Page 20 of Fractured Loyalties
I try to say thank you, but it comes out as a weird, breathless laugh. “I’ll remember that. Thank you.”
“It can be tough here for the newbies,” he says, extending an arm. “You want me to walk you to class or hang back?”
I gaze up into his warm chocolate eyes, and something like relief floods through my system. “You know… I’d rather go in with someone than alone. I think I’ll take you up on that.”
“Perfect,” he says as I slide my hand through his arm. “I think today will be a good day then.”
I nod.God, I hope so.
Eight
ROMAN
“We gotta talk,”I say, standing in the doorway of my father’s study.
He’s hunched over his ledger, his pen gliding in loops and slashes. His left hand never leaves the stack of legal documents, his knuckles white.
And he acts as if he hasn’t heard me.
I clear my throat, stepping inside. “Isaid,we need to talk.”
Finally, and with a practiced thump of irritation, he sets the pen down. He folds his hands and lets his eyes flick up to me.
“Roman.” The word is a speed bump, nothing more—not even with the reminders of last night littered across my face.
I don’t sit. I can feel the bruises blooming across my chest and cheek and it hurts less to stand.
“Last night?—”
“It’s resolved,” he cuts me off with a heavy sigh. “I spoke with Keller. The account is squared.”
“That’s not what I fucking meant,” I snap, shaking my head. “I don’t give a flying fuck about the accounts. It’s the fact youknew. You knew exactly what would happen, and you sent me in there anyway. For what? To make a point?”
Robert’s face is as indifferent as a wax mask. “I sent you because you can handle it. That’s how these things work, Roman. You need to toughen up.” He picks up his pen and then nudges it back into its silver slot. “If you want to sit at this desk one day, you need to understand the cost of doing business.”
Bullshit. I’ll never sit at his desk.
“You sent me light. I was the fucking message. They could have killed me.”
He shrugs, his face unmoving. “It appears you survived. It was a lesson of loyalty.”
A laugh bubbles up, and I can’t stop it; my tone is one of hysterics and disgust. “You think I want any part of this empire? You think beating the shit out of me is how you teach loyalty? Meanwhile, you groom Kade with your Country Club parties and yacht trips to the Caribbean?”
He steeples his hands, his dark eyes trained on mine. “I believe consequences are instructive. You’re not a child anymore, Roman. I pay you to be my hands, not my conscience.”
My chest burns. “I’ll never be your fucking hands,” I say, spitting the words across the desk. “I’m nothing like you.”
He lifts his cuff and begins to fiddle with the gold link there. “You’re exactly like me,son. You just haven’t realized it yet. Once you do, I’ll show you the pleasures of this place.”
For a moment, I might lunge at him. My body wants to, every muscle is tensed for violence. But then the rage passes, and it’s replaced by something worse, so much worse. It’s a cold, settling shame, a realization that he’sright.
Fuck, I hate myself for how true it feels.
But still, I have zero interest in learning about hispleasures.
My father glances at his phone, then at his Rolex. “If that’s all, I have a 3 o’clock with the attorneys. I think you need to pick up Ivy from school. We’re done discussing your stupidity.”
I open my mouth, but before I can say anything more, Irena Woods materializes in the doorway. She floats in on a cloud of citrus and expensive misery, her dress belted with surgical precision.
