Chapter One
Leo
“What the hell is this?” I snarl at my lawyer as I wave around the papers that he’s just placed on my desk. I’ve just read through them and it seems like some kind of sick joke.
My lawyer, Robert, sinks into his chair a little further, looking up at me nervously. He must have known I’d react like this, but I bet he didn’t expect to be on the receiving end of my wrath.
“It’s all detailed in the paperwork, Mr. Harris. Your father had some very specific rules set up following his death...including what’s in those papers.”
I slam the paperwork down on the desk. I can’t believe this.
I was always a good son to my father. I helped him build his businesses from the ground up. I’m the reason he was damn rich in the first place, earning him his fortune. It should be mine by default given that I made his fortune what it is today. And now I’m discovering that there are conditions to me receiving my inheritance?
“There must be some way around the clause,” I growl. “I was his only family. Where the hell is the money going if I don’t comply with the rules?”
“Your father insisted that the money be sent to various charities if you don’t abide by the clause and the company be sold as well. I’m sorry, Mr. Harris. This must be hard to hear. But there’s nothing I can do to change it. This is up to you now.”
“Get out,” I snarl. “I need time to think about this.”
“Absolutely, sir. When you’ve made your decision, give me a call. But make sure to be quick about it. This offer is a limited time deal. You have thirty days starting today.”
As Robert gets up to leave, I glare after him. I know that none of this is his fault, and yet it feels like he’s betrayed me as much as my dad has. The second the door to my office closes, I reexamine the paperwork in front of me.
The Last Will and Testament of Theodore Harris.
I am of legal age and in sound mind as I write this will. I do declare that my entire estate be left to my only son, Leo Harris, on the condition that he marries within thirty days of opening this document. If he should refuse or fail to complete my conditions, then my entire fortune will be distributed evenly between my chosen four charities and my company sold…
I shake my head. This can’t be real. How could he do this to me? Sure, he spent years trying to set me up, hoping to see me settled down, but he didn’t understand. When he was alive, he was convinced that I was some kind of player, filling my spare time with one-night stands and casual flings, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the truth is the complete opposite.
I never married because I’ve never met a woman that I want or can’t live without. I’ve always appealed to women, with my good looks, money, and work ethic. I’ve had women approach me themselves, hoping to snag a date with me.
But I’ve never taken an interest. I know that no woman can fulfill the requirements I want. I need someone beautiful, intelligent, willing to submit to me and become mine forever. But it’s not just those things. Plenty of women would fit the bill if that were the case. No, there’s more to it. They have to catch my eye and make me never want to look away. They have to make me throb every time I think of them. They have to ignite a fire in me, something no woman has ever managed before.
At least, that was the case for forty-one years…
Then everything changed five months ago.
A growl forms in my throat as I think of Amelia. Gorgeous, young, innocent Amelia. I grip the table hard, trying to hold myself back from sprinting to her right this second.
She’s the hot young thing I hired as my maid five months ago. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since she showed up on my doorstep. She makes my entire body tighten, makes every possessive bone in my body yearn for her. She makes me want to run to her and rip her clothes off her body, give in to my primal urges and fuck her hard and fast where she stands.
I growl deeply. She must have no idea how I feel about her.
I don’t know how I’ve survived this past year, wanting her more and more with each passing day, but knowing that she’ll never be mine. She’s everything I want, but she’s over half my age at eighteen now. Only eighteen at the time she started working for me she’s young enough to be my daughter. But that doesn’t stop the yearning. It doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about her every chance I get. How can I live like this when she’s so damn irresistible?