or adds, looking at me with distaste. “Any relation to Noah Knight?”
“Michael,” Diana hisses.
“I’m just trying to get to know our guest better, dear,” he says with a pinched, sour expression and forced smile.
“Dad,” Bryce warns, and Mr. Mayor rolls his eyes.
“You all are so dramatic. I’m only asking.”
“Yes,” I say quickly so this interaction can be over as soon as possible. “Noah is my father.”
“Must be hard on you and your family with your dad in prison.”
“We manage,” I say.
“Following in dad’s footsteps, are we?”
I gasp at his question and Bryce stands in front of me. “You will not talk to her that way.”
“It’s just a question, Bryce.”
“You know it’s not. She’s nothing like her father.”
“That’s great. I just want to make sure my son has the best, that’s all.”
I flick my eyes down because I know Bryce could have a better woman with more money and a prestigious family.
“Come on,” Diana casts a glare at her husband, an evil look that doesn’t match the beautiful peach gown she is wearing. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“We will meet you in there,” Mr. Mayor says, looking over Bryce’s shoulder. “I just want a moment with her so we can start over. I promise. Nothing else,” he says.
Bryce and Diana look at me and I let out a breath, wanting to be anywhere else but here. “It’s fine,” I say with a smile. “Just a quick chat, right Mr. Mayor?”
He grins. “That’s right.”
Bryce leans in and gives me a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be right in the other room and I’m sorry,” he whispers.
“It’s okay. I expected it,” I answer softly so his dad can’t hear me.
“Come on, Holly,” Diana says to her daughter, wrapping her arm around Holly’s shoulder to guide her to the dining room.
Bryce gives his dad the evil eye before leaving and if looks could kill, the Mayor would drop dead.
The kind smile turns wicked and he takes a step closer when we are alone, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know why you are with my son or what he sees in you,” his father says, making tears prickle in my eyes.
But I steel my nerves. I won’t let this man bully me because that’s all he is.
A big bully.
“But apparently he needs to get the rebellion out of his system before settling down. I’m sure you’re good in the sack, which is what is keeping him around, but I won’t let my son stay with the daughter of a drug dealer. My family means too much to me to let you ruin it with your blood. God forbid if you two had kids,” he says, his words stabbing me in the heart like knives. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a check. “So how much is it that you want?”
“Excuse me?” I sneer, taken aback by not only the rude and unjustified things he has already said to me, but if I’m hearing him correctly, he is bribing me.
“How much will it take for you to stop dating my son?”
“Nothing. I don’t want your damn money,” I hiss just as he clicks his pen.
“Ten thousand? Twenty?”