Page 92 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares
That wasn’t one of my father’s rules. It was Society law. Murphy Media was one of two companies that had the power to expose us. And they could do it in a matter of seconds. Aiden’s parents owned the other company.
“How far have you gotten with Georgia? Have you even started the claiming yet?” he asked.
“Yeah. I started it.” Kind of.
“Good.” He nodded. “Because you have three weeks.”
“What!”
“You heard me,” he said and went back to the papers on his desk, as if I weren’t there.
This was bullshit. First, my father added stipulations, and now, he was shortening my timeline. All because a Murphy was interested in her. Well, fuck him.
“What if I refuse?”
He lifted his head, sighed, “Then you find out what happened to Matteo.”
Threats didn’t work against me. Especially not when they were empty.
“I’m your only heir.” I folded my arms across my chest. “If I die, so does the Kratz empire.”
It was possible he had another kid out there somewhere. Every one of our fathers had a mistress at some point. Some of whom had children of their own. But The Society didn’t accept offspring unless they were pure-blood.
In other words, their mother had to be a chosen bride. And we only ever got one of those. Once a member claimed his bride, that was it. There were no do-overs. My father already had his.
“This isn’t a game, Issac.”
That’s where he was wrong. “Everything’s a game,Father. You’re the one who taught me that.”
He may not have used those exact words, but every lesson, test, or trial he put me through taught me one thing. How to win. And winning, in my father’s eyes, meant the furtherment of his empire, which he couldn’t do without me.
He sat back and eyed me for a second before saying. “What do you want?”
“I want to know what you’re hiding. Why are you so desperate to get Georgia under our control?” I suspected it hadsomething to do with her father, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.
“There’s nothing desperate about it. Georgia’s your bride, son. She should be under your control.”
This had nothing to do with brides and how he viewed marriage.
“I’ll repeat myself. Why do you want Georgia underourcontrol?” I asked, emphasizing the word our.
He couldn’t care less how I treated my bride, or any woman. This was something else. When he heard that Kash was interested, he looked almost scared for a second.
“Whose Georgia’s father?”
He stopped cold.
Bingo.
“So, you do know who he is?”
“I do,” he sighed.
“But you’re not going to tell me?”
“No, I’m not.”
I tsked. “That’s not how a negotiation works.”
