has.
“Oh. My. God. Someone found Chimecho.”
I shake my head. “Good god, woman, you’re obsessed.”
Dressed, I pick up my bag. “I’ll leave you to your monster hunting.”
She makes a jerking off gesture. “Off to do a bit of monster wrangling yourself no doubt”
I start walking. “Bye, Carrie,” I trill.
“Oh, yes, Nolan,” she moans, attracting a good deal of attention, “give it to me. Give me that big, hard manaconda of yours. God. Yes!”
I can’t stop laughing making it out into the foyer. I swear I can still hear her going at it. Even the girl at the front desk looks puzzled.
“She’ll be fine after she’s had her meds,” I tell her.
I come out through the gym doors into a mild day of fleeting sunshine, about to step across the road when a black limo screeches to a halt, the doors popping open and my father’s goons whipping around behind me.
Not this shit again, I think to myself.
“Hey!” I yell, but it’s late and the gym’s isolated out here away from campus.
One of them takes my bag, the other forcing me into the back of the limo and sliding in beside me.
The doors slam closed and the limo is off. The whole thing takes seconds.
I calm myself, eyeing my father sitting opposite. “You could have asked nicely, you know.”
“I did. You’ve been ignoring me.”
“Do you blame me after the shit you’ve pulled? You think this is any better? Kidnapping me yet again in broad daylight? As I said before, how’s that going to help your cause?”
I’m surprised how articulate I’m being, but I’ve truly had enough of this shit.
“I didn’t want it to be this way, Linnea, but you left me no choice. You will marry Harry.”
Again, the rhyming is almost, almost amusing. “Why are you so desperate for this merger, really? I know there’s more to this.
I see him eyeball the goons on either side of me, then watch him clear his throat—a rare tell. “All right. Without the merger, my company will go under. I’ll lose everything.”
“You mean your Ferrari and nightly glass of Chandon? Boo-fucking-hoo.”
“I won’t lie, Linnea. I’ve become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and I cannot be without. I cannot be…”
“Poor?” I suggest. “You could do with some humility.”
He ignores that. “But you, you, Linnea, can save me, the whole company, and you must think of everyone who will suffer when it goes down—not just me.”
I lean forward, pointing at him. “You steered it into the rocks. If the company is falling apart, it is your fault. You should fix it.”
He extends his hands. “I’m trying to.”
“By forcing your only daughter to marry that Wall Street loser?” I hold up my hand, showing him the wedding ring. “Like I told that Harry idiot, I’m already married.”
The façade drops. He comes forward pointing back with all the sting of a hornet. “You owe it to me, Linnea! You are blood!”
“I’m nothing to you,” I yell back. “You made that clear a long time ago.”
“You will marry Harry. There’s no more arguing, no more acting and carrying on like an entitled brat. You will do it because I say so!”
His face is red, the desperation clear.
I ease back, folding my hands in my lap. “Let me out. Right now.”
The bluster over, my father knows the battle is lost. He knows his outburst has cost him.
“I said,” I repeat, firmer. “Let me out. I’m expected and the cops will come looking if I don’t show.”
My father exhales and taps the window behind himself leading to the driver’s compartment.
The limo pulls to a stop.
But the older goon beside me won’t budge. “Let. Me. Out,” I repeat, taking my bag and trying to push past him.
I look to my father. “Tell your lap dog to let me the fuck out. I’m growing impatient.”
The younger one beside me finally opens his door, mumbling something about not wanting a part of this, not wanting to end up in prison.
Good call.
As soon as it’s open, I shove past him and out onto the street, running for the nearby treeline. I don’t stop until I’m around the corner, watching the limo slowly pull away.
I can’t believe I’m out, but I know I have to get to Nolan. I’ve got to tell him what’s happening, to warn him.
I saw the desperation in my father’s eyes. He’s one step away from doing something stupid.
I won’t allow it.
I get my bearings and run.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
NOLAN
I’m not sure if equilibrium has been established, but the bigger picture seems to be forming.