I was pretty sure he wanted them because that was what the elite families did.
I stopped in front of the painting. As I’d grown older, I’d taken comfort in it. I hated to admit it, but my father was right. It was a way for her to have a presence even though she was gone.
Miss you, Mom.
Being here was too much stimulation. Happy. Sad. Pain. Loss. Love. All of that hit me to the point I could barely think straight.
I’d blamed my father for my absence from this place. Maybe the truth was I hadn’t wanted to be here because it was too hard to take.
I strode down the hall, dread building with every step. Would I have to come here often? Did Lincoln and Beau?
It occurred to me that we never talked about the house we grew up in.
The door to my father’s study was open.
Same chairs.
Same desk.
Same fire in the fireplace.
Same man on his throne.
Only the lines of his face were harder, and his hair had more grey.
And I became angry. Angry at the command Samuel Hollingsworth still held over me. Angry that he’d been following me. Bodies in cars. Kidnapping the woman who was my world.
And for what? Control? Subservience?
But I was a desperate man.
And that put me in the beggar’s position.
Chapter Fourteen
Teague
“Sit.”
My father didn’t look up when he spoke. I’d barely made it to the doorway. He always seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to my presence.
I was tempted to remain standing simply to defy him. Instead, I sat in one of the leather chairs across from him.
When my mother was alive, he was better about stopping whatever he was working on when we came into his space. After, he slowly became worse about making us wait.
Now, I wondered if he’d work for an hour before acknowledging me further.
It was a power play.
He hoped I’d get impatient, that I’d be the one to break the stalemate.
Too bad.
I’d sit here until I didn’t want to any longer, then I’d leave. The truth was I never wanted to be here in the first place. He knew it as well as I did. Now that I’d gone all in with what I had to do, I’d do my best to win.
Although, I wasn’t sure there would be any winners. If my father left Pepper, Miss Adeline, and the dogs alone for good, that would be the ultimate prize.
He closed the ledger in front of him and removed his glasses, which he set on top of the leather book. He scrutinized me to the point I grew uncomfortable.
There were no words between us. Just the thick silence full of years of anger, hostility, and pain. The emotions seemed desperate to spill over. But we’d never been two to talk things out.
What was there to say?
He was finally getting what he’d wanted all along. I’d expected him to gloat.
He didn’t.
“I raised you better than to let an old woman do your bidding.”
I lifted a brow, unable to stop my reaction. Old woman? I didn’t know any—Miss Adeline. What could she possibly have come to see my father about? Why would she see him?
I wanted to ask all those questions and more. Instead, I crossed my legs, resting my ankle on my thigh and didn’t say a word. I hoped I portrayed the image of casual indifference despite being anything but.
“I admire a woman like that. It was a fool’s mission.” He shrugged. “But I was tempted to show some mercy on her.”
I straightened. “What did you do?”
“Do you think you can outsmart me? Have you not learned I play the long game?” He ignored my question, pretty much like he always had except when he needed something.
“And you’re going to do what I want so she really was in no position to negotiate. Neither are you.” His gaze was steel. I was just another adversary to him.
Not his blood.
Not his son.
“I’ve agreed to nothing,” I said tightly.
“You’re here. You wouldn’t be unless you were ready to surrender.” He tapped the top of the ledger. “I knew you’d come to me. I felt this culmination would be best done at home.”
I narrowed my eyes. He’d left the office to lure me to this haunted house. What is he up to?
“Besides, you’re aware of the consequences if you don’t do as I wish.” He waved his hand in the air. “All of this could’ve been avoided if you’d simply done as I asked years ago. You’ve displeased me.”
I’ve displeased him?
I couldn’t begin to describe how I felt in regard to what he’d done to me, and Beau and Lincoln. Abandoned. Maybe not physically, but in every other way that counted he had.
“And to think all it took was a chat with a plain dog lover.” He chuckled. I saw red. But my silence should protect her. “You’ll start now. In the mailroom.”
Was this supposed to scare me? I wasn’t afraid of hard work for little pay. And if I was in the mailroom, I’d be far away from him, so that was fine by me.
I leaned back in the chair and rested my hands around my knee. “Before I agree to anything, I have some terms of my own.”
He smirked. “This doesn’t work that way.”
I pushed out of my seat. “Suit yourself. You’ve just wasted both of our time.”
“You’ll do anything for that girl. You have no job, which I expressed to you on multiple occasions was a total waste.”
“And you know I don’t need the job.”
He flinched at what he knew to be the truth. The one part of our lives he had no control over.
“But you want it.”
I couldn’t deny it. I wanted to be a fireman again. Just because I was fired didn’t mean I wasn’t still one. That didn’t go away.
“Why do you want me to be part of your company?” I still had no answer to the burning question. I couldn’t understand the point of all this pomp and circumstance.
“Sit.”
The command incensed me. “I’m not your dog.”
“You’re about to be.”
I paced to the fireplace and nearly stumbled. On the mantel were family photos of us when Mom was still alive. And we looked happy. There was even a picture of my parents on their wedding day and one in the kitchen, my mother with her arms wrapped around my father from behind.
How could he have this photo there reminding him that he’d once been humane? Capable of love.
“She’d hate who you’ve become.” I didn’t realize my thought had been given a voice until I heard the words in the air between us.
“I’ve tried to get you to do what’s right. There’s nothing wrong with wanting all my children to work at our family business.” When he phrased it that way, the notion sounded innocent enough. Never mind that he’d only been around when he wished to dictate his edicts. At least with me. I didn’t really know how his relationship worked with Beau and Lincoln. Only that they seemed to tolerate him far better than I did.
“Don’t put your victim spin on this.” I planted my palms on the desk and leaned forward. “We’re in this position because of you alone. You hate that I chose to do something other than what you wanted. I’ve been paying for it ever since.”