Page 65 of Balthazar's Fire

“I mean,” Oliver continued as the plan started to formulate in his mind. “Let’s drop the idea of Drakon Finance for a while and see if we can’t lure them in another way?”

“Maybe.” Jonas blew out a breath. “But I still want the finance arm. Michael Vaughn left those boys a goldmine, but I’m guessing they have no clue how lucrative it is.”

“Get my contract drawn up, and we’ll come up with a plan,” Oliver promised.

“You kids are going to kill me.” Jonas’ lips curled as he met his son’s gaze. “First your sister and now you.”

“What’s Rebecca done this time?” Oliver’s tone was exasperated.

“She hasn’t come home for days.” What was that? A twinge of concern from Jonas?” “I know she’s a bitch, but I want her home.”

“She’s a whore,” Oliver told him. “No better than the one you face-fucked. You know I saw some guy in a Ferrari waiting for her when I came home the other day. I’m sure she’s holed up with him right now.”

“Ferrari?” Jonas’ brow creased.

“Yeah,” Oliver concurred. “I didn’t catch the plate though. I was driving too fast.”

“There aren’t many men around here rich enough for a Ferrari…” Jonas gripped the arm of his chair. “The Fordhams maybe, but other than them, only the Vaughns.” His eyes widened. “You don’t think she’s with one of them, do you?”

“I don’t know.” Oliver admitted. “But nothing about her would surprise me.”

“We have to get this family in order.” His father’s voice was little more than a growl.

“I could send the chimera out to find her.” Oliver liked the idea and if she was hanging around with the Vaughns, he could take Cherie at the same time.

“She and your mother know nothing about the beasts,” Jonas warned.

“Then maybe it’s time they learned?”

“Not now.” Jonas inhaled. “First, let’s draw up your contract and come up with a plan for the financial arm. Then, we can find your sister.”

“Okay.” It didn’t matter to Oliver either way. “I’ve gotta run, but it was good to chat, Dad.”

“Yeah.” His father’s lips twitched in the closest he ever got to a smile. “It’ll be good to finally have you on board, Oliver.”

Turning on his heel, Oliver strode to the door and stepped back into the hall. Things had gone better than he’d hoped, but he knew his father of old, and wouldn’t trust anything he said until the contract was in his hand.

The sound of heels tapping on the hard floor ahead drew his attention, and glancing up, Oliver saw a slim, dark-haired woman in a red pencil suit approaching.

“Excuse me?” she started, peering from Oliver to the doorway he’d just departed from. “Is this the way to Mr. Monroe’s office?”

“It is.” He smiled, drinking in the look of her tight body. If she was the new lawyer, then Jonas was going to have a field day.

“Thank you.” Nodding, she clutched her black briefcase and carried on walking.

He glanced back for a moment, enjoying the way her hips wriggled as she walked before he went on his way. Let his father have his fun, so long as Jonas had that contract drawn up. Half of the company would be Oliver’s, and once Jonas died, he’d get his hands on the rest. That would make Oliver a very wealthy man, and he already knew that money meant immense power. Coupled with his hybrid genetics, Oliver would be unstoppable.

His father had increased the family’s revenue streams to well in excess of eight digits every year, but Jonas was easily distracted by drugs and pussy. Oliver wouldn’t mess up the way his father had, wouldn’t allow the waters to be muddied by his desires. Oliver was clear about what he wanted—to dominate his family’s empire and destroy the Vaughns—and if pretty little pieces of the puzzle like Cherie got caught in his path, then he’d take them down like dominoes. Oliver would make what happened when he found Cherie at the Vaughns’ elusive mountain lodge look like Christmas.

“God help her,” he murmured, laughing nefariously as the thought buoyed him.

I’ll fucking obliterate them. “God help them all.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Cherie

“Was that Sebastian, sir?” Cherie asked as Balthazar wandered in from the veranda. Locking the door to the mountain lodge, he shut out the cold air before turning to her.