Page 32 of Ruthless Knight

She’s left coming to see me purposely late because she wants to hold on to whatever power she thinks she might still have until the absolute last moment when she’ll have to let go and accept her new state of powerlessness.

The goddess is also not going to be in any hurry to see me again.

Jericho sets down a new stack of balls, and I take my shot, nearly winning again.

Instead of taking his turn, he leans against the table and stares back at me, assessing me with newfound scrutiny.

“Knight, have you thought about how this is really going to play out?” He blinks several times and releases a thoughtful sigh. “This is where my help stops, so I’m curious. You’re going to marry this girl and take her resort, but she’s going to live with you. In yourhouse. You hate the idea of women in your home.”

Apart from Mom and my staff, I don’t likeanywoman knowing where I live, so this is going to be a first for me.

Only a select few are privileged with my address, and that already feels like too much. At least one or two have abused that privilege when I least expected it, and I hope I won’t have any unnecessary drama in the weeks to come.

My life is already in enough upheaval, which will only increasewhenMiss Wright chooses to grace me with her presence.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” I tell him, glancing away from that stare of his that's still trying to probe too deep. “The house is big enough that we’ll hardly see each other.”

“Does that mean you won’t be sharing your bed with her?” Mischief lights up his eyes.

The image of Aurora Wright lying on my bed with my sheets wrapped around her naked body sends a rush of blood straight to my dick. My artistic mind runs wild with the vision, and I barely manage to contain it.

“This is business, not the Playboy Mansion.” My jaw tenses.

Jericho eyeballs me and tsks. “Stop acting like you don’t want to fuck her.”

“Like I said, this isbusiness.” Although my voice is firm, even that sounds like a lie to me.

“Well, this is going to be one hell of a thing to watch. I’m glad I got front-row tickets.” He swivels around and takes his shot. “One thing’s for sure, you’ve got this in the bag. Park Avenue is practically yours. Have you spoken to Grandfather yet?”

“I’ve updated him.” Grandfather was thoroughly impressed with what I’d done so far. I think I even outdid his expectations. “I’m seeing him on Wednesday when he gets back from Hong Kong. I want to have all the loose ends tied up by then.”

“I’m sure you will. I, on the other hand, amstillwaiting to know what I’m supposed to do to secure the damn CFO position. I swear Grandfather wants to torture me.”

“I don’t think it’s that. Knowing him, you’re already doing what he wants you to do.” As the days have gone by, I’ve tried to think about the empire from my grandfather’s perspective. “He just wants things to be done a certain way because this is his end. Once he leaves, he won’t look back.”

“That’s going to be weird. He’s always there. Always involved and around. I can’t imagine that coming to an end.”

“Me neither, but it will. I think he wants a clean break and to be sure that everyone gets what they deserve, but he also wants to secure the empire with the right people.”

“Yeah, I suppose so. It’s just hard not knowing where I stand so I can start working on what I need to do. Dad and Bastian have each other. Even though Grandfather knows we won’t want to work together, in the end, he’ll always choose the right person for the job. That’s what worries me.”

I shake my head. “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Hope you’re right because the longer I wait, the more I want the damn position.”

“Maybe that’s part of Grandfather’s plan too. Fuck knows.”

We both laugh.

The creak of the door to our left cuts into our conversation. We turn and see my lovely bride-to-be entering the room.

In her little pea-green coat with her face bare of makeup and her cotton-white hair braided into a fishtail, she looks no older than eighteen.

Her eyes rivet to me with that villainous expression again. And God, if looks could kill, I would be ashes and dust in the wind.

She came, just like I knew she would. And in her hands is the envelope containing the contract.

The contract declaring hermine.

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