by Sienna Snow
I was beginning to dislike Jonas Weber more than I already had.
“Isa is a fine hostess.” Mama glanced in my direction without actually catching my eyes. “We’ve raised her well, and she knows what’s expected of her.”
“I’m sure it’s all fine and well, but everyone knows she’s been doted upon by the family since you couldn’t produce more children. She’ll need to have a solid backbone.”
“My child has a will of steel. Don’t mistake her beauty and delicate size as any indication of her nature.”
Were they really talking about me as if I were a head of cattle up for auction?
“She is a pampered princess. We’ll teach her what she needs to know to be a true Weber and what will become her responsibilities.”
Oh, hell no, he hadn’t just said that.
“I’m well educated, beyond you and even what your son has achieved. I run an art foundation as well as various charities. I know exactly how to deal with responsibilities.” My tone wasn’t per se hard, but it conveyed I wasn’t going to let Jonas Weber bully my family. “You’re my future father-in-law, not my future husband. Your input on my behavior and responsibilities isn’t requested or required. Your father purchased me for your son, not for yourself.”
I stood, knowing I probably shouldn’t have said that. I was so tired of people setting the course for my life. I wasn’t going to let this man set the precedent for all our future interactions.
It was better that he knew I was a hellion and not the wimp he assumed I was.
Jonas’s face grew red. “I am the head of my family and you will honor me as such.”
“I read the contract. The second I say my vows, my future husband is the head of the family. I’ve done my research.” I glanced at Oma. “I’m sorry but I don’t believe brunch is a good idea.”
“Benz, are you going to say anything to this girl of yours?”
“I believe she expresses our sentiment. You forced this on our family.”
I felt a surge of pride at Papa’s words. He’d stood up for me, even if it went against Jonas.
“No, our fathers did.” His lips curved. “As did our wives.”
“It makes no difference. You and I both know it never had to pass. A contract like that isn’t binding unless one of the parties tries to enforce it. You want what I’ve built.”
Papa’s words had no effect on Jonas. His grin grew. “My son will own everything you built. I win, no matter your belief.”
“And on that note, I’ll head out. Enjoy your brunch. I’m sure there will be hours of stimulating conversation.”
I came around the table.
“Where are you going?” Papa asked.
“I have to do some paperwork at the museum for an appraisal I gave them.” I turned my attention to Jonas. “Papa Jonas, I would like to refrain from any and all further interaction with you until after the wedding.”
I walked toward the doors.
He rose to grab my hand as I passed him. I wasn’t sure what came over me. I twisted, breaking Jonas’s hold, and then shoved him back, knocking him into the table, causing wine to spill everywhere.
I ignored the shock on my family’s faces.
“Don’t ever touch me. The only Weber who’ll get that right is the one I was bought for.”
I stalked out, not bothering to look back.
When I hit the cold fall air, I felt my heartbeat echo into my ears.
Holy fuck, I’d just about decked a man who was not only my future father-in-law, but a crime boss. The fucker shouldn’t have touched me.
Why the hell had Papa thought it was a good idea to have brunch with Weber when I didn’t want to meet his son until our wedding day? And why the fuck had Sebastian Weber shown up?
Was it some power play to remind me my wants and desires were second to those of the Webers?
It wasn’t as if I could forget my mother and my grandfather had sold me to Weber like I was a commodity.
I decided I needed a drink and made my way to Dimitri’s, the bar on the corner of the street.
It was named after the owner, who would be tending bar. He’d given me my first “legal” drink when I’d turned eighteen. It wasn’t technically illegal for me to drink wine or beer after I turned sixteen, but it wasn’t something well-bred daughters did.
Plus, going to the bar would keep the urge to go to Emma’s and see if Baz showed up at bay.
That was another complication I had to keep out of my life. What was the point of tempting myself with something I knew I couldn’t have?
I pulled the heavy door open, causing the bell on the door to jingle.
Dimitri looked up from wiping the bar, and immediately a smile covered his face.
“Isa, it’s been too long.”
I hugged Dimitri as he came around the bar.
“It’s hard to make it down here unless I’m visiting Mama and Papa. Especially since I don’t live in the neighborhood anymore.”
“Yes,” he said in his musing way. “Stephan told me the other day. He also mentioned you’re doing very well in the art business. I hear you’re booked out for the next year.”
Stephan was head of security for Papa and well aware I wasn’t the princess the world believed me to be. He’d personally kept me out of trouble a time or two when I was a teenager. He also treated me like his own daughter and bragged about me like a proud papa.
I glanced at my own security lead, Jax, who happened to be Stephan’s son. Jax was the only one Stephan had trusted to protect me.
“It’s good to have people who care about you around. They keep you out of trouble.”
Jax coughed at that statement, and I glared at him.
Turning my attention back to Dimitri, I asked, “Do you have any of the Firewater Black Label?”
