Page 54 of Kandi's Crush: A BWWM Sweet Billionaire Romance

“No, thank you.” I was not repeating the mistake of being intoxicated around my father. I needed all of my faculties to decline the likely request to join St. Clair.

“I’ll cut straight to the point. Is there anything you want to talk about?” he looked at me intently. I had so many secrets, I didn’t know what to discuss. I shrugged.

“Kennedy scheduled an emergency meeting with me a few days ago.”

Jackson Kennedy was the head of security for St. Clair Enterprises. He was the right-hand man for my father and had worked with us for almost twenty years. We had a security detail that continually monitored and assessed physical and electronic threats against my family.

Fear gripped my heart. Over the years, I had taken various threats from jilted lovers in stride. In my heart, I’d known they were just harmless threats, but now I was a married man with real responsibilities. I couldn’t risk anything bad happening to Sweets. I would never forgive myself.

“What’s going on?” My heart raced a thousand miles an hour as I leaned forward in the chair.

“Why don’t I give you a hint? Let’s talk about Las Vegas on the fifteenth of July. Does that ring a bell? It doesn’t?” He waited for my response. I grappled for an excuse, a story. Something. When I didn’t answer, he said, “Your wedding day.” He flung a copy of our signed marriage license onto the desk between us.

“I worried when he called me personally. I didn’t believe him. My son would never get married and not invite his parents. I sent him back to dig deeper. That’s when I learned you used corporate jet hours to whisk Kandace for a quickie wedding in Las Vegas. How do I know this? It isn’t because you told me. No, her name was on the flight manifest. I would have expected a drunken weekend with your buddies, but not marriage to a family friend. Is she pregnant?”

“No! She isn’t pregnant.”

“Good. Good.” His voice softened, and I could hear the hurt in his voice. “I thought?we were working on a closer relationship. We can’t have one if you continue to lie. I’m disappointed that you didn’t share such an important decision in your life. I didn’t see my son get married. My wife,?your mother, will be heartbroken that she didn’t throw you the wedding you deserve.”

“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t mention it,” I sighed.

“Speaking of your mother, this puts me in a hell of a predicament. I pride myself on honesty, and your mother and I don’t have secrets. Knowing you’re married means I have to lie to her every day when she asks me what’s going on. I don’t enjoy lying. You have one week to tell her, or I will.

“Then,? there is a matter of the prenuptial agreement,” he went on. Noting my confusion, he scoffed, “That’s right, there is no prenup. You’re sitting on a world of financial risk and putting a young girl’s future in jeopardy by following with your dick.” He sighed, “I take it Celeste doesn’t know?”

“Kandace isn’t a young girl, she’s a woman.” I looked him square in the eye, daring him to argue with me about that fact. “Celeste doesn’t know. You’re the first person to learn of this.”

He closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples.

“Kandi deserves more than this. You deserve more than this. She shouldn’t be your little secret.”

“She isn’t a secret. She’s my wife. I love her, and she loves me.”

He leaned back in the chair and appeared to be contemplating the next steps. His head lolled back and forth as he moved his jaw round and round. It was an exercise he believed would prevent TMJ issues. He leaned forward and locked eyes with me.

“One week.” The tone was emphatic. “After which, my daughter-in-law will receive the introduction she warrants. Bring her by for Sunday dinner.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Son. One week.” He reminded me.

Messaged received, loud and clear.

The typical fifteen-minute drive home had doubled during rush hour. My thoughts were as tangled and snarled as the bumper-to-bumper traffic. I walked from the elevator through the threshold of the living room, loosening my tie and heading toward the liquor cabinet. I twisted the cap off the bottle of Maker’s Mark with a loud sigh.

“C, I almost didn’t hear you come in. Do you know why I didn’t hear you come in?” Kandace sang from the bedroom. “After three weeks of fussing, the elevator company finally sent the right guy. He figured out the issues and got it to stop making that horrendous sound. An elevator brake something-or-other.” She entered the living room. “I negotiated a twenty percent dis—” Her smile faded when she saw the stress in my expression.

“What’s going on? Why do you look like your puppy ran away?” She walked over to wrap her arms around my waist, rising to her tiptoes to kiss me. “Hi, honey.”

I gripped her ass and gave her a slight squeeze. I backed her toward the sectional until the backs of her knees hit the cushions. She fell back onto the sofa.

“Hello, beautiful. Great job on the discount. Did you have a good day?” I began unbuttoning my shirt, exposing my white undershirt.

“Don’t change the subject. What happened?”

She gazed up at me in concern. We were still in the newlywed phase of our marriage, and I hated to put a damper on things. But there was no way I could keep this from her. I sat next to her and buried my face against the sweet-smelling skin of her neck.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I groaned. She held up her hand and pushed against my chest, preventing me from nibbling against the flesh.

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