Pretend I'm Yours (Pretend 1)

“Good, then you know that you have to give him one of the businesses. You don’t have a choice. It doesn’t matter if he is sober or not. Especially since you helped bury his most recent transgressions. You have no proof that he is sober or not. And if you do have proof, he’ll end up in jail.”

I run my hands through my hair. “Then what do you suggest.”

“Give him the bars. They are the riskiest and least luc

rative part of the business. And he won’t have to do much, the managers at each bar basically run it themselves.”

“Fuck, I can’t give him the bars.” I just fucking can’t. They are my heart and soul. I could give the bars to him if he were sober. If he took this seriously, but not in his current state. I can’t watch him destroy something I love.

I glance over at Larkyn who gets off the couch and wraps her arms around me as I stand in front of my desk. I start thinking through the financials of the other businesses, trying to figure out one that would hurt the King empire less or that he could run without even showing up, but I can’t come up with any solution. The bars are the best solution.

“Give him the bars,” I say, begrudgingly. Feeling my heart shatter, as I force each word out.

“Wait,” Larkyn says suddenly.

I frown.

“Tell him you’ll call him back in five,” Larkyn says, looking at me with a big smile.

“Let me think about it for a few minutes, and I’ll call you back.”

I hang up and look at Larkyn as I cock my head to the side. “What?”

She sits down at my desk, flipping through my papers, like she knows exactly what she’s doing.

“How often do you come into my office?” I ask.

She blushes. “Most mornings when I’m not teaching a class.”

“And how often do you snoop?” I ask, as I sit on the edge of the desk with my arms folded and a scowl on my face.

She winces. “Just a couple of times. I find your business models and financials interesting.”

I raise an eyebrow. “No one, but my accountant, finds this kind of stuff interesting.”

She shrugs and grins when she holds up the paper she was looking for. She starts skimming the paper with her eyes.

“Here,” she holds the paper up to me, which I realize is my father’s will.

“I’ve read my father’s will before.”

She nods. “Of course, but did you read the part about the business that is to be given to Sebastian when he graduates from college? You are required to give him a main part of the business or any part that Sebastian chooses.”

“Uh-huh, got that part.”

She shakes her head. “You need to find something that Sebastian loves. Buy the business no matter how small, and then give him that.”

I smile weakly, if Sebastian wasn’t so far gone, her plan might work. But I don’t think Sebastian cares about anything other than where his next drink is coming from and hurting me.

“The whiskey line makes you a lot of money. Your hotel line makes you more. And your bars, although they don’t make you a lot of money, you are in love with them. If you give him any one of the businesses, he’ll be filing for bankruptcy in a year. But maybe, if you give him something he’s passionate about, he’ll be more serious about it. Or at least if he fails, it will be on his own and not destroy you or your father’s legacy.”

I lean down and kiss her on the lips. “Thank you.”

She rakes her teeth over her bottom lip as she leans back in the chair. “I’m more than a pretty face, you know.”

I nod. “You definitely are. So why don’t you have a real job?”

She shakes her head, her smile immediately dropping off her face like it never existed at all. “I don’t want to talk about it.”