Page 24 of Bred Mate
“Market value.”
He laughs.
I get instantly annoyed.
“I have money,” I assure him.
“I’m sure you do, but I don’t deal in market value, when I buy land—which I did, from your father, by the way—I do so because I intend to add value.”
“How do you know my father? I mean, how do you know he’s my father?”
It’s annoying, being caught off guard and asking questions awkwardly. I guess it comes down to the last name.
“You’ve got his eyes. Or eye,” he says.
Roasted. By a man who looks like he belongs on a fucking spit. This visit has been a humiliation from beginning to end, and I can’t blame anyone besides myself. Ellie tried to warn me that this man was a monster of another kind. She’s afraid of him. More than she is of me. Because he can take more from her than I ever could.
“Alright. What sort of value are we talking here?”
I’m curious. I didn’t think I’d ever be curious about real estate, but today is a day for learning.
He smiles broadly. “I’m going to put in a mall and a hotel and a casino. That filthy little hole is going to become one of the most profitable centers in Louisiana. You’re welcome to invest, if youlike. Use some of that land buying money to get somewhere in the world. I’m sure your father would approve.”
I’m bored again.
“How much do you want for that patch of forest?” I go back to the original question.
“It’s not for sale,” he repeats. “I already have the plans and consents for the development. I have buyers for the wood. I have contractors built for the construction phase. This is more complicated than you imagine.”
“What if it turned out that the area had some significance in terms of nature or what the fuck ever?”
“Would you like a cookie?” Margaret sweeps into the room with a tray of baked goods. I didn’t realize she was gone, and I’m definitely not having a single one of those muffins.
“We have the permits, and the resource consent procedures are completed. The area is not a habitat to any native wildlife,” he says.
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong,” I say. “There’s a specific breed of wolves, you see, and they only den in that area. So if we can get you some land elsewhere.”
“What’s this breed of wolves called?”
“Louisiana specials,” I say, off the cuff.
“Doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard of before,” he grunts. “And they’re not on the list of protected wildlife. If you’re here to acquire land for development, I can recommend some other sites, but that one is already under development.”
He’s telling me no, and it’s a firm no. The kind of no people don’t move off of without lethal force.
This is the point where I’d usually rip someone’s throat out, but Margaret is watching and there’s something about the woman that concerns me. She’d be a witness, and I’d have to kill her too. Besides, this isn’t what Ellie wanted. She specifically requested that I avoided a bloodbath and scandal. She wants me to come out of this building with all her problems solved. But that’s not how it’s going to happen.
I stand up, feeling somewhat awkward. I know how to end most interactions, but not this one. Usually if I don’t get what I want, I leave covered in blood.
“Have a cookie,” Margaret says, thrusting the plate at me as I prepare to leave.
“Oh, I’m not…”
“Take. A. Cookie,” she repeats, her tone somehow threatening.
“Thank you,” I say, taking a fucking cookie. She smiles at me like she just wrestled me into submission. I feel a cold shiver run down my spine. There’s something about women of a certain age that demands respect. I forgot that for a minute. I will not be forgetting it again.
Ellie is waiting for me at a nearby café. Her curves are clad in black jeans, boots, and a tank top that shows off her generous assets and makes me want to thrust my cock into the tight crevice of her cleavage.
