"My own son!" Jonathan cries out, and I can see his eyes brimming with tears. Shit, being here and watching a tough man like Jonathan feel this crushed isn’t easy. "You’re fired," he growls, the sadness in his eyes being replaced with unhinged fury. "More than that, I’m going to disown you."
"You can’t do that!" Earl protests, but his voice sounds so weak that I don’t think his father even hears him.
"And I’m not going to stop there," Jonathan continues, reaching across the desk and grabbing Earl by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close until their noses almost touch. "I’m going to call the FBI right now, Earl. It’s going to break my heart, but you’re going to pay for everything you’ve done."
"NO!" Earl shouts and, before anyone can do a thing, he pulls back from Jonathan and bolts toward the door. He crosses the length of the office in two wide strides, but he isn’t fast enough for me. Right before he reaches the door, I extend my arm and hit him right in the neck. He folds onto the ground like a crumpled sack of groceries, both his hands on his neck as he tries to breath.
"Stay down," Clarise tells him, placing her heel on Earl’s chest and pushing him down to the floor. As she keeps him there, Jonathan calls the tower security, and they’re knocking at the office door just a minute later.
Two tall and well-built security guards stroll in, confusion washing over their face as they see Earl on the ground, being pinned down by his sister. They’re smart enough not to inquire about what’s happening, though, and they haul Earl out of the office the moment Jonathan tells them to.
As the securities drag him out, violent sobs make his chest rise and fall rapidly; tears fall down his face as he goes, and there’s snot falling from his nose and into his mouth, his desperate wails sounding like the cry of an animal about to be put down.
It’s not a pretty way to go down, but what was he expecting? You don’t try to fuck everyone over and expect there’ll be no payback.
"Dad … are you okay?" Clarise finally says, raising her voice so that she can make herself heard over Earl’s desperate cries.
"No, Clarise… I’m not okay. But I will be, eventually. I might've lost a son today, but I’ve gained another," he says, forcing himself to smile as he looks toward me. "I know this isn’t exactly the best moment to say it, Connor, but welcome to the family. Or whatever’s left of the family, anyway."
I stare at him for a long moment, not knowing what to say, and then I just bow my head.
"Thank you," I reply.
"We did it," Clarise tells me, closing the distance between us and wrapping her arms around me.
"We did it," I repeat after her.
Connor
"I’ll leave the two of you alone for a little bit," Jonathan says solemnly, going up to his feet and walking toward the door. "But don’t be late for the board meeting; I want the two of you there."
"Got it," I reply with a nod, and then turn my attention back toward Clarise as I hear the door closing.
"Please, tell me this isn’t a dream," she whispers, both her hands on my chest as she looks up into my eyes.
"This isn’t a dream," I tell her with a smile, feeling more happy than I’ve ever felt. Who knew that love could be this good? Despite how hard it was to get to this point, it was all well worth it.
"You’re staying now, aren’t you?" she asks me, biting down on her lip as she anticipates my answer.
"What do you think? Nothing in the world will ever make me walk away from you, Clarise. I won’t let that happen, not again." I press my forehead against hers and pause for a moment, just savoring the closeness of her body.
Running my fingers through her hair, I make her throw her head back and then I brush my lips against hers, that strawberry taste of hers driving me completely insane.
"When’s that meeting going to start?"
"In ten minutes," she laughs, tucking a lock of hair over one ear. "I don’t think we’ve got any time to take care of this bad boy," she continues, taking one hand to my crotch and squeezing my already hard cock.
"That’s a pity. I already miss how it feels to be inside of you…"
"Oh, the holy man seems to have developed a taste for women," she laughs again, the sound of her voice so bright that I just want to pull her into me and hold her tight.
"Not for women, Clarise… I’ve developed a taste for you," holding her close, my hands on her waist, I smile. "And I’m very proud of you."
"Proud? Of what?"
"Of the way you rose to the challenge… Earl really had us against the wall, you know? But you pulled through. You proved yourself, Clarise, and I think that your father saw that."
"Ah, my father…" she sighs. "He’s devastated. He really thought the world of Earl… I guess that he thought so highly of my brother that he was blind to his faults. In a sense, even I was… I mean, drug cartels? What the hell was going on inside our own house?"