by Elaine May
HARRY
BY
ELAINE MAY
DEDICATION
To Gayle - this is the last one and you’ve been with me from the start.
Thank you for your ongoing support and friendship.
I couldn’t have got to this point without you.
XXX
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are strictly the product of the author or used fictitiously. Any similarities between actual persons, living or dead, events, setting or locations are entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Epilogue
About The Author
Acknowledgements
PROLOGUE
JOSHUA BRYANT
I put my cell in my pocket, a groan of frustration filling the space of my office.
That son of mine is causing too much trouble, but then what should I expect, he’s always been the same way.
Thinking with the head between his legs. I can’t say I blame him, the women he chooses are pretty and if I was young and unmarried I probably would have been hooked to them too,but really he is nearly thirty years old.It’s time for him to grow up and start acting his age and not his stupid shoe size.I was already married by his age, so are his brothers.
Another scandal to add to his name.
Another woman scorned because my son can’t learn to keep it in his pants. I can feel my head shake as I think of the way the newspapers have described what happened. My son is no saint, I know that, but he doesn’t hurt girls. I bet the girl in question got quite a bit for her so-called story, an instant payday for her with my family name. Harry isn’t just bringing judgment on himself but on my family, on our business and I can’t allow that - this family, our business, has had enough scandal to fill two lifespans.
Why couldn’t he be more like his brothers?
Happy, settled.
I’m drawn away from my thoughts of worry as my assistant comes through the door - without knocking, yet again. I’ve told her about this on so many occasions. I guess I had been spoilt with Mary, but is it too much to ask for the girl to knock?
“I’m sorry to interrupt you Mr Bryant, but have you checked the news?” She says on a blush and I’m instantly on tenterhooks. Oh God, what else has he done? I swear at this rate I’ll kill him myself.My fingers start running through my hair, Isla laughs now whenever I do it, she says I look cute. I’m nearly sixty and I’m too old to be cute but whatever makes my Isla happy.
“No, why?”
“I think you may want to take a look. I think you may find it interesting.” I give her a smile and go onto google where flashes of a death go through the screen and I’m instantly panicking until I click on the link and a rush of air escapes my lungs. It’s not one of mine. Thank God. Ever since my daughter was taken four years ago I have become more nervous,but the bastards who did it are both rotting away in prison. My business is safe, my family is safe. I wait for a couple of minutes before the screen starts loading about my main competitor.
JONAS IS DEAD
Blinks away at me like a flashing beacon of hope, that old man has tried to destroy us ever since I gained power around thirty two years ago. My hope soon disappears as I read more into his death and what he leaves behind, his business, estate and granddaughter. The Ice Princess they call her. She seems to be just as bad as Harry, in the newspapers just as much because of the way she conducts herself, but I can tell there must be a reason. I remember all the times I had to deal with her grandfather and she would be there as good as gold. Harry has always been a bit of a shit, but I can say that because he’s my son. I know he finds it difficult with two brothers, he always wants to be top dog but they all are to me. I love them all. The screen has loaded onto another page and I’m surprised by what I see.
HOW WILL JONAS PRINCESS COPE?
WILL THE ICE PRINCESS BE GIVEN HER GRANDFATHER’S BUSINESS AND ESTATE?
SPOILT LITTLE RICH GIRL HAS IT ALL NOW.
I read down the page and I can’t help but feel grateful, that nasty piece of shit is dead, David Jonas but I wonder what will happen with his granddaughter in control.
Will she try to buy my company even though her grandfather failed?
Will she try and compete with everything we do just like he did?
I guess only time will tell.
CHAPTER ONE
AYRIA
Should I be happy?
Should I be crying?
I feel like I should be.
I know what the world expects from me.
I should be so upset that my tears won’t stop flowing.
The old man is dead.
My grandfather.
To be honest I should be jumping with jubilation at the freedom his death represents but I can’t.There is no freedom, just a different cell to contain me in, the weight of the world has been put on my shoulders by the one man I should have loved, trusted above all else, but that’s not the case. It’s never been the case, not for me, I don’t know if he even loved me. Now I find myself thrust in the middle of his madness and I don’t know what to do. I look down at the different papers that litter my grandfather’s desk like confetti, my hands shaking, my whole mind has the shivers as I digest the words their front covers are blasted with.
How will the princess cope with the business?
The Ice Princess could be given her grandfather’s business and estate.
Spoilt little rich girl will have it all now.
No one knows what it’s like to live my life.
