By His Vow: Chapter 9

“They’re already in Mr. Warner’s office,” Judith says with a friendly smile when I march out of the elevator on the top floor of the building. Ignoring yet another text message from my mother, I drop my cell into my pocket and take off.

“Thank you, Judith,” I say as I walk down hallway with my muscles pulled tight with irritation. I’m late. I fucking hate being late.

And it’s all her fault.

I knock once and push the door open without waiting for a response. I already know they’re waiting for me.

As I step inside, my breath catches at the sight of my father sitting in Jonathan Warner’s seat at the head of the table.

I don’t know why I’m surprised. He isn’t the kind of man who will take too kindly to not being the most important person in the room at all times.

“Good of you to join us, Kingston,” my father chides while Miles frowns.

He knows as well as I do that I don’t make a habit of being the last to a meeting.

“I apologize for my lack of punctuality,” I say, addressing all the men sitting around the table before pulling out the empty seat between my father and Kian.

“Good to see you’re looking even uglier this morning,” Kian mutters quietly as I settle.

I shoot him a glare.

“Is everything okay?” Miles asks, able to read me better than most.

“I was with Miss Warner. Helping her come to terms with everything.”

“How very thoughtful of you,” Dad says while the other board members nod appreciatively.

“She should be here,” Miles suddenly pipes up.

“She isn’t in a senior role,” my father explains. “Nor is she on the board of directors.”

“She should be. Half of this should be hers now,” Miles argues while my mind drifts to places it shouldn’t.

I picture her here with us, sitting around this table in her sinfully short skirt, her blouse teasing me with what she’s hiding beneath, and her full, pouty lips that were made for kissing….

I shift in my chair as my cock begins to swell.

Stop thinking about Miles’s fucking sister.

“So, as I was saying,” my father continues, “we have a lot of decisions to make, a lot of changes to implement over the coming months and years, but I truly believe this merger will be a positive for both companies.

“While I might be sitting here now at the head of this table, I want to make it known that going forward, both Miles and Kingston are taking on the role of managing Warner Group.

“We will, of course, work closely together as we progress through the changes, but this is their future we’re carving out, the future for their children. And after all, I’m sure more than a few of you here will agree that it’s probably high time I consider taking a step back. My sons, and Miles, are more than capable of taking the reins on this while I consider doing more…enjoyable things with my time.

“Jonathan’s passing is a lesson to us in many ways. Life is short. We need to make fast yet well-thought-out decisions and think about utilizing the time and the opportunities we have wisely.

“We’re a long time dead, gentlemen.”

Agreement rings in the air.

“Now, and please feel free to interject, my first thought for how we handle this is…”

Dad might be right, Jonathan’s passing was a surprise to all of us, but sitting there and listening to him lay out plans for the company for well over two hours, I can’t help but wonder how much they’d discussed this happening. Dad sure seems very confident in his ideas.

The thought of our fathers planning what would happen in the event of Jonathan’s demise behind our backs—behind Miles’s back—doesn’t sit right with me. But there isn’t much I can do about it now.

“I need to head out,” Dad says not long after the board members have left. “Call me if you have any questions about all of this.”

“I have one question,” Kian says, having remained almost silent for the past few hours.

I know exactly what he’s going to say. He called me in the middle of the night with his findings, wanting to know what we should do about it.

“Go on,” Dad says.

“What about the money?” Kian asks simply.

“What money?” Dad’s expression remains neutral, but he knows.

He knows everything.

“The money that has vanished from the company in the past few months. Did you not want to tell the board about that?”

Dad’s mouth opens and closes as he tries to figure out what to say.

“Jonathan ran into some unforeseen issues,” he explains.

“Is that right,” Kian mutters as I look between them and Miles shoots from his seat in shock.

“What money? What issues?” he demands.

Dad shakes his head. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Nothing I need to… Michael, you can’t sit there and tell Kingston and me that we’re at the top here and not clue us in as to where a significant sum of money has gone.”

“It’s more than a significant sum,” Kian explains, much to Miles’s horror.

“How much?” Miles demands.

“You are wrong for keeping this to yourself after handing us control. But if that’s how you’re going to play this, then you might as well leave,” I tell Dad. “This is our business now, our decisions. If you feel there’s anything else we need to know, feel free to tell us.”

I dismiss him by turning my back to the man who’s taught me everything I know.

I get they want to protect us.

But how are they achieving that without giving us the full facts?

“Kingston,” Dad growls.

I don’t respond as I retake my seat and pull my cell out to check my emails.

“Well, you know where I am if you need me,” he mutters before leaving the room and closing the door a little harder than necessary behind him.

