I groaned with pain and irritation. The bed I was sprawled on felt grimy and skeleton-like. In the far corner of the room, a metal toilet and a small sink were lined side by side. There was no trace of a doctor, and I terribly needed pain meds.
Pain was a creature that had taken over my body and tormented it viciously, but my father showed no sign of caring. I knew what he was doing, and why I was in a cell instead of a hospital. He was sending a message. He was the man wielding the power. He could toy with my life. He could go to any extent, and I could not stop him.
“A dislocated shoulder, a sprained wrist, and bruised ribs,” Isaac enumerated. “For what? For an illegal race that puts at risk not only your safety but the safety of innocent people around you?”
“Spare me the lecture, Father. You came to gloat. Consider the deed done.”
I hated his hypocritical attitude more than ever. Racing was dangerous and illegal and monstrous, but if I had been his obedient puppy, playing undercover, then everything would have miraculously been fine.
He pushed his hands into his pockets while his empty eyes inspected me. Although his self-confidence didn’t fail to annoy me, for the time being, I had no interest in wiping the triumph off his face.
“In fact, I came to reason with my son.” The disdain lacing his words confirmed what I had always known. I was the son he had never desired. “I came to offer you a last chance, Marcus. I don’t want to see you in this position any more than you do.”
“Certainly.” My sarcasm earned a cutting glare from him, but otherwise, he refrained from any comments.
“You will cease every rebellious pursuit immediately. This last disaster you’ve caused is a new low I am not willing to tolerate.” His eyes narrowed, his lips pursed, and the line of his jaw sharpened, yet the flash of irritation died out just as quickly as it had appeared.
“Are you done? Magnificent. My answer is still no. You can take your leave now.”
“You managed to lose not only my trust but that of men far above me,” he went on, unmindful of my intervention. “Yet, you are my son, Marcus, so give me your word, and you walk out of this cell immediately. You refuse, and there’s nothing I can help you with.”
“Have you ever had any trust in me?” I snapped. “You know what I think, Father? I think you never trusted me and perhaps you never will, no matter what I do. I think you need me, and for that, you are willing to play a charade, but I am not. I have a life that has nothing to do with yours. I will not put an end to all I have been working for, all I have accomplished on my own, just to please a father who has never cared for me. I have a damn degree that has nothing to do with FBI or your absurd demands. I have a job that I love and am very proud of. So go ahead, try to take it all away. I promise I will fight like a rabid dog. If you imagine I will be the one who’s sorry in the end, you are sorely mistaken.”
Isaac ground his teeth, his eyes flashing dangerously, yet he retained his detached demeanor. He had me cornered, and I was supposed to submit to whatever outrageous demands he had. I was reckless enough to taunt him even in this situation, but my reason for doing so was not only to garner his irritation but to make my eventual capitulation seem as genuine as possible.
“If I leave, I will not return to make the same offer again. If I leave, the offer leaves with me. And I assure you, Marcus, you will not leave too. I will make sure this cell becomes your permanent residence.”
“You cannot keep me locked up forever. You might have a strong influence over men capable of putting me behind bars, I’ll grant you that, but there’s little you can accuse me of, Father. There have been no victims. You missed the right race for that.”
The bitterness of memories I carefully kept locked behind the bars of my own brain threatened to tamper with my indifference. I shot to my feet, ignoring the pain and dizziness, and started pacing back and forth, making Isaac retreat a few steps as if I were a plague he’d rather not touch. Frustration shimmered in his gaze. He knew his power was not as extensive as he wanted to make it seem.
“True. But when you eventually get out you will have a criminal record, no job, no money, and nowhere to live. I promised you that, and I keep my promises, Son. Now, be reasonable and do not test me.”
I pushed a hand through my hair, feeling the pain dripping from my skull all the way to the tips of my fingers. I hugged my left side and focused on breathing evenly. Isaac’s stony glare tried to demean me, but I glared right back with obstinacy. Surprisingly, it was he who finally sighed and broke our tacit quarrel.
“You will not become an agent overnight, and I, indeed, need you, so the least both of us deserve is a compromise.” Isaac feigned nonchalance, but he studied me with the interest of a man about to achieve his goal.
“What are you suggesting?”
“I only seek to have an agreement with you, something that will satisfy none of us entirely but that will have to do.” He rolled his neck and inhaled deeply before resuming. “You need to come to the realization that this is the life for you, and that cannot happen if you live in a whole different world. So I want you to come and live in my world. Give me your word, and you are a free man. Nobody will bother you or come asking questions about this—disaster that you’ve caused.”
He flicked a hand in my direction, more annoyed by the disturbances I’ve caused than by the damages I suffered. My bruises, my grunts, or my limping passed completely unnoticed.
“I still don’t understand,” I said and gave up on standing. My knee and hip hurt too badly.
“You will take a plea deal, and I will convince the prosecutor to drop all charges against you."
“In exchange for?”
“You will plead guilty, of course, then you will do your community service at Burton & Associates. The firm offers an internship, led by James’s daughter. I will make sure she welcomes your participation in her program.”
