“I need you to not go around telling men you’re fully capable of handling everything that they’ll need, for starters.” I open and close my mouth, not sure how to respond to that.
“That’s kind of my job?” It comes out sounding like a question.
“We’ll see about that,” he mutters. “Thanks for coming out to meet me, Tracy.” He gives me a nod. I’m not sure if it’s to be polite or to dismiss me.
“That will be all.” My father quickly motions with his hand for me to leave.
With that, I turn and flee, and it takes everything inside of me to not glance back, but I could swear I can sense Bronco’s eyes on my back until I round the corner.
A part of me hopes that it won’t be the last time I see Bronco. A girl’s gotta dream, especially when you have my life.
Chapter Four
Bronco
“Listen Bronc, no hard feelings, okay?” Walker is already backtracking the second Tracy goes around the corner. “You saw what you needed to, and you’re not interested. No need to draw this out.”
I turn my head around and glare at the piece of shit in front of me. I’m so mad I can’t even form words. How could he just toss in his daughter on top of a business deal like she’s the keys to the building?
“Thanks for your time, and good luck to you.” Walker turns around, and that’s when I snap.
“You want to make a deal?” My words are clipped, but it’s clear there’s only one way out of this.
There’s no way in fucking hell I’m letting someone else come in here and claim that sweet little thing. Not a goddamn chance.
“Here’s the deal. I’ll give you the price you asked for, and I’ll take your daughter too. But I want you gone.”
He chuckles like I’m joking. “The deal is for you to own the place, and I get to stay on as managing partner. I need someone to fix the place up, but I plan on hanging around and enjoying myself.” He adjusts himself in his jeans, and I want to kick him right in the balls.
“Not only do I want you out of this arena, I want you out of this fucking state. And I want it to happen tonight.”
“You can’t be serious.” He narrows his eyes at me.
“Try me.” I pull out my phone and hold it up. “I’ll even give you double what you’re asking for, but if I see your face around here again, it will be that last time you breathe without the help of a machine.”
His face pales, and he swallows hard. “W-where am I supposed to go?”
“You can go straight to hell for all I care.” I open my phone and send a message to my accountants. They respond right away, and I tuck it in my back pocket. “It’s done, get the fuck out of my building.”
“I need to get my things and say goodbye to—”
“Nope,” I interrupt. “You don’t get to say a fucking word to my girl. Ever again.”
“Wait, maybe we should talk this over a little more.”
“Do you want the money or not?”
He thinks it over for a half a second and looks in the direction where Tracy left. I know he’s weighing the money with his daughter, and he doesn't surprise me when he finally shrugs like it’s not a big deal.
“Whatever,” he finally says and walks past me. “I’d say see you around, but I’m happy to be rid of this dump,” he grumbles, and I turn around to make sure he leaves out the front doors.
As soon as he’s lost into the dark of night, I look around and shake my head. What the fuck did I just do? I find security and talk to the guys about closing up and keeping the place locked down for the night. They’ve agreed to hang out and make sure Walker doesn’t come back. I’ve padded their pockets with a little extra to sweeten the deal. Walker might be a piece of shit, but he’s managed to hire decent staff.
Once that’s taken care of, I ask one of them where I can find Tracy because she and I need to talk. One of the guys points me to the parking lot, and I must look confused, but he explains she’s got a little camper set up out there. It makes me even angrier that he’s made his daughter live in a fucking parking lot where god knows what could happen to her. He clearly had zero worry when it came to her safety.
My boots pound against the pavement when I get out back and see the empty lot with the busted camper at the edge near the woods. Not only is it a piece of shit that could be taken out by a strong wind, but it’s next to an area where anyone could come up and grab her without the cameras seeing. Hell, a fucking bear could tear through her walls. There’s too many scenarios where she’s in danger, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.