No one knew what it was like to live with him, what he put me through on a daily basis, what he expected.
How dare they judge me on what they think they know of me.
They know nothing about me.
It’s all a lie, a play on my grandfather’s made-up stage and I’m the main actor. I slam the paper down on my grandfather’s desk and look around at his office and at the beady little man in front of me. Mark Grant. He has been on my grandfather’s side since the day I can remember. Looming over me with those eyes of his, egging my grandfather on to make my life as hellish as possible and now he’s looking at me with a smug smile like he already
knows it all. Knowing my grandfather he probably already does, I was always the last to know what was going on, but the one their said plans affected the most.
What am I supposed to do with the business? I don’t have the first clue how to run a business but that was how my grandfather wanted it.
He wanted me on the gilded stage he made for me.
He wanted me as his loyal pet waiting to do his bidding and unfortunately there came a point where I succumbed and everything became easier. After a while I started to like it there anyway, after too many years I was able to perfect my life and make the men in my world suffer for it.
My play-things.
I party way too hard.Apparently.
I’m always dating but I can’t make any of my so-called victims stay with me. As if I would.
My victims, that’s what everyone is saying now.
That’s how they describe my love life.
I stay up partying far too late and do nothing with my life. That’s my life in a nutshell.
I’m not smart, I have nothing in my brain apparently but no matter what they say about me I just try to shake it off and rememberI’m better off without any of them. It doesn’t matter what they think of me.
But they don’t know the truth, they don’t know the real me. No one does except me and that’s just the way I like it.
All I have apparently is a pretty face, pretty looks and a killer body.
I’m the Ice Princess. That’s what everybody thinks, that’s how the newspapers portray me and I’ve come to the point in my life where I really don’t care anymore. I know the truth and that’s all that matters, no one else does, it’s just me.They’re all the same anyway and I really don’t want people like that in my life, but I’m stuck. It appears I’m still stuck on this gilded stage even with my grandfather dead and buried six feet under.
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask my grandfather’s henchman. I can tell by the way he’s looking at me that he’s waiting for a massive meltdown on my part but I’m better than that. I take in a few calming breaths just trying to calm my racing heart before it explodes with the unknown.
“You let us run the business for you, like the good girl your grandfather made you.”
What the fuck?
“Somehow I don’t think you really mean me.” I fold my arms in front of me and cross my left leg over the right as I stare him down. I can feel my blood begin to bubble to the surface, just hating where this is all going. He’s always trying to control me, just like my grandfather.
“Of course not, you have no idea how to run this business.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said, young lady.”
I hate it when he calls me that and my disgust just grows stronger, I just want to get out of here as fast as I can. I unfold my legs and my arms and lean forward across the desk so I’m closer to the slimy bastard.
“And that’s just how my grandfather wanted me until I found the right husband. I had no choice, I never wanted to find the husband he wanted but now he’s dead and the business is mine.”
“Yes it is yours, but that doesn’t mean your grandfather meant for you to run it. That was always me.”
“You?” I take a breath and rise from my chair and storm towards the window.
“And what about me? I’m his granddaughter, I did everything he ever wanted me to.”
“Except find the husband he wanted you to so you had the help you needed to run it, so although you own this business you don’t really run all of it.”
“Get out.” I demand, I’ve had enough of this conversation and I’ve had enough of him.
Sick bastard, it wasn’t enough to control my life while he was alive he has to try and do it now he’s dead. Well he can try with all his might but I’ll do something that none of them will see coming. I’ll make my grandfather roll in his grave.I hear his feet walk away from my grandfather’s desk and then the soft click of the door closing behind him. I look down at the city below. I’ve lived here all my life but I’ve never felt like I was home. Never felt like I was apart of something bigger than myself, just a pawn for someone else. I’ve tried to make the world better for myself but at every turn he was always there to stop it.
I am everything the newspapers portray.
An Ice Princess.
I party way too hard.
I stay up far too late and do nothing with my life.
I go out with different men but I can never make them want to stay withme, like I would really want to, they all turn out the same anyway.
I’m not smart. I’m just a stupid girl.
Well I’ll show him and them what stupid girls can do. I’ve always cruised along the journey of life and I always will. There’s something inside of me that has always told me to keep going, that everything will be all right in the end. I don’t know why I’ve always trusted it but I have and it’s talking to me now. I walk back to the desk and reach for my cell phone. I look through the internet and get the number I want before pressing it. It rings a few times before someone answers.
“Bryant Industries, how may I help you?”
