Page 92 of Endurance
His brows lift. “That hotshot lawyer of yours didn’t tell you? Santino?” He lengthens all the vowels in a patronising tone. I shake my head. “I lost the vote for the Supreme Court today.”
A heaviness settles in the air, weighing down the ambience of the room. His slanted eyes are locked on me as he gauges my reaction.
“I wasn’t aware.”
“Surely you knew I was in line for the Supreme Court?” I shrug and tension radiates off his high shoulders. “Well, I was. And that was the whole point of thissham. To help secure my seat. So your littleperformancewith my daughter didn’t work.”
I clear my throat, shifting nervously in my seat. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
He huffs out a laugh. “How about you just listen? You may have won a match today, but you lost the cup. So you can pack it in and go back to your pedestrian life where you fuck anything that walks and spread your future illegitimate seed to someone else.”
The bone in my jaw ticks with barely contained fury. I lean into him so that no one else can overhear. “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but maybe you should keep your voice down.”
“Why?” he barks, sitting back in his chair like he’s the King of England and everyone around him are peasants. The people at our table turn to look at him, catching on to the unfolding scene. “What’s the point of keeping quiet? The reason you were dating my daughter at all was for me to rise to the Court. And that’s all gone now, so none of this matters.”
Shaking my head, I reply through clenched teeth, “That wasn’t the only reason I dated Belle. There were many factors.”
He jeers, “Maybe for you, but not for my Belle.”
Possessiveness heats my blood as he attempts to claim her. The Ryans have never seen Belle the way I see her. She’s confirmed it on more than one occasion. His tone, his demeanour, his lack of respect for the doctor speaking on stage right now is all proof of that.
I practically growl my reply. “You know nothing about Belle.”
He drops his elbows on the table so we’re nose to nose and his drunken gaze locks with mine. “I know that when the chips are down, she’ll do what she must to help our family. No matter what. That is the only reason she’d ever give you the time of day, other than for a one off shag. Something to sow that wild streak of hers that she can’t everfuckingcontrol.”
I blink away the rage clouding my vision. The man deserves to have his face smashed in. A lethal smack right to that pompous nose. How does he think it’s okay to speak of his own daughter this way? Why does he have it in his head that she cares about her family? She has nothing to do with them. She never sees them. Not that I know of at least.
“You’re wrong. Belle and I aren’t a sham. Not anymore.” I state, running nervous hands down my thighs and trying to quiet the paranoia creeping in around me.
He barks out a haughty laugh, and Booker and Camden’s eyes narrow with caution. “Well, she didn’t want me to talk to you this evening. You think someone in a relationship would want to hide you from her family? Please,” he scoffs. “This is all a lie.”
“It’s not.”
“Maybe not for you, but Belle knows exactly what she’s doing. Look at her up there.” I turn my gaze and see her watching us with the look of an ice princess. Hard and emotionless, but powerful, nonetheless. “Like father, like daughter. She’s climbing her way to the top, manipulating people the same way I do. She’s using you to get her contract with the clinic extended, nothing more. She doesn’t care about you.” He picks up a silk flower from the middle of the table. “The whole scenario is pathetic.”
Just when I think I might lunge at him, applause from the audience erupts all around me. In the same beat, Booker launches out of his seat and grabs Lord Ryan by the shoulder. “Let’s get some fresh air, shall we?”
Camden stands up and grabs the other arm. “That sounds divine, Booker. What a great idea.”
Lord Ryan argues, swerving his head back and forth as my brothers effortlessly escort him away from me and my clenched fist. The rest of the ballroom gets noisy as people begin milling about now that the speeches are over. I turn just as Belle comes marching toward me.
“What are they doing?” she asks with wide, questioning eyes and pointing to Camden and Booker, who are nearly out the door. “They need to get their hands off of him…He’ll sue.”
“Don’t worry about your fucking father,” I growl, shoving my hands through my hair.
She frowns. “What’s happened? What did he say?”
The guilty look in her eyes makes me even more paranoid. I know Belle, but I don’t know much about her home life. Not firsthand anyway. How could she not tell me he was coming here tonight? How could she intend to keep him away from me? And why? I’ve submerged her completely in the Harris family, yet she thinks she can shield me from hers?
“Is this still an act to you?” I ask, squeezing my hands into hard fists at my sides.
She frowns and looks around nervously. “What are you going on about?”
“You. Me. Are you just fucking with me?” I seethe. “Using me to climb your way to the top?”
“What on earth has happened out here?” she cries, her eyes wide with disbelief that I’m speaking so openly.
“Your father, that’s what. He’s unloaded a lifetime’s worth of shit that sounds scarily close to the truth. So tell me the truth, Ryan. Are you just like him?”
