they were better than them. That your boys were at the top and my sons were at the bottom of the proverbial chain.”
It’s like a light bulb just buzzed on in the room.
Unable to remain seated for a second longer, I stand up but my body screams in pain.
At this point, after all this time, the agony is now part of me. I’ve accepted it at this stage. It’s better than the silence that falls over me when I’m alone, thinking of Mia’s lips and the way she tastes.
Like I said, fucking pathetic.
“Are you sure about that? Nathan planted a fucking hate seed about my sons?”
“On my fucking life, John,” Lukas says almost breathlessly. “I thought it was just some friendly ribbing but looking back, the way he was talking about your sons, it wasn’t to praise them, it was to make my sons jealous.”
“And yet you fucking buy and sell girls like they’re nothing but property you can pick and choose!”
The words fly out my mouth before I can stop them.
I was planning on being cool, almost indifferent about it all, but this is too important, too fucked up for me not to blow up.
“I don’t do trafficking!”
“Don’t dig your fucking grave deeper by lying to me. I already know,” Dad says softly. “That fucking bastard, Nathan, came to you with an offer to clear his fucking debt in the form of a contract that signed away a life, and you, with your fucking connections to fucking trafficking rings and prostitution, you fucking leaped for that contract like a frog knowing which family that girl comes from!” Dad roars.
“John…”
“This is what’s going to happen here, Lukas,” Dad says, leaning over the desk to stare Lukas down. “You’re going to get rid of that contract.”
“You know I can’t…”
“I know you can, and you will! You’re going to make that contract disappear.”
Make it disappear? It’s a fucking piece of paper? Why can’t they fucking burn it?
“Wait, what?” I demand, looking at my dad. “What do you mean, get rid of it?”
I might as well have a fucking sticker on my forehead that says ‘stupid’ or maybe guilt and denial are a stronger cocktail that brings delayed understanding because as I look between Lukas and my father, trying to understand what they’re talking about, I hear my Cole curse from where he stands by the door.
Everything happens in fucking slow motion.
The pieces fall together, the fucking jagged puzzle pieces fitting in until I can see the big picture.
“Nathan never really sold Mia to this fucking imbecile family, did he?” I seethe, staring at my father.
“Julian—”
“What did he ask you to do with that contract?” I demand, my fist banging on the desk. It rattles under me as I stare at Lukas Matthews. He looks behind me, then at me.
“I’m just the facilitator, son,” the bastard says. “I didn’t do anything.”
“The fucking facilitator?” Liam mocks. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Silence.
“It’s sort of like a broker,” Lukas says slowly. “I just facilitate the deal between parties.”
In that instant, all I see is red.
A sort of haze falls over me but unlike in the warehouse when I saw Mia, I don’t have a target for my anger.
I don’t know whose fucking face to bash in. The next thing I know, the fucking desk is flipped over.
I can see papers flying in the air, broken glass strewn everywhere.
I can hear shouts, but they all drown and fade in the distance.
“No, son, let him go.” I finally hear Dad say behind me. It’s then that I realize I have this fucking bastard by the collar against a wall. “Let him go.”
I drop the jerk and start pacing, my mind racing. I’ve heard about this shit. High rollers who are part of a fucking trafficking rings, buying and selling people, including kids! And now, Mia’s in it? Because of her own father?
Jesus Christ!
“Where the fuck is it?” I seethe. “Did you fucking sell it?”
“Fucking answer him!” Liam shouts.
“The contract has pretty high interest!” Lukas says, splattering and coughing. Maybe I strangled him a little hard but fuck, I’d do it all over again.
“What the fuck? You talk about it like it’s a fucking Google Doc interest form!” I snap. “Shut it the fuck down!”
“The contract Nathan gave me…” the asshole says, looking up at me. “It’s already on the market with bids reaching fucking million of dollars.”
Fuck! That’s how Nathan was planning to get rich. Shit!
“So fucking shut it down because I swear to God, I will