The cab driver whistles, and I am so astonished, I grasp a bunch of dollar bills and hand them to him, muttering my thanks.
As I head through the gate, my heart thumps because now I’m here, I’m not even sure what I’m going to say.
We walk up a path flanked by flowering shrubs and home to ornamental lighting that must be amazing at night. In fact, this place gets more impressive by the second as a billionaire’s world opens up before my eyes.
I’m used to fancy living. My uncle demands it, but this is something else. This wasn’t paid for by broken bones and blasted brains. This wasn’t the product of another person’s misery or a drugs deal. This is what hard work, and a lot of luck gets you and even the air tastes clean without the ghosts of the damned circling as you live in the shadow of their misery.
I take a huge draft of fresh, honest air and wonder if it’s something I might experience in my future. Probably not, but I can dream at least and as I follow the security guard through a door in the side of an outbuilding, I wonder what the next hour will bring.
First, I am made to surrender any weapons and I almost laugh as I lay the gun on the table, followed by my hunting knife.
He looks surprised, and I grin ruefully.
“Sorry. I take my right to bear arms seriously; you need to where I come from.”
He looks a little worried, and for some reason I want to reassure him.
“Listen, I’m here for information and mean nobody any harm. It’s a little delicate, but I promise I won’t cause a scene.”
Maybe he believes me when his expression softens a little as I try to dilute the menacing edge I wear so well and appear like any normal person for once.
He asks me to fill in a form with my contact details and it’s as if I’m applying for a job and in a sick way, I suppose I am. The job of Vivian Clark’s son. I wonder if she has a vacancy.
It takes thirty minutes to bypass security, and the guard escorts me to a room on the other side of the courtyard.
It remains separate from the house and looks to be an office of sorts and he points to a seat set around a low-slung table.
“Mrs. Sullivan will meet you here. You have five minutes.”
I watch as he retreats to a seat set against the wall and I sigh inside. Part of me is happy she has security and part of me resents it. I mean her no harm. Even if I don’t like what I hear, I will be richer for it.
The clock ticks down to the most important meeting of my life and, as I wait, I set my mind accordingly. Despite my personal reason for coming here, I still have a job to do and marriage into this family will assure us of the strongest allies.
Despite everything, I can’t fail my brothers and so if things don’t go according to our strategy, I will just have to suck it up and revert to Plan B.