Falling In (The Surrender Trilogy 1)

He must have a terrible poker face, because the other man then said, “Ah, I’m beginning to understand why Lucian doesn’t like you. You’re a threat.”

Parker scoffed. “I’m hardly a threat to a man like Lucian Patras.”

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Parker. You’re someone from her past, a past a man like Lucian will never be able to relate to or wrap his brain around. You also happen to be a decent-looking man and I assume Scout’s friend. You’ve been in my car now for what? Five? Ten minutes? Like me, Lucian’s good at picking up on talent. I recognized you were more than a doorman two minutes after we met. Don’t be naïve. Lucian knows exactly who your father was. Before Lucian Patras, there were two men who held equal or more power than him in Folsom. His father was one of them. The other one was yours.”

Parker scowled inwardly, hating any comparisons between himself and his father.

Mr. Bishop laughed and said almost to himself, “It was probably a relief to give you a job. It allows him to keep an eye on you.” He looked Parker in the face. “You say he owes you something else. What is it?”

Parker looked away, knowing this man could read him like a book.

“How about this,” Mr. Bishop offered. “Tell me what it is and if it’s what I think it is, I’ll give you a job that will get you to the top a lot faster than doorman or bellhop. I have a business that Lucian has no share in. I could offer you a position where you wear something a little more dignified than a blazer with your enemy’s name on it. If you’re as smart as you say, and have half of your father’s aptitude for business, you could find yourself in a corner office before you know it. You said you need money. I’ll start you out at triple what you’re making at Patras, if your answer is what I think. What do you say? Sounds like a good deal to me. If it’s not, I’ll keep your secret quiet and you go on holding doors for us. What do you say, Mr. Hughes?”

“Why would you do that if Patras is your partner?”

Mr. Bishop hesitated, clearly debating what he should share. “There’s been a falling out. We’re approaching my next stop and I’m afraid my offer leaves with me. Better decide fast.”

Shit. He’d be crazy to turn down an offer like that, but there had to be a catch. The limo pulled over and Mr. Bishop stared at him impatiently.

“Fine,” Parker snapped. “It’s Scout. He had to promise me a job and then, when I decide I’m ready, I call in his other IOU, a month with Scout in which the rich prick cannot interfere.”

The man’s smile was almost reptilian, and Parker worried that he’d made a grave mistake in confiding in him. “Excellent,” he purred. “Meet me here, tomorrow morning at seven.” Mr. Bishop eyed him from head to toe. “I believe I have some older suits to start you off. I’ll bring them with me in the morning and you can change then. My driver’s yours for the next twenty minutes. He can take you back to Patras, or now that you have a better job, wherever you want.”

He opened the door and Parker gripped his arm. “Wait.”

Bishop narrowed his eyes at his hold on him, but Parker didn’t let go.

“You seemed pleased when you found out Scout was the bargain. Why?”

“I have my reasons,” the man said.

He quickly considered the offer. Lucian had promised him a job, but specified that keeping it would be up to Parker. The other part of the deal, the part involving Scout, was contingent on two things: Parker being ready to call in his debt and doing so before Patras got a ring on her finger. He could take Bishop’s offer and Patras would still owe him. There was only one concern. “I won’t work for someone who wishes her harm,” Parker said, meaning every word.

“I wish the lovely Evelyn no harm. I only wish her out of my partner’s life.”