My whole body stiffened, pain seeping out as desire replaced it. It was a struggle to keep my emotions hidden from Isaac’s prying eyes. I feigned disinterest that bordered on disdain, a reaction I had gifted him with plenty all my life, so he was neither suspicious nor particularly offended.
“Be a part of her team, get a taste of our life, and prove that you can be as trustworthy as I hope you can be. Moreover, becoming part of her program will acquaint you with the main case she is working on. Once my supervisor and I regain our trust in you, we will provide you with further information. Until then, I sincerely hope you will reconsider your decision and choose more wisely.”
I wouldn’t, but he didn’t have to know that.
Shock had me staring blankly into space. My plan all along had been to get caught by the police then contract Charlotte’s legal services to get out of whatever hole my father made sure I landed in.
So I had never expected Isaac to cut me a deal. I hadn’t hoped for the easy way out. In the end, my father, without knowing or even intending to, had offered me a better outcome than what I had envisioned. And though I was dying to laugh in his face, I was forced to enjoy my victory without the merest sketch of a smile.
“But I’m not a lawyer, remember? How will I become an intern at a law firm?”
“You could do paralegal work, and how does not concern you.”
I had never dreamed he would voluntarily take me so close to Charlotte. But any reasons he might have had were completely irrelevant as long as I got to spend time with her.
“Don’t believe for a moment that I will suddenly become pliable to your desires or that I will allow you to interfere in any aspect of my life.”
His greedy eyes fixed me like a wild animal fixing its prey before attacking and seizing its reward. Then his stare attained a more contemplative quality. Eventually, he smiled self-assuredly, almost pityingly.
“You are in no position to make threats or demands, but let’s say I agree for the moment. I will not intervene in any aspect of your life, but make no mistake, in the end, you will become pliable to my desi
res.”
We both smiled, each defying the other. His jaw clenched again. One of the things Isaac hated the most was to be faced with another man’s arrogance or confidence. I showed off my insolence shamelessly. While he thought he was playing with my mind, I was playing with his.
“You’ll start Monday, and don’t evade your responsibilities, Marcus. Don’t try to deceive the trust I am placing in you. I assure you that you’ll live to regret it.”
Perhaps I was about to make some mistakes, but underestimating my opponent was not one of them. Isaac King was capable of anything to achieve his goal, and his first mistake was thinking that he had fathered a son who didn’t share the same stubbornness.
I intended to hit two birds with one stone. I was going to let my father think that I complied with his wishes, and in the process, I was going to get something far more valuable—time with Charlotte.
He turned to leave when I decided I wasn’t done tempting fate. “You forget something, Father. Men who consider themselves invincible are all the easier to break.”
He smirked. “That is nonsense and time will prove it.”
“It will.”
The triumph in his eyes was soon going to be dismantled, but by that time, I hoped to enjoy not only Charlotte’s affection but also complete freedom from my father’s clutches.
Chapter 12
Charlotte
A peculiar restlessness had been defying my power of control for days. I was irritable, impatient, and most importantly, incapable of gathering my thoughts. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and frustrated for reasons I failed to pinpoint, and so, the usually polite, thorough, and efficient Charlotte was replaced by an aberrant form of herself that rather resembled a mindless, hot-tempered ghost.
Drumming my fingers on the desk, I struggled to make sense of the papers scattered in front of me, but there was no room in my mind for anything except... Marcus. Infuriated and exhausted, I rubbed my temples, willing myself to concentrate on my responsibilities. The fact that I failed should not have surprised me.
I was worried about a man I had known for roughly two weeks. The last and only message I received from him didn’t alleviate the unexplainable state of apprehension I experienced each time my mind returned to him, which happened more frequently than I cared to admit.
‘I need to take care of a problem. Don’t forget about me, sugar,’ he had said in a cryptic message then completely disappeared.
I stood and wandered to the enormous windows behind my desk, considering for the umpteenth time whether I should ask Isaac about his son, but for the umpteenth time, I refrained. If Marcus had made anything clear about his father, it was that their relationship resembled a landmine that could detonate at the first misstep.
Just as I brought my fingers to my throat, rubbing furiously as if I could mollify the lump blocking my airways, a sharp sound sliced the silence. I had forgotten to turn off that damn phone and the shrilling noise it emitted only aggravated my volatile temper. I frowned at the black receiver, contemplating smashing it, but eventually gave up on my violent intentions and simply answered when it reached its fourth chime.
“What is it?” I demanded.
“Miss Burton, I am sorry to disturb you. Your two o’clock appointment is here.” Sofia, my secretary, waited for an answer, but when it didn’t come, she added helpfully: “For the internship. Should I let him in?”
“Of course.”
I sighed, pinched the bridge of my nose, and tossed the receiver back in its cradle. The Burton & Associates internship program had been my father’s first strategy of introducing me to the family business before he made me go to law school. Later, he had appointed me as manager of the program only to make sure that even my free time was dedicated to his firm.
At the time, the appointment had brought me more frustration than joy, but later on, I had learned to take pleasure in teaching others who were visibly eager to delve into the secrets of lawyerly life. Today, however, I was not in the mood to answer countless questions from a wannabe.
