Page 6 of Dax
“For all I know, Prints Charming might end up being a frigging pond on a golf course! Or a toilet! Or maybe they’ll just stick a tree on it with a little plaque that says “this is where dreams come to die.”
He pulls his hand away from me and sits back in his chair. Anger clouds his handsomely dark features.
I'm touched by personally he's taken my woes. Something tells me he's not the kind of guy you'd want as an enemy, and it feels good to have him on my side. Even if I've only just met him.
4
Dax
“Why the hell not!” I punch the wall as hard as I can. My hand bursts through the plywood, leaving a watermelon size hole.
“Don’t be stupid,” Preston says in his pretentious whiney voice. “The plans are already underway. There’s no way we can stop things now. Even if I wanted to. There’s too much money involved. Too many people are counting on us. This thing's going ahead whether you like it not, Dax. Now get on board. I need your help.”
“Need my help,” I growl. “You expect me to help you ruin this woman's dreams?”
I turn around and storm out the room. I’m too mad to even look at him, let alone be in the same room as my brother.
Deep down, I know he’s right. But that doesn’t make things any better.
Right now I don’t care about all the other investors. I don’t care about all the money that’s already been spent. Property purchased. Contracts signed. I don’t care about the hundreds of millions of dollars we’ll lose if we back out. All I care about is Kate.
But, I’ve learned to pick my battles, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out this is one I’m not going to be able to win.
“Money,” I growl, getting in my car. “It’s always about the money.”
I slam my foot down on the accelerator and burst onto the road in a cloud of dust and tire smoke.
The idea that I’ll be profiting from Kate’s misery makes me sick to my bones. It never even occurred to me that she didn’t know who I am. That she didn’t know what family I belong to.
I mean, we met in the family mansion. But I guess, she must have thought I was the hired help or something. Not the second in line to the Carlton fortune.
Every part of me wanted to come clean in the restaurant. And maybe it’s that guilt which is eating at me, too. Making my need to fix things even more desperate.
But, I can’t risk losing her. I had to think strategically. If I’d told her my surname's Carlton, she probably would have thrown the last of her wine in my face and stormed out. Disappeared from my life forever.
And that is not an ending I am willing to accept.
I’m going to tell her the truth, but only once I’ve fixed this mess for her. Once I’ve made everything right.
I whip my phone out of my pocket and flip through my phonebook. There’s a ton of people in this town eager to do me a favor, and now it’s time to use the family name for the sake of good, for a change.
“Martin,” I yell into the phone once I’ve selected the person most likely to be useful to me. “I need a favor.”
“Dax, buddy, it’s not a good time. Any chance you can call me back later?”
I hear the all too familiar crack of a golf ball being hit and my blood boils at the thought that this stupid, slimy asshole thinks a round of golf is more important than Kate.
“Make time,” I growl. “Or it’ll be the last thing you ever fucking do.”
All of a sudden he’s full of yes’s and no problems and whatever-I-can-dos.
I tell him exactly what I’m looking for. I tell him it’s got to be a secret, and that money isn’t an issue. And finally, I tell him how long he’s got to accomplish the mission.
“Boy,” he moans, “a week. That’s not giving me much time, Dax. A thing like this, it would usually take a month at least. And that’s if you’re lucky.”
“You don’t have a month, Martin.” I slam my fist onto the steering wheel and pull into the side of the road so I can make myself perfectly clear.
Taking the phone off its holder I put my mouth close to the microphone and speak in a low, threatening, whisper. “You don’t want to get on my bad side, buddy.” I drawl out the last word, making it clear as day that he’s anything but a friend. “I called you for a reason. You owe me so many favors I could have you cleaning toilets at the local homeless shelter for the rest of your life... and you still wouldn’t have paid off your debt.”
