Page 134 of Dex

Something rises inside me, frustration, helplessness and rage, all tangled up in a knot I can’t loosen.I don’t know what to do with it.So I do the only thing I can do.

I call Rio.

He’s in the middle of a game of squash when I reach him, but I don’t care.I tell him I need to talk to him urgently.He tells me to meet him at his place in thirty minutes.

When I get to his place, he opens the door, his eyes scanning my face for answers.

“What happened?”

I tell him everything.About the meeting.What our father discovered.The fabricated accounts.Daniela’s face when he dropped the news.

Rio goes still.“You knew this was a game of chess, dude.Where Paul Knight is concerned, it always is.”

I nod, jaw clenched.“But this time, he didn’t fuck up.My father-in-law did.”

“But this was a deal,” Rio says.“You marry her.Two families merge.Two powerful families.At least we know it’s not just the Knights who are fucked up.Problem is, you’ve gone and fallen in love—”

“I haven’t.”I try to deny it, even though Rio’s speaking the truth.

“I know you, dude.Look at you.Spending time with your wife?Dexter Knight?That can only be possible if one thing is true.You love her.”He laughs, a rich, effortless laugh of someone who knows me better than I know myself.

“I was lonely,” I insist.“My hookups stopped, and we’re living together.How can I not indulge?We fuck.That’s all it is,” I snarl.

“You can fool Jett and Zach, dude, but you can’t fool me.”

I don’t even try to push back.I’m angry.Fucking angry.More at the old man than with Daniela.I don’t want him to have leverage over me, and this gives him leverage.Rio knows, and anyone who knows me would know.It’s clear to see.I’m in love with Daniela, but it spells trouble ahead for both of us.

“Now the old man has leverage.”

Rio stares at me.“So what’s your next move?”

I laugh, but there’s no humor in it.“That’s the problem.I don’t have a move.He’s played us.He says he’s changed the contract.”

“What did he change?”

“I don’t know.That’s the worst part.He called us in to tell us the contract’s been changed, but he didn’t say how.I don’t trust him.Not with this.”

Rio cups his chin, turns pensive.“It’s never just about the deal.It’s always about control.”

I agree.“It’s not me I’m worried about.It’s Daniela.”

“There you go.This is more than just fucking, dude.You care about her.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, dismissively, and get up to leave.

I don’t trust my father, and the worse part?I don’t know what he’ll do to punish Daniela, or her family, and I can’t let that happen.

What I do know?There will be retribution.I need to come up with a plan, and fast.

Chapter 34

DANI

I called my father and asked him what happened.“You signed another contract, Papai?”

I hear a deep sigh at the other end.“You know.”The fact that this comes as no surprise to him tells me everything.

“When were you going to tell me, Papai?”

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