Firewater was a whiskey with a cult following. It tasted like it had been aged for twenty years but in fact was created in a lab and aged less than a year. The owner of the company, Penny Lykaios, was a genius and happened to be Ana’s cousin. Ana had introduced us and we’d fostered a friendship over the years. It was actually Penny and her husband Hagen who’d influenced me to take the jump into the nightclub business. With their guidance and the exclusive distribution contract I’d negotiated with Penny for Firewater, I’d gained an edge in the cutthroat nightlife industry.
“You should know. Aren’t you the one who got me on the list for distribution?”
Dimitri pulled the bottle from a cabinet where he held the reserved spirits he kept for his high-end clients, mainly my father and his circle.
“Yes, but no one’s supposed to know that secret. If Papa finds out, you won’t get any more bottles.”
“No one’s here who’d tell on you.” He looked up at Jax, who nodded.
Dimitri poured two fingers’ worth of the reddish-gold liquid into a tumbler and set it in front of me.
Without a second thought, I shot back the expensive whiskey, letting the alcohol burn down my throat and warm my stomach.
“Another.”
Dimitri narrowed his gaze at me but complied.
I drank the second glass back. “Again.”
“Only one more.”
Frowning, I said, “Fine. You’d hand me the bottle if you were dealing with the shit I was.”
“Getting drunk won’t solve your issues.”
I was surrounded by overprotective men, and the way Jax was staring at me, he would take the bottle from me if it were in my hand.
They weren’t the one stuck marrying a man they’d never met to save everything their family had worked to build. Or expected to produce the next generation with a man who may or may not be a horrible human being.
God, I hoped he was nothing like Jonas. The man gave me the creeps on more levels than one.
Picking up the glass, I went to drink down the alcohol when my gaze landed on the man standing outside the bar windows.
Baz.
His dark, almost black eyes studied me. Imm
ediately, I felt my skin tingle. What was it about this man that made my body react so strongly?
It wasn’t just his dark good looks or the body that looked like he’d walked off the pages of a fashion magazine, or the hint of tattoos that peeked from the collar of his shirt. He affected me in a way that made me want to let him do anything and everything to me.
He shook his head, glancing at the glass in my hand.
I lifted a brow and downed the drink.
Baz moved to the door of the bar, pulled it open, and walked in, heading straight for me.
When he was less than a foot from me, he pulled the glass from my hand, set it on the bar top, and said, “As a friend, I believe it’s safe to say drinking your troubles away isn’t the best idea.”
Chapter Six
Sebastian
“And how would you know about my troubles?” The irritation on Isa’s beautiful face told me she was ready for a fight.
If we were alone and I wasn’t getting glares from the man behind the counter or the giant I knew was her security, I’d have given her the challenge she was throwing down.
Everything told me she was dealing with the aftermath of whatever Jonas had said at lunch.
Fucker had set up the brunch as a way to emphasize his influence on the situation he’d put both families in. The bastard hadn’t expected me to show up, or that I’d make it very clear to Benz that I took orders from no one, especially not Jonas.
Then, when one of my spies had sent me a text informing me that Isa had walked out of the lunch angry, I knew I had to find her. Jonas was an asshole. Well, I was one too, but in a different way.
I was lying to the woman I was going to marry. Technically, I wasn’t lying, I just wasn’t revealing who I was, but I highly doubted she’d view it from my angle.
“After last night, I’m pretty sure I know exactly what troubles you.”
“Then you understand why whiskey is definitely called for.”
“How’s that?”
“I just had the pleasure of dealing with my future father-in-law.”
I could only imagine how he’d treated her. He thought himself superior to everyone, and his view of women as a whole was low.
I took her hand and pulled her from the bar. “Have coffee with me.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at Emma’s? That’s across town.”
I ran a thumb over the pulse point on her wrist, causing her to shiver. She was definitely not immune to me.
“I was about to head there when I saw you throwing back a thousand-dollar-an-ounce whiskey.”
That was both a truth and a lie. I’d known she wouldn’t have shown up. Her honesty about her life made me realize she wasn’t anything like the woman I expected her to be. Her loyalty to her family trumped her personal needs.
When I’d gone looking for her after my call, the last place I expected to find her was drinking her troubles away at a neighborhood bar.
“Well, if I’m going to drink, it might as well be something worth the effort or the possible hangover.”
“I doubt you ever let yourself get to that point.” The woman had a need to control everything.
I’d gauged that last night, and the unhappiness she felt at not having any say in the course of her life.
“Why are you in my neighborhood, Baz?”
“Your neighborhood?”
“Yes, I grew up here.”
“I had business in the area.” I guided her to a table away from the bartender and her security who seemed way too interested in Isa’s reaction to me.
I knew her bodyguard had seen me dance with her at the club last night, but the bartender was also giving a protective vibe. I couldn’t fault him. I’d be the same way.
I was positive she didn’t want anyone to know the details on how we met, and already knew she kept her nightclub activities as quiet as possible.
I took a seat across the table from her, not saying anything. Her piercing dark blue eyes were a storm of emotions. He hands were flat on the table, pulling at the urge in me to give her comfort.
