” I roll my eyes at the arrogant bastard. He knows damn well there was no tip because it was just a stunt to shut down my club for the night.

“We don’t want to frighten the patrons, but we still need to check,” the attorney general says. I hate that pipsqueak freak and I want to bury the bastard one day. Although sending him to federal prison would probably make me a lot happier.

“More like you didn’t want them to stay and witness your ineptitude, or maybe you didn’t want them to have a good time after you left.” I direct my attention solely to the governor and say, “By the way, Suzy says hello, or she would have if her mouthwasn’t so full. It was so damn hard to hear with all that dick garbling.”

“What? What the fuck are you talking about?” he snarls, losing his cool. After his wife left him, his manhood had taken a serious blow, and I wanted to add another one-two punch.

“Your latest mistress just left.” I wink at him and then smirk. “My men will escort you around, but I have work to do since you’ve just cost me money and my lawyer needs to hear about this.” I snatched the warrant from his puppet’s hands and read the one-page pile of horseshit. Just like I expected, the prick that signed off on it is his buddy. They both need a bullet to the head.

What happened between him and my piece-of-shit father? The feud has only grown over the years, and the only people to have suffered from it are my brothers and me.

“You’re a prick,” he says.

“Takes one to know one. And trust me—you will pay for screwing me out of five thousand dollars in revenue tonight. It’s our busiest night.” I slowly nodded my head because he best damn believe he’s going to pay for ruining my money. I don’t play with my funds.

“You can say what you want. You don’t earn that much unless it’s to sell drugs.” He can fuck off with that bullshit.

“Let’s test your piss, Saunders, and then we’ll talk about drugs, old man. I bet they let your ass skate on by with drug tests while you got powder all over your nose. Now piss off,” I say, waving my hand, and turn.

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