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She’s right.
I’ve destroyed her life.
Payton will never forgive me.
I fucked up both our lives today.
I look my father in the eye, my throat thick when I say, “If I do, I’ll be telling Payton first.”
He stands and slides his hands in his pockets. “That’s the first really truly grown-up thing I’ve heard you say.”
“Harsh.” I frown.
“You are a good man, Knox. You love your sister and your brothers. You were a wonderful son to your mother, and you are an excellent businessman. But when it comes to women, you are selfish.”
I glance away.
“Do you think a woman like your mother would have loved me if I behaved like you do?”
“No. No, I don’t.”
He lets out a long breath.
“You don’t want my job yet,” Dad says, and I lift my eyes again.
“How do you know?”
How did he know? Hell, I didn’t even know.
“I’m your father. You think you do. You don’t,” Ward says. “In five years, the contract we offer one of the other two candidates will expire. Then you and I will discuss if you are ready to take the position on then.”
“Discuss it or more fucking interviews?” I ask.
“This is your business, Knox. You, Atlas, Levis, Bella. That doesn’t change. We will, as men, sit down and decide if you are ready.”
Oh.
“At twenty-four you should be learning, experimenting, having fun. Maybe finding the woman you love.”
I think immediately about Payton.
“I have one more question before I leave. Don’t answer it. Just think about it. And consider it an observation from an old man,” he says.
I nod, indicating for him to continue.
“Did you stop sleeping with other women because of the job, or because of her?” Ward asks, a smile on his face.
My mouth parts.
I know this is more than about today.
“You knew I was sleeping with Payton?” I almost gasp. “Jesus what are you, a damn Jedi?”
He chuckles.
“No, Knox. I’m a red-blooded man.” He laughs and tugs his hands out of his pant pockets and starts to walk away.
I really don’t want to follow that path of thinking too hard. My father is a very handsome man, and we all got our looks from him, but thinking about him in action between the sheets.
