Dorian considered me. “Perhaps, but I won’t have you speaking to her that way.”
“And what will you do?” I slammed my hand on my desk, seething. Jesus Christ, he was a smug bastard. How dare he talk to me this way? The gall of him after everything I’d lost and would give him to pay off my debt.
Dorian didn’t flinch. “I’ll do what’s necessary old friend. As always.”
I understood his meaning. For months I’d felt like everything was coming to a head the closer it got to Brynne’s college graduation. Tension and hate surged in my veins, and there wasn’t a goddamn thing I could do. It infuriated me.
People thought I was a cold-blooded monster, but it was Dorian they should fear. Hence the tone I’d taken with Brynne. I didn’t want her to come home after graduation. I half hoped she’d get a wild hair up her ass and move to another country. Maybe change her name, disappear, and we’d never find her. That would never happen, though, with Dorian’s younger brother, Cody, watching her. My hands were fucking tied in protecting my daughter.
“How much time will I have with her before the ceremony?” I changed the direction of our conversation to one I knew would calm him. Was I a pussy? Fuck yeah. I knew better than to test Dorian. He’d proven once before he would destroy what was mine without blinking an eye.
A cocky smile stretched across his face. “A week. I don’t want to upset Brynne by removing her from your home too quickly.”
Right, as if finding out she was to marry a man she had called uncle wouldn’t upset her. Dorian Adrienne would do more than upset my daughter. He’d disgust her the night of their nuptials when he planned to consummate their marriage.
“That’s thoughtful.” I practically threw up in my mouth.
“Yes.” He arched his salt and pepper eyebrow. “Do you think having a double ceremony with Cody and his bride will bother her? Not that I’ll change anything. I’m just curious. I like to be prepared.”
“It might be less special to her. She’s used to being the center of attention.” Why did I give him the truth? I honestly didn’t know how Brynne would react. Not favorable, I was sure.
This arrangement had been in motion since Brynne was twelve. It had not been easy to keep tabs on her as a teenager. Dorian had made it clear that she needed to be a virgin. He hadn’t cared what she did with boys or in front of her bedroom mirror so long as she remained pure.
“Well, I have a diamond the size of a grape for her. That should be enough.”
“Should be.” I swallowed the rest of my bourbon in one gulp.
“I enjoy her performances at the club. My man sends me the video footage”—his hand motions a chef’s kiss—“Her talents are perfection. I can’t wait to break her.” The sick motherfucker salivated over my daughter as if I weren’t in the room.
Of course, he didn’t give two fucks about me.
“It doesn’t bother you that your man watches Brynne at the club?” I wanted to piss him off. Make him jealous, so maybe he’d kill his man.
“He knows better than to lust after her. He leaves the building before she finishes masturbating. It’s a shame, really. I can’t wait to have her perform for me.”
“Enough,” I growled. Acid shot into my throat. He was a vile son of a bitch the way he lusted over my daughter. He was over thirty years older than her. He should be with someone his own age, but he wanted someone unspoiled.
“Watch yourself, Bruno. I hold all the cards.” He played with his beard. “What would Tina say about your behavior?”
My gaze shot to his. Why would he bring her up?
“No comment, old friend?” He was taunting me, but why? “I can see you’re trying to decipher my words. I once told you that if I couldn’t have her, neither could you.”
“I know. That’s why you killed her.” I took his bait and threw my empty glass at the wall.
“Tina deserved to be put out of her misery. No woman could survive your cruelty. You were the one who choked the life out of her. I only disposed of the body.”
“Yes, so why are we talking about her now?” After Dorian told me he put her in the SUV and pushed it off the cliff, I regretted wanting Tina dead. I loved her but was crazy jealous she preferred to be with Dorian than me. He had made her laugh. She had beamed brightly when he was around. I half suspected she was in love with him. The night I killed her, he had confirmed my suspicions. Her betrayal had cut me deeply, so when Brynne had requested her mother tuck her into bed, I’d lost it.
“Because Tina haunts you, old friend.”
“She can’t do anything to me. She’s dead.”
“Is she?” A shit-eating grin stretched across his face as he stole the air from my lungs.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”