Page 35 of My Rose

The moment Ernie and Mick left the room—escorted closely by Dean and two bodyguards—my father turned to me. “What the fuck was that, Briggs?”

I stood and squared my shoulders. “I just saved us tens of millions of dollars, Father. I thought—”

“That’s the problem. I don’t bring you to these things tothink. You had one job, one fucking job. We already looked into the terms—”

“Not well enough,” I muttered under my breath, and my father’s nostrils flared. He took three strides closer to me, and I didn’t evenflinch as his hand smacked across my jaw, turning my head to the side with the force.

“Talk back to me again. See where that gets you.” He fixed his suit jacket that had fallen slightly out of place. I rubbed at my jaw, my fingertips dragging across my lip. Blood. And we hadn’t even left the club yet. “If that new deal isn’t on our desk tomorrow, and they pull the plug on it, it will be on your hands.”

I laughed. “I figured as much.” He’d turned before I spoke, but immediately after, he spun back around, only this time he held a gun. A gun that slammed right into my ribs. He had always been careful like that—if he wanted to do some damage, he aimed for below the face, just in case I was needed for other business matters.

I wanted to react, wanted to pull my own gun from my waistband, but who knew what would happen if I did that? He’d probably go to Dean next, and Dean didn’t deserve to take any beatings for me.

“Is that all you have?” I taunted, my hand covering what was possibly a fractured rib. I wasn’t a coward. I just didn’t want the people I cared about to be affected. As for me? He could do whatever the fuck he wanted to do to me. Pulling a gun in retaliation was one thing, but smart-mouthing? That was doable.

He grinned, flipped the gun in his hand to hold the muzzle, and swung harder. The breath was taken from my lungs and it took everything in me not to fall to one knee. My right hand braced on the bench as I leaned forward and coughed.

“So many life lessons you have yet to learn. You’re a pathetic excuse for an heir.” His finger tapped along the safety. “You don’tdeserve the future I laid out for you. You’ve always been such a selfish little shit.”

“Selfish?” I stood and straightened my back, fighting against the pain on my side as I spread my arms wide. “Look where the fuck we are. You run your business on the heels of selfish men. What makes them any better than me?”

His lips twisted before he spit on the floor beside me. “You’re also weak. No son of mine should be writing in journals or have his head in the clouds with boyish dreams.”

“Well, father”—My fist balled tightly at my side—“I’m the only option you have.”

My father’s jaw worked as I stepped closer, his chin tipping up to see me better. “Then stop making me regret not killing you all those years ago and start acting like the man I've tried to show you how to be.”

I glared at his back as he left the room. When we finally made it back to the estate, my father and Dean went back out immediately, leaving me at the front door. The pain on my side was radiating to the point that standing and walking normally was difficult.

My body ached as I slid into my bed and reached into my back pocket for my phone. It was shattered—beyond repair. I chuckled at the irony, clutching onto my side and groaning at the tender flesh.

Canceling my first date with Rose had been the right decision. There was no way I’d let her see me like this.

Chapter 15

Rose

“They can because they think they can.” ? Virgil

Two new words emerged in my mind regarding Briggs Andrews as the clock moved from six to half-past six to seven with no sign of him at my door. Those two words?

Fucking. Liar.

It was a goodthing my grandparents were on a dinner date of their own—otherwise, I had an inkling my grandfather would drive to Briggs’ house and pound the door down. Not only was I dressed up in the red dress he told me to wear—paired with heels this time—but I was also slumped over my bed, looking entirely too dejected.

I couldn’t think straight. I kept retracing our words, trying to see if I misunderstood what he’d said.

I won’t ever hurt you again, Rose. I promise.

Which only brought my mind straight back to how I felt as I watched the time on my phone change, yet again.

Fucking. Liar.

That was the only explanation. I don’t know why I thought I could trust Briggs in the first place. He continuously reminded me that he was no good for me, and I was too blinded by the good I did see in him to believethathad been his only lie.

My phone vibrated with a text from August and I moved to sit on the floor by the two initials.

August: Is tomorrow good for me to come by and show you that song I’ve been working on? Would really like your opinion.

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