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His lips thin, cold ice in his gaze. “It is my business. Especially when you’re thinking with your dick. Don’t forget what she married you for. It had nothing to do with you.”
No, it may not have started that way, but it’s turned into something more.
“She’s got you funding her little animal project,” he continues. “But don’t give her anything else. And if her father’s trying to pull one over on me, she’s guilty by association.” He stands, pointing a finger at me as if I’m a child he’s scolding. “No more photos together, no more events. Lay low until we figure out what’s going on with Montague. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” I grit out, knowing any defense of Serena will only anger him more.
“You’re getting as bad as your brother,” he mutters as he exits my office.
He meant it as an insult, but I don’t take it that way. Gabriel stood up for what he believed in and got out from under Dad’s thumb. There’s something to be said for that I’m coming to realize.
I stand at the window looking out at the city for a while after he leaves, his presence lingering in the room. If I’d known about the mess I’d create relaying my discovery about Montague Media’s financial discrepancies, I might never have gotten involved to begin with. I was considering it from a business standpoint, not a personal one.
I guess that was my first mistake. Everything is so intertwined now.
He didn’t outright say it, but if he feels slighted by Greg and calls this buyout off, does he expect me to call the marriage off too? This isn’t as simple as breaking up. We’re legally tied together.
I’ve never gone against Dad, but this…
There’s no truth to his ridiculousness, right? She’s not with me for my money. She didn’t even plan on marrying me. She was supposed to marry Gabriel.
My chest twinges, and I rub at it absentmindedly, pulling my cell out of my pocket and answering without looking, closing my eyes in relief as Connor’s warm voice comes through the line.
“Hey, I meant to call you last week,” he says, “but time got away from me. You holding up okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sound tired.”
Well, the good mood Serena put me in this morning is definitely gone now. “Just dealing with Dad.”
He chuckles softly. “I know how that is.”
“He’s not usually this bad. Ever since the wedding, he’s got a bug up his ass about everything.”
“He doesn’t have Gabriel to take it out on anymore. Guess he’s splitting it between me and you now.”
I didn’t think of that. That’s one more thing I need to apologize to Gabriel for. I never realized how much he took the brunt of Dad’s moods until recently.
“So he’s on your case too?”
He sighs. “Yeah. Some major stuff’s been going on over here.”
“Like what?”
“So I’m working on getting this call center up and running, right? Building’s finished, we’ve hired workers, I’ve got the import license to bring all the equipment in, but customs won’t release our stuff to us. I assumed by the time I came back from your wedding it’d be cleared, but no.”
“Dad hasn’t mentioned any of this to me.” If he wants me to be a leader so badly, shouldn’t he be sharing problems like this about the company with me?
“Well, he doesn’t come off looking too hot in the rest of the story.”
“What happened?”
“I went down there and they told me I need to make afacilitating paymentif I want priority treatment. Basically, bribe them. And the way the guy said it, I admit, it really got my blood boiling.”
Wow, it must have been serious to rile Connor up.
“So I decide I won’t pay it out of principle. I’m not rewarding bad behavior, you know? The only problem is, we can’t wait too much longer if we’re going to open the building in time. Our contract with our current call center runs out at the end of the month and everything is supposed to transfer over here.”