“What the fuck?” Miles fumes.

“Your father had a gambling problem,” Kian states.

“Since when?” Miles asks on a sigh as he falls back into his seat, both of us leaving the head of the table empty.

“Since forever, if what I looked at is to be believed, but he was always relatively lucky, it seems. Until about two years ago, that is.”

“How much has he lost?” Miles mutters.

Kian falls silent.

It’s all the answer Miles needs to know that this is bad.

“Enough to hand his company and daughter over,” he realizes. “Fucking hell.”

He slumps lower in his chair and lets his head fall back.

“If this merger wasn’t happening, would Warner be in trouble?”

“It could be rescued with a little restructuring, but it wouldn’t be easy.”

“So when Richard read the will and explained that Dad was leaving me this,” Miles says, holding his arms from his sides, “he was basically fucking me in the ass just as hard as he is Tate.” He glances at me. “No offense,” he mutters.

“He was desperate,” Kian muses.

“Desperate to ruin our fucking lives. The only one that’s come out of this looking good is Mom. But then I guess she deserves that after putting up with him for so long.”

I swallow nervously, remembering what Kian told me last night.

“What he’s left her isn’t as healthy as you might believe.”

All the blood drains from Miles’s face.

“How do you know all this? We only discovered the merger yesterday.”

“I got access to the accounts the second I was told. I knew it was too big for there not to be something going on. And I was fucking right.”

“This is fucked up,” Miles mutters.

“You want to go day-drinking?” I offer, not knowing what else to suggest right now.

“Think I might have had too much last night. I woke up with this chick I have no fucking memory of,” he confesses.

“She was the server from Maxies,” I point out.

“How do you know that?”

“Because you were dry-humping her at the bar when I came to pick up my wife, seeing as you weren’t looking after her.”

His teeth grind. “Don’t call her that.”

“Oh, sorry. My fiancée.”

“Kingston,” he growls.

“What? Would you prefer me to refuse and leave her out on her ass?”

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” he argues. “Her position here is safe, and I wouldn’t take a cent away from her.”

“That’s not what she really wants though, is it?”

Tatum’s dream of moving to England to live in their late aunt’s cottage isn’t a secret.

She spent all her summers there as a kid while Miles and I were here, being forced to learn the family businesses.

I remember her constantly drawing and painting that little house. It was all she talked about.

It’s why I know that I’m not risking much by agreeing to this marriage.

She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want this life.

Once our year is done, we’ll both be able to go our separate ways.

She’ll get what she wants, and in turn, so will I.

Merging Callahan and Warner has been something Miles and I have talked about all our lives. Working side by side, being CEOs of our own empire, outdoing our fathers, and being the number one hospitality and tourism corporation in the country, has been our dream.

And I’m not fucking giving that up because of his bratty little sister.

So I figure we’ll spend our year together, enjoy it where possible, and then embark on what we really want for our lives.

Easy. Simple.

Painless.

Minus the cat scratches.

“I can’t believe you’re marrying my little fucking sister.”

Kian smirks. “I can. She’s fucking hot. And,” he adds before Miles can attempt to lay him out like he did me yesterday, “I’m pretty sure there isn’t anyone else on the planet who would put up with this asshole.”

“Lovely,” I scoff. “Now, are we having a working lunch or what?”

“Fuck it. Yes. Let’s go,” Miles says, pushing to his feet and grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.

“World domination always needs to come with a side of scotch,” Kian mutters as we walk out of Jonathan’s—Miles’s—office.

I nod at Judith as Miles talks to his own assistant, Maddison, before the three of us walk into the elevator and descend through the building.

The temptation to stop at the thirteenth floor is strong. The need to know what she’s doing—hell, if she’s even here—is almost too strong to ignore.

But I do.

Eyes follow the three of us as we walk out of the building and toward Leo, Miles’s driver.

He might not have got exactly what he bargained for when Jonathan left him everything, but he still did quite well out of it. And anyway, who wants to be gifted something that’s running smoothly? That’s boring.

This way, Miles and I can make this our own in a way we never would have been able to before.

These companies might have originated with our ancestors, but what we create by joining them together is going to be ours.

And I can’t lie, that’s fucking exciting.

The drive to our favorite bar is fast, and before we know it, we’re sitting in the back room with a glass of scotch each and plans of expansion and growth ringing in the air.

The whole time, the only thing I can think is, there’s someone missing.

Sure, Kieran isn’t here because he chose his own path in life. But Tatum…she’s a part of this. She’s a vital member of the Warner team. She should be here planning this with us, even if she has no desire to see it out long-term.

It’s in her blood.

She belongs here just as much as we do.