Page 5 of Cruel Revenge

My hands curl into fists at my side as I enter the room, perching myself on the edge of the desk.

Logan enters behind me and shuts the door with a smirk.

The room seems to grow a thousand degrees warmer as he strides closer to me.

“I didn’t think you would be the kind of woman to come and tattle on the competition. You’ve always had too much pride for that.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I work as an accountant.”

“Who happens to own a laundromat on the side. Sure, the business isn’t under your name, but it’s still traced back to your family.”

I shrug. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. However, if we were going to talk about a raid on a hypothetical business I’m not connected to, I would ask you when you’re going to pull your head out of your ass and leave my family alone.”

He scoffs, pacing to the other side of the room and pulling a file off the top of a gray, metal filing cabinet. “If you think coming in here and talking to me is going to get this thing to end, you’re wrong.”

“What’s it going to take?” I don’t have time to deal with this right now. Not when there are more raids planned and Aiden’s going to need help getting supplies moved in time.

He leers at me.

“Nothing can make this go away. You’re finally getting everything you deserve after walking out on me.”

Chapter Two

JOSHUA

“You’re goingto marry my daughter.” Grady swirls the bourbon around in his crystal glass.

I nearly drop the bottle in my hand.

He’s just staring at me like he’s waiting for an answer. Like he just said the sky is blue.

“Excuse me?” I clear my throat, setting the bottle on the table between the three couches. “I’m not sure I heard you right. You want me to marry your daughter?”

“Yes. I’ve been thinking about our partnership lately. Emily seems quite taken with you, and who am I to deny my daughter anything? She’s a good girl, and she would make a wonderful wife.”

This is not happening right now. This has to be some sick sort of joke someone put him up to.

What the hell is he playing at?

The tufted cushion dips beneath my weight as I take a seat, reaching for my own drink.

The bourbon is smooth as it coats the back of my throat, but it doesn’t make the asinine idea any easier to swallow.

“Grady, I’m the worst man in the world to marry your daughter. Wouldn’t you want Emily to settle down with someone who isn’t going to end up in prison at some point in their lives?”

“I do.” Grady takes a sip, glancing at the strobe lights through the thick glass that separates the VIP lounge from the rest of the club. “Which is why I think you would be a good husband for her. You’ve been in the cocaine game a long time, and you haven’t done time yet.”

“The keyword isyet. We both know that sooner or later I’m going to do something that will land me behind bars, and then Emily is going to be left alone for who knows how many years.”

Though I know it’s a reach and I have no intention of ever being dumb enough to get caught, I’m hoping that he doesn’t think that.

Grady rolls his eyes, tipping his glass toward me. “She likes you, Joshua, and she wants to settle down with you.”

“I’m thirty-six, and Emily’s only twenty-three. She’s barely more than a child, Grady. I was through high school when she went into the first grade.”

He winces, his dark mustache dipping as his lips pull tight together. “It isn’t as crazy as it would seem. She is young, but she’s an adult. She knows her own mind better than the rest of us. It would be foolish to assume that she didn’t. I think you could do worse than her.”

I could do so much better too.

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