“I would like to make an appointment with Mr Joshua Bryant please.”
“You would have to speak to his assistant. Shall I put you through ma’am?”
“Yes please.”And with that the phone is ringing again until another woman answers it.
It’s always a woman, can’t these men run a business with male assistance?
CHAPTER TWO
HARRY
Harry Bryant.
I’m Harry Bryant.
I’m what everyone woman wants.
I’m single and I always will be but the women of this great city don’t have to know that.
I’m rich, really rich to be exact, and so is my family but that doesn’t matter.
I’m fucking handsome to boot. I’m the full package and if the looks I get from the opposite sex are anything to go on they all think the same thing.
Sex on legs ladies, right here. I have women falling at my feet begging to be my next girl. It’s alright, ladies, there’s plenty of Harry Bryant to go around. My brothers might both be tied down to one girl but not me.
Stupid idiots, why tie yourself to only one when there are so many options available? My cock needs serving on a daily basis and I always have a woman willing. A different one for each night of the week. Perfect. I know my parents want me to settle down with anice girl, just like my brothers and sister but I have no plans to do that ever. There’s no way I am ready now and I don’t think there ever will be.
It’s all perfect and I love my fucking life. I love having a different woman in my bed, no demands, no complications, it’s all perfect and I have no complaints. Except when one stupid slut thinks she’s going to see how much money she can make by coming up with a stack of lies about me. I went to court yesterday and they believed me. My parents, my family and our lawyers believed me too but to say they weren’t happy was an understatement. Oh well, it’s all behind me now and I can just concentrate on what I do best, fucking my next willing woman and running this business with my brother. Bryant Industries is too big a company now for just one man,like my father has learnt in the last ten years but me and my twin work well together.
We’re just waiting for Dad to retire properly and let us take full reign, but he’s determined to stay here forever. I can’t even say he’s part time but he’s always finding out about everything that’s going on here and tells us both what he thinks. I don’t think I see that changing any time soon, he’s got too much emotion stuck in this place and to be fair it will feel strange when he does leave it all to us, but I don’t think it will happen. It’s been in our family for generations, there was the time when my great uncle messed everything up but my brother and I don’t want to see anything like that happen again just as much as our parents don’t.
I look up when there’s a knock on my door and only one person can just come in without my assistant
telling me. I watch as my father and twin walk into my office and take a seat opposite my desk.
“I needed to talk to both of you about something.” Dad says as he settles himself in his chosen chair.
“Shouldn’t you be retired by now Dad? Can’t you leave it all to us and take Mom on holiday?” I say as I look at Jackson, my twin and most of the time my best friend and the rest my enemy, but I love him.
“I do take your mom on holiday and she knows how important this place is to me.”
“But Dad, you’re one year short of your sixtieth. Don’t you want to start taking it a bit easier?”
“Thank you Jackson.” Dad looks at Jackson and then at me with a disapproving look in his eye, the old man doesn’t like to be reminded of how old he’s getting. It makes me laugh.“But your mom and I are quite happy and that’s not what I came here to talk to you both about so can we please get to the conversation at hand and not how old I am.”
“Yes Dad.” We both say at the same time and I just want to laugh again. We sound like the kids we both were.
“What would you like to talk about Dad?” I ask and I can’t hide the annoyance in my tone, I’d much rather be getting on with my work or my next conquest than talking to my family.
Bored out of my mind I try to hide a yawn with my hand.
“I assume you both know now that David Jonas is dead and has left his business to his granddaughter.”
“It’s been all over the news. Of course we have. You’d have to be dead too not to know.” I say looking at my brother with a smile, just daring him to agree with me but he never does, no one does. They all agree with Dad, he’s never wrong and it fucks me off. Dad just looks at me while he raises his eyebrows, reducing me to a child again. He’s always doing that, when will he remember that I and my brothers are men now and Jackson and I can run this business without him. It’s time for him to leave us in charge and live happily ever after with Mom. That’s a joke there is no such thing but Mom and Dad push it in my face all the time, my whole fucking family push it in my face. All three of my siblings have been sucked into this so-called perfect life, spouse, children and family home what could be better.What about freedom? Why would anyone want to be tied down to just one creature, be surrounded by screaming kids who only want more and more from you? I love my nieces and nephews, I have to admit they’re very cute and they all love their Uncle Harry being silly with them, but God it’s good to hand them back. Yes they are all cute but my God they’re all walking little nightmares and I’d be better off without any of my own. Better off without just one woman tying me down thinking she knows what’s best for me.