Maybe it was the combination of strength and vulnerability that she emanated.
“Stop staring at me like that.” The temper in her tone made me want to laugh. She’d let me guide her to the table without a word and now she was trying to take control of her body’s reaction to me.
“As I said, drinking your troubles away isn’t the best way to let go.”
She didn’t seem the type to drown her worries in alcohol. But then again, any encounter with Jonas could push a person to measures they’d never think of doing in other circumstances.
“I wasn’t drinking my troubles away. I was calming my temper. I’d have to drink half the bottle to get a good buzz. Those three shots did nothing to me.”
“Built up a high tolerance?”
“You could say that. The owner of Firewater, Penny, is my close friend’s cousin. I had to learn to keep up with the pint-sized genius. Plus, I don’t like to be out of control, so I refuse to get to the point where I am.”
Figured she would have some ties to the Lykaios family.
All of a sudden, it hit me that Isa had mentioned Penny’s cousin. Fuck, it had to be Ana. Ana had just married my ex-partner, Adrian, and we’d shared her not so long ago. It had been during an assignment, but that wouldn’t matter to Isa. I’d slept with one of her friends.
I couldn’t fault her if she wanted to shoot me when she found out. It would piss me off if she’d slept with someone I knew, let alone a friend.
“You’re doing that stare thing again. Stop it.”
Ignoring her order, I gave one of my own. “Lay your hands on the table, palms up.”
Fuck, what was I doing? I’d met her less than twenty-four hours ago and I was ready to push her in a direction I probably should wait to go.
She narrowed her gaze at me. “Why?”
“Just do it. If what I do makes you uncomfortable then I’ll stop.”
She licked her lips and then followed my order. Some of her compliance was curiosity but the other part was her response to me.
The second the backs of her hands touched the table, I set mine over hers, holding her wrists under each palm. Immediately, her breath grew unsteady and her eyes dilated.
Her response mixed with touching her in this way had my cock jumping. She had no idea what she was. No. It was more likely she ignored that part of herself, not wanting to entertain the idea she wanted to give up control.
“What are you doing?” Her words were unsteady.
I gave a slight squeeze of pressure causing her to shift in her seat.
“I’m in charge now. You can’t leave unless I let you go. Everything pressing has to wait.”
I knew as well as she did that with one word, her security would be over here and putting me in a headlock.
“We shouldn’t be touching like this.”
“Then tell me to let you go.” I held her gaze. “All you have to do is say stop.”
The indecision warring in her eyes made me realize how much she needed this.
“Look at me, Isa.”
Her blue gaze shifted from where I held her wrists to my face.
A crease formed between her brows. “I don’t understand why I listened to you. It makes no sense.”
“Have you ever let any of the men you’ve taken to bed be in charge?”
A twinge of irritation entered my mind at the thought of anyone having ever touched her.
Yes, it was irrational, but knowing this was the woman who was going to be my wife and the intense pull we had to each other brought out the caveman in me.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Her response was all I needed to confirm my suspicions and ease my annoyance.
“Did you leave feeling unsatisfied, feeling like you were missing something?”
She opened her mouth to deny my claim but shut it.
She knew the truth as well as I did.
&nb
sp; “Tell me, Isa, if a man took all the control, bent you to his will, and gave your mind and body unimaginable pleasure, would you let him?”
Her breathing grew ragged and she swallowed to ease the arousal I saw flushing over her skin.
“I can’t do this. I’m going to marry someone else,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s…it’s… I have to go.”
My fingers tightened before she could pull free.
Isa closed her eyes. “Baz, don’t make me want things I can’t have. It’s cruel.”
“Why is it cruel? You should admit, at least to yourself, the true nature of your desire.”
“And do what with it?” The anger in her voice surprised me. “I’m about to marry a man I don’t know or love. Who knows what he’ll be like?”
I studied her, not releasing my hold on her.
Fuck. I was going to fuck this up. Hell, I’d already screwed up beyond repair. I was lying to my fiancée. I was…God, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that when everything came out, she’d hate me.
I wasn’t supposed to have this need for her.
“What if you react to him the way you do to me?”
“It doesn’t matter how I react to you. Nothing can come of it. I’m marrying another man.” This time she managed to pull free of my hold. “I can’t throw away my family’s future for whatever this attraction is.”
I remained quiet, not knowing how to get out of the hole I’d dug for myself.
“I offered friendship. I still stand by it.”
“It won’t work.”
“Try it, Isa. Friendship.”
Maybe if she saw the real me then she’d accept me when she learned the truth.
Who was I kidding? I was fucked beyond repair.
“Friends. No expectation for anything else. No touching me. And no more conversations like the one we just had, or I won’t see you again.”
“Done.”
At that moment, Isa’s security approached.
“We have to get you home so you’re rested,” the man said.
“I guess it’s hard to balance a daytime life and a secret nighttime one.”
Her lips curved slightly. “You could say that.”