Until then, I have to bide my time.
Using a carefully controlled tone, I reply, “You think the girl doesn’t overhear things? It’s worth a shot. If all else fails, I defile their princess. Either way, it’s a win.”
“A win? More like a war when this dangerous game you’re playing backfires. Do you even think about your actions before you take them?”
“Rarely, but so far I’m still alive.” I smirk.
“Your impulsive behavior is going to kill you one day.”
“Wouldn’t that make your life easier? No longer needing to clean up the messes made by your wayward son? Tell me, have you thought about it often?” I tilt my head to the side.
Shaking his head, he points to the door. “End it. Now.”
“No.”
His eyes flare with anger. “No? Are you disobeying me?”
“Yes.”
“I should kill you,” he grits out through clenched teeth.
I stand, walking over to him, pulling out one of my daggers and setting it on his desk.
“Go ahead. Do it.”
Our eyes are locked, neither one willing to break the contact. After several minutes, he backs off.
He won’t kill me. He needs an heir. Without one, he would be open for a hostile takeover. Too bad he doesn’t know I’m plotting my own hostile takeover.
“Don’t fuck this up more than you already have.”
I swipe my dagger from the table, putting it back into the sheath on my hip. Without a word, I leave his office.
As soon as I slide on my Ducati, I rev the engine, ready for the exhilaration of the ride. It always calms me down.
It’s not until I pull up in front of my building that I realize the entire ride didn’t calm me. Instead of my mind clearing, all I could see was the bright red hair, pillowy lips begging to be bitten, and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Fuck.
As soon as I get into the penthouse, I call Kenji.
“Get your ass here. We need to get a formal offer to the Irish.”
Within minutes, he’s there, telling me he was trailing me the entire time.
“I hate when you follow me.”
He shrugs. “You tend to fly off the handle halfcocked without a plan. So I follow your ass and make sure you stay alive.”
“I don’t even have time to argue with you right now,” I say, removing my glasses to clean the lenses.
“How did the meeting with your father go? He agreed to let you put in an offer?”
“Fuck no. That old fuck is an asshole. He told me to squash it but fuck him.”
“Are you sure about this?”
I nod, putting my glasses back on. “It’s getting close to time to put the old man out to pasture. Figure out how much money we can offer. Then draw up an alliance with the Irish. Her father will likely deny it based on my name alone. But the leader, Killian, seemed more diplomatic. We might have a chance.”