The knock at the door startled me. I resumed my seat, busying myself with organizing the scattered files on my desk. Absentmindedly, I noticed Sofia leading the way and placing in front of me a dark blue dossier with Isaac King’s name at the bottom.
“Mr. King requested his incorporation into the program.” Sofia bent and explained in a low whisper. “Everything is explained in the fo—”
“Welcome to Burton & Associates, Mr.—” I cut Sofia off impatiently and finally lifted my head to meet my intern. And as soon as I did so, I regretted it.
Marcus stood mere feet away from my desk, with his arms folded casually over his chest and his amused blue gaze sizing me up. As usual, he was wearing a black leather jacket, which looked new, and all black beneath.
His muscular body was beyond imposing, and his tall stature was actually frightening. In the enclosed space of my office, he looked even taller, even bigger, so much so that his mere presence dwarfed his surroundings.
The black he was so fond of highlighted his eyes, but it also gave him a dangerous touch that I supposed he enjoyed projecting. Men like him fascinated as much as they frightened. In fact, his mischievous smile and warm gaze were the only things that kept him from resembling a criminal.
Maybe because the circumstances of this meeting were utterly different from the previous ones, I saw him in a new light. At first, I came across his silky hair arranged in a concoction of dark locks that fell over his brow, then I saw what the hair was covering, and I frowned.
A purplish bruise contrasted unhealthily with his tanned skin and spread from the corner of his left eye, upward to his forehead. The need to go to him and touch his battered skin shocked me.
“King,” he said almost smugly.
“He’s Mr. King’s son,” Sofia explained in a hushed voice. Marcus’s grin grew even wider, and he almost winked.
“Thank you, Sofia. You can go now.”
Once Sofia left, I snatched the folder she had brought me and skimmed through it. The worry I had been feeling shifted into the initial tingling of anger.
“What are you doing here, Marcus?” I snapped. I could swear he looked surprised.
“I believe all the answers about my presence here are contained in that folder you’re almost tearing apart.”
I slapped the folder against the desk, struggling to get a hold of my escalating frustration. I was annoyed mostly because Marcus was able to create this cacophony of feelings inside me, whereas he remained calm and amused. I was annoyed because something wrong was happening right under my nose, and I couldn’t pinpoint it. I was annoyed because he had simply disappeared, and I—I had foolishly missed him.
“You are involved in illegal races.”
I skimmed through the pages with a frown that deepened and threatened to develop into a nagging headache. Then I stood and resumed my nervous habit of pacing. I was too edgy to be sitting, and movement helped ease my agitation.
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
“Your father requested your participation in this program in order for you to complete a stage of probation and forced labor.”
“Yes.”
His continual agreement irritated me more than if he had been arguing. He took several steps toward my desk without invitation or approval which only served to aggravate me further, but I didn’t comment on it.
“I would say I have been waiting for you, but I was not aware you’d be interested in taking an internship in a law firm of all places.”
There were many reasons why I couldn’t picture Marcus in an internship program, but the one that stood out with blinding starkness was precisely his repugnance toward his father’s profession, and I dared say, toward the man himself.
“I would say I have been waiting to get here, but I haven’t. I have been anxious to see you, though.”
All of a sudden, I glared, recalling the concern he had made me feel for the last few days. Not anxio
us enough, I thought. Then I glanced once more at the bruise his hair couldn’t hide completely. I hadn’t been wrong in worrying. I fisted my hands to prevent myself from reaching for him.
“Why are you really here, Marcus?”
I sighed and looked away. He had his own admirable profession, his own hopes and goals. Moreover, he despised complying with his father’s commands, so I couldn’t imagine Marcus simply giving in to Isaac’s demands unless he pursued his own objective. Having him this close, day after day, wasn’t going to be precisely innocuous for me.
“I think you know.” He walked closer until his fingertips touched the edge of my desk and his eyes held mine with that hypnotizing intensity that had my lips parting on a gasp.
“I don’t, actually. That is why I am asking.”
As if he had done it million times before, Marcus took a seat and placed an ankle against his knee. His demeanor was casual, confident. While he developed a fondness for watching me fixedly, I developed chronic impatience.
“Isaac found a way to force my hand. It was jail or working here. Knowing you were here facilitated my decision. What’s better than mixing business with pleasure?”
I stiffened. My chin lifted of its own accord, and my left brow arched challengingly.
“I do not mix business with pleasure. If you counted on that, then you made the wrong decision.”
Suddenly, his blue eyes sparkled with danger and mischief. “That doesn’t mean I have to follow the same rules.”
He bit his bottom lip and wrapped his fingers around the armrests, wordlessly but purposefully pushing me to take notice of his plump red lips, of the way his chest rose and fell, of how the shirt beneath his jacket hugged his body intimately.
Marcus’s presence not only made me aware of how unguarded I was next to a powerful man such as him, but it also brought to life all my feminine instincts until a fine tingling coursed through my whole body.
“What happened?” I demanded and made a touchy gesture toward his head.
Darkside Love Affair Page 12
