AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just want you Mav.” I whispered. Trying to speak to the calm levelheaded part of him.
He walked back to the bed and took my hands in his, kissing each of them and placing them on his chest over his wildly beating heart. “You have me Cora. I am yours. But I will get justice for what they did to you.”
“How?” I whispered.
“By taking what they wanted so badly that they were willing to trade their child for it.” He said and smiled down at me. “Their money and their power.”
I shivered as I watched him make plans in his head, slipping into the role of the ruthless businessman he’d become over the years. I didn’t regret telling him. If I wanted a real chance at us working out now after all this time, he needed to know the truth. But it didn’t mean I wasn’t scared to see what he did to the people who destroyed the one thing he loved most in this world at one point.
Me.
Chapter 7 – Maverick
I walked off the elevator on Wednesday morning and groaned out loud when I saw that Veronica, Reid, and Dexter were all waiting for me outside of my office.
“Go away.” I ordered. But they all ignored me. Well, except Veronica, she sat back down at her desk and pretended to be busy, but Dexter and Reid followed me into my office and shut the door behind them.
“How is she?” Reid asked, and for the first time in the history of our friendship, he was not smiling or joking in some way.
I sighed and threw my briefcase down on my desk and sat in my chair. “Fucking beat to hell.” I snapped. “But she’ll heal physically. Fucker slammed her head off the wall so hard she has a concussion. Then he dragged her off into the darkness and punched her in the face and the sides before taking off with her bags. No one on the fucking platform did a thing either. They all just got on the train and let a man assault a woman in plain view and did nothing.”
Anger vibrated off of me, but it wasn’t just because of the mugging.
“She’s tough, I’m sure she fought back the whole time.” Dexter said, shaking his head.
“She never should have been on that fucking platform to begin with though. And that’s my fault.”
“How is it your fault?” Dexter asked, sitting down in a chair across from me as Reid took the other one.
“She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, and she’s also the only woman that’s ever hurt me. And I don’t always think straight where she’s concerned. We were at McCulley’s, and she pissed me off and we argued, and I walked away from her, knowing she had been drinking. She wasn’t paying attention on that platform because she was upset and drunk and I never should have let her leave like that.”
“Mav.” Reid said, shaking his head. “I was there too, I could have stopped her myself, but she was set on leaving. That’s not your fault.”
“It doesn’t matter.” I said, shaking it off. “It won’t happen again. She’s at my place now and I intend to keep her there. I have a lot to fix with her but I’m going to do it.” I leveled Reid with a glare that made him wither a bit. “I’m only going to tell you this one-time Reid. Cora is mine. I don’t ever want to catch you hitting on her again or I won’t think twice about destroying you for it.”
He held his hands up and shook his head. “I hear you loud and clear Jones. I won’t be anything but friendly to Cora from now on. I see how intense you get about her; I don’t want that intensity aimed my way.”
“Good.” I said and leaned forward on my desk. “Because there’s something I need both of your help with.”
They looked at each other and raised their eyebrows and then leaned forward, interested in what I needed from them. I tried to summarize it the best I could. “This stays between us for now but, Cora and I dated for a decade in grade school and when she broke up with me before we left for college, her family gave her an ultimatum, either get back with me or be cut off.” I took a deep breath to fight the anger that swelled in my heart as I thought about everything Cora survived because of that decision. “They kicked her out with absolutely nothing at eighteen years old because they thought it would force her back into my arms. But she only resented me for it and refused and instead has been fighting to survive the last ten years on scraps when she should have had all of this.” I said, raising my hands to my empire I sat over every day. “Her family valued their relationship with mine and what they gained from it, more than their own daughter’s safety or happiness. And they’ve smiled in my face, making business deals, and socializing with my family ever since while she could hardly afford to eat.”
“I think I can see where this is going.” Reid said with a sly smile on his face.
“I’m going to reduce them to rubble for what they did to her. And in the end, she’ll have the world and they’ll be the ones struggling to survive.”
“What’s your first step?” Dexter asked.
“First, I need to meet with my father and tell him everything. I can’t do this without his support because this empire was his dream first and I’ll be severing a friendship with a family that he’s had for decades. Then I’m going to approach Jake Valentine, Cora’s brother. He’s been trying to get my ear about a project in Manhattan he’s been wanting to spearhead with me and I’m going to ask him about her. If he knew anything I’ll be able to tell. And if he knew all along that she was cut off and didn’t tell me, then I’ll destroy more than just her parents.”
“Sounds pretty cut and dry to me. Is she on board with it though?” Dexter asked, eyeing me closely.
“She’d rather just continue living like they don’t exist in this world anymore. But if she’s going to be by my side, then we’re going to run into them from time to time. And I refuse to let her feel inferior even once to them from this moment on. So I need to be ahead of it first.”
“Okay. Keep me updated and let me know what you need from me.” Dexter said and stood, “And by the way the Shen Hu firm is dissolved, so is every other business he had a hand in. He’s nothing.”
“Perfect.” I said, standing and shaking his hand. “Thank you for taking care of that while I was AWOL yesterday.”
He chuckled and so did Reid. “You know Jones, it was nice being able to actually do our jobs without you micromanaging us all day long. Believe it or not, you’re allowed to stay at home with your sexy girlfriend from time to time without your empire collapsing.” He said. “It’s why you pay us the big bucks.”
