Tank (Blue-Collar Billionaires 1)

As we pass through the outer doors into the main area of the hotel suite, there’s a sudden, loud voice. The door to one of the bedrooms opens.

“Don’t think this is the last you’ve heard from me, old man. I know everything.” Mr. Boyd exits followed by two of the big, burly guys I remember from last time.

As they pass, Boyd points a finger at me. “He manipulates everyone around him. Don’t for one minute think you’re any different.”

One of the guys grabs him by the arm. “Come on. You’ve said your piece.”

“He hired that girl to draw you in and it worked. But he’ll get rid of you just as quickly as he did me when he’s done with you.”

I reach out and grab his arm. He’s so startled that he halts his tirade. I hold up a hand to the two security guys. “Wait a minute. Let him speak.”

His skin has turned a sickly shade of green under his spray tan but he must sense this will be his only chance. “You should know the truth about him. He uses his money to control everyone around him, including his children. He probably figured one million was a cheap price to pay to get you right where he wants you. You’re a fool if you believe otherwise.”

Everything inside me shrivels up into a little hard ball. “You said he hired “that girl.” What girl?”

“Emma Shaw.” He sneers her name and I immediately want to wipe the syllables from his mouth. It’s wrong for him to even speak her name. Not to mention the unholy look in his eyes.

“What does Emma have to do with anything?”

He laughs and my hands clench into fists.

“You actually thought she cared about you? Girls like that start coming out of the woodwork when you have money. I’m doing you a favor. At least you didn’t marry the bitch. That’s what he would have done.”

He’s goading me and I know it. My mother is one of the women he’s referring to. It would be foolish to respond to the obvious taunt. He wants me to hit him so he’ll have something to use against me. I need to walk away. Be the bigger man.

Then I think about it again and decide, Fuck it.

I punch him right above the nose. He buckles and drops to the ground like a stone. “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.”

The two security guys are grinning at me now. “I’m done with him. You can take him … wherever you were taking him.”

I honestly don’t care at this point.

The door to the bedroom they just exited hangs open. My father is sitting next to the window. He turns his head as I enter the room.

“Tanner? What are you doing here?”

“I was coming to thank you for paying mom’s hospital bill. I had this whole speech worked out in my head about how I’d misjudged you and you really were just looking to start over with us. Then I find out that you hired Emma to what, to seduce me?”

“It wasn’t like that. Emma is a nice girl. It was an opportunity for her to earn some money for her education.”

“Normal relationships don’t work like this. You can’t just pay people to be your friend or to do what you want. That’s not how it works.”

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you two. That’s not what was supposed to happen.”

His words only fuel my anger. Things always happen the way he wants them to and no one ever says no. Money has greased the wheels of his life for so long that he doesn’t know how to operate without using it. He doesn’t know how to have a normal relationship based on give and take.

“You want to know why you don’t have family around to take care of you while you’re sick? Because of shit like this. You manipulate people and use them to get what you want. You’re like a cancer. A sickness that spreads and devours everything around you. You wonder why you’re all alone? This is why.”

His mouth opens and then closes again but no sound comes out. His skin pales even further until he looks almost gray. My anger recedes as I realize that he isn’t responding to anything I’ve said. Not the anger or the accusations.

He looks stricken. For a moment, I feel guilty for how I’m lighting into him. He looks old and frail. His hand is shaking when he puts it to his forehead.

“Well? Say something.”

The hand resting on the side arm of his wheelchair shakes before falling to the side. His entire body slumps over, his head falling forward wildly.

“Dad? Help! Somebody.”