Page 44 of Bourbon Sins
Kace was about to answer when we were interrupted by the clearing of a man’s throat. I looked up and made eye contact with the same color eyes as mine.
I stood up and held out my hand, “Dad. Please have a seat.”
“I didn’t expect to be invited to lunch by you Jett. I was rather shocked when I saw the appointment on my calendar.”
He looked over at Kace and nodded his head. “I see you’re still choosing to hang out with the bottom dwellers.”
My dad was never a fan of the Haywoods; he always thought they were below us, since they were a blue-collar family, making it through life paycheck to paycheck. I knew better than to judge people by the amount of money in their wallets. I judged them by the convictions they held in their hearts.
“Nice to see you too, Leo,” Kace responded, taking a longer sip of his beer than usual.
The waitress brought over a scotch for my dad, and I watched as he routinely stirred the drink three times before putting it up to his lips and taking a sip. Anger rolled through my body as my dad admired his beloved scotch. The man would choose his scotch over his own flesh and blood any day.
“So, tell me what the hell I’m doing here,” Leo said, leaning back in his chair with his leg crossed over his knee, eying me with that “no bullshit” look.
“I wanted to talk to you in person about the Lot 17 property we both seem to be going after.”
A small glimpse of surprise spread across Leo’s face, but he quickly tamped it down.
“I was unaware you knew of my interest.”
“Well, I do, and I know you’re trying to grab the property, so I suggest you let it go, or I have no problem turning in you and your friends from city planning to the officials.”
A sardonic laugh escaped Leo’s mouth. “You have no clue who I know. Go ahead, try to turn me in.”
I leaned forward and said, “You have no fucking clue who I know, and you can bet your sorry ass they’re a lot more powerful than your people.”
Leo set his glass down and said, “You think you own this city, don’t you? I taught you everything you know.”
“Yeah, and instead of trying to put all my knowledge to financial gain, I try to put it to good use, to help people.”
“You really think you’re helping people?” He laughed again, “People are only using you. Don’t you get that? They are all using you. You have money and money is what they want; they don’t care about you, no one ever has. Not even your whore of a mother, who used you too.”
I slammed my fist on the table, silencing all conversations around us. I leaned forward, ignoring the onlookers, and said, “Don’t you dare talk about my mother.”
Leo just laughed again and looked at Kace. “What is a little fuck like you doing here?”
The look on Kace’s face spoke murder. He knew of the shitty family past I had, so it was understandable that he was on the verge of taking my dad out with one swift uppercut.
“Trying not to beat you to a bloody pulp,” Kace said, placing his fists on the table.
Visibly, my dad recoiled, knowing the true potential Kace had to hurt a man, and knowing I had the ability to cover it up.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to back off. That property is supposed to be earmarked for the Boys and Girls Clubs. Be a decent human for once in your life and back off.”
Leo shook his head and stood up while buttoning his suit jacket.
“Not going to happen. That’s prime property and I have plans for it. Sorry, son.” The way he said “son” made my skin crawl. “Go play games with someone else, because I’m way out of your league. Don’t fuck with what I want because, if you do, I’ll make sure to ruin everything and everyone in your life. Even your precious new girl, Goldie.”
He smiled, turned on his heels, and walked out the door. I sat there in shock as I tried to wrap my head around what he’d said. How did he know about Goldie? I did everything in my power to protect my girls and keep them completely anonymous.
“Fuck,” I said into my hands, as I placed my elbows on the table.
“How does . . .?”
“I don’t even know,” I said, before Kace could finish his question. “But we need to make sure my dad never goes near Goldie, because he is ruthless. You know what he did to my mom. Make sure you know where she is at all times when she leaves the house, even if you need to have Reggie follow her.”
