Page 3 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

I nodded at the daughter, who only sneered at me. My eyes narrowed, but inside, I was dying with laughter. I’d seen that look before from some of the women at OPS. Seeing her reminded me of my life before I agreed to this crazy mission.

“Jade has disgraced her family, and she has paid for it, but now she’s not a good choice for any of the men I would have considered for her.”

“And why’s that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why is she not suitable for them?”

“Because she’s tarnished.”

Whatever the fuck that meant. “And?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, clearly not liking my tone of voice. Well, I didn’t care for any of this conversation.

“If you want to prove yourself to me and have my help, you will marry her.”

I barked out a laugh. I couldn’t help it. I’d never considered he would say anything so medieval as selling his daughter off to me like cattle. “You want me to marry your daughter?” I asked, just to be sure I was understanding him.

“That’s what I said,” he bit out. “Is there something funny about this?”

All of it was fucking hilarious. I knew men in the underworld were fucked up, but I hadn’t realized they treated their women like they were from a third world country where they didn’t matter.

I licked my lips as I stared at Jade. She was beautiful and tempting, but there was no fucking way I could ever marry her, leaving her no choice in the matter. I liked my women to willingly walk to my bed, not be forced to submit.

I had to proceed carefully. I needed him to know I wasn’t mocking his ways, but that I was taking everything into consideration when I accepted. Because frankly, there was no choice for me. And it was clear, she didn’t have a choice in the matter either. Though, I wondered why she didn’t just run away and start her life over.

“Call it surprise,” I finally settled on. “I came in here thinking I would have to do a lot to prove myself, which I fully intend to do. But you’re handing your beautiful daughter over to me, which was something I didn’t expect.”

“It’s not an offer. It’s the only way you’ll get what you need to stay alive,” he said menacingly. “But I wouldn’t want you to think my daughter means that little to me. I expect you to cherish her and protect her in every way possible. This union will not only keep her in line, it will also expand my own empire.”

“In what way?” I asked.

He cocked his head at me with a smirk. “As my son-in-law, we will expand our territory.”

My heart thundered in my chest as he stared at me, expecting me to read between the lines. Fuck, he wanted to tear through the syndicate. If we joined forces, we would slowly start to push others out. That’s what he was going for. But why me? And that’s exactly what I asked him.

“You have other partners that you’ve worked with for years. You don’t even know me.”

“You’re young, first of all. You did what was necessary to resurrect a dying empire, which I greatly admire. The Syndicate is full of men that are stuck in the past, still living as if they can sit back and watch everything come to them. But times are changing fast. We no longer live in a world where we can skate by. Things are heating up all around us. The attention on us has never been more focused.”

Meaning the government was closing in on them.Rafewas closing in. And apparently, the other members weren’t taking it seriously enough for him. So, he wanted to push them out and take over for himself. I couldn’t deny this was a great opportunity for myself. This was exactly what I needed to get inside and take them down. But what would happen to Jade? Could I really marry a woman that didn’t want me? Could I force her to live side by side with me and be happy with her lot in life?

“In case you’re wondering,” Ambrose said as he watched me, “this isn’t really an offer you can refuse.”

I knew it wasn’t. And it was clear that Jade wanted nothing to do with this. She was angry, hurt by her father’s willingness to force her to marry a man she didn’t love. But I didn’t have a choice in the matter either.

“When’s the wedding?”

He grinned and stood up, drinking the rest of his whiskey as Jade was pulled away by the guard. I stood and shook his hand, even though it made me want to throw up.

“One week,” he announced. “And then we’ll put our plan into action.”

I nodded and was about to step back when he tightened his grip on my hand. He stepped into my space and lowered his voice so only I could hear.

“You will do everything to protect her. If she is injured in any way, I’ll be coming for you. Your life is now tied to hers. Remember that.”

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