Page 35 of Morally Black Betrothal

“Dad, you need to listen to the doctors,” I repeated for what had to be the ten thousandth time.

“What do they fuckin’ know?”

“What do cardiologists know about your heart? Everything.”

“I’m fuckin’ fine,” he hissed, though his eyelids were drooping. These tantrums took it out of him. He’d be asleep again in five minutes.

“I know it’s hard.” I took a stab at the empathy Simone had shown me. “But you’ve been priming me for this my whole life. The company will be fine.”

“And Liza? She spoke to you? About your…personal life?”

I looked up again from my phone. He reallyhadbeen preparing for this moment. I hadn’t heard much about my “plans” since Liza’s first intervention in these very halls. This was the first time Dad had mentioned anything like it.

“That’s right.” I shoved my phone in my pocket. “I hear you think I have a problem with commitment. Have to say, I was a bit surprised, considering I basically married the company straight out of college.”

The others had had their fun, as we both knew. Owen had joined the Marines in a rare rebellion that had landed him in Afghanistan for six years. Ronan had gone full Che Guevara on a two-year motorcycle trek through South America. And Shea, of course, was still “soul-searching” on the yacht.

He stared at the wall while he spoke. Like just acknowledging a potential transfer of power was too painful to do face-to-face.

This from the man who left my college graduation early to make a tee time.

“It’s all appearances, Brendan. If things even look slightly unstable, we’re screwed. We have to keep the board happy, theinvestors. The fuckin’ market could crash around us, just by rumors alone, do you understand?”

I crossed my arms. “Of course I understand. Where do you think I’ve been for the last twenty years?”

“Good, because I need you.”

I stared, dumbfounded, as he reached out a frail, spotted hand lined with bulging veins, beckoning for mine. “I—you do?”

His fingers gripped mine, though in his fragile state, it was with a fraction of his usual clutch. “I do. But you’re weak, Brendan.”

His words sliced, but I didn’t flinch. I’d learned not to.

“Sure, you know the business inside and out. But I don’t know if you have the spirit.”

“Spirit?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not when I’d been the cold-hearted consigliere of this company foryears.

At that, his hand pulled back, and he finally turned to me, his haggard face full of the ruthlessness I’d always known. Even the hospital couldn’t keep it at bay. “You have to be hard. Cutthroat. Hungry as a fuckin’ lion, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. I’m not sure if you have that in you, boy.”

I took a deep breath, fighting the urge to argue, fight, lash out like that lion would if it felt this trapped. The fucker didn’t have a heart, and he’d trained me. Why did he think I did?

“What does this have to do with my personal life? Liza said I needed to look more like a family man and less like a bachelor. But you’re asking me to be the same predator I’ve always been. I don’t see the problem.”

“A lion still has itspride. Takes what he wants, but everyone sees the home he protects. Why do you think I stayed married, even if I had to get a new wife? You think it was forlove?” Dad snorted so hard, his oxygen tube almost fell out as he made himself cough.

“Jesus, take it easy.”

I leaned over to pat his back, but he waved me away. “It’s all business. Your personal life is not personal. Your personal life is merely an extension of your business life. It reflects badly on you that you don’t have a wife, a family, kids, all of it.”

“So Liza said. But I can’t just hire a wife and kids in a matter of days.”

“Can’t you?” The expression in those cold, tired eyes was still razor-sharp. “Marriage is just a contract. Another fight you have to win.”

“You’re serious. You’re nuts, you and Liza. You’re both fuckin’ nuts.”

“You want CEO?” His hand rose in a gesture of dismissal, like I was a servant he no longer needed. “Be the prince I taught you to be, Brendan. Black-hearted to the core. Now, find one of the nurses. If I have to have tests, then let’s get the fuckers done so I can get home.”

With a sigh, I turned for the door. There was no point in arguing with him. But I didn’t need to hurry to do his bidding either.