Page 20 of By His Vow
His expression hardens. “I’m not a fucking moron, KC. Why? Why would Jonathan sell his only daughter to you, let alone give us an in to Warner Group?”
I shrug one shoulder, equally as in the dark as he is to the finer details of this little arrangement.
I’ve no doubt I’ll find out soon enough.
I can’t imagine a man like Jonathan would make this decision lightly.
“I’ll look into Warner,” Kian states without missing a beat. “Something is wrong, and I’d put everything I own on it being financial,” he muses.
“Whatever it is, Jonathan owed our father something to willingly hand over both his business and his daughter.”
“You’re seriously marrying her?”
I chuckle. “Wouldn’t you?” I counter.
He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to—it’s right there in his eyes.
Tatum is hot. Really fucking hot. I’m not sure there are many straight men on the planet who would turn down a shot with her.
“Marriage though, man. That shit is serious.”
“It’s only for a year,” I reason. “Then she gets what she actually wants and starts over. We, meanwhile, will have fully merged Callahan and Warner and our empire will be growing nicely.”
“And what if she catches feelings?”
“If?” I laugh.
“Arrogant motherfucker,” Kian scoffs.
“What?” I ask innocently. “I can’t help it that none of the ladies can resist me.”
“Well, if your dick is as big as your head, I can understand it.”
I flip him off with a wide-ass grin on my face.
“So, Miles beat the shit out of you. What did?—”
“Whoa, you’re assuming that he doesn’t look worse right now.”
Picking up his cell, he unlocks the screen and then slides it across the desk toward me.
“Taken less than twenty minutes ago at Maxies. I’d say he’s looking pretty good.”
“Fucking asshole.” I scoff, remembering his blazing eyes as he rained hell down on my face.
I knew he would be pissed. Miles loves Tate something fierce, but I wasn’t expecting a reaction quite that violent.
“What about Tate? How did she take it?”
“About as well as can be expected,” I explain as I swallow what’s left of my drink. “She wasn’t left much choice but to agree, unless she wanted to walk away with only the clothes on her back.”
“Why would Jonathan do that to her?” Kian asks in concern.
“Because he’s an asshole.” I point out.
He might never have been that way toward Miles, or me and my brothers. But we all saw the way he treated Tatum. It was like she was a second-class citizen just because she was born with a vagina. And, of course, her constant need to defy him only compounded the situation.
Did I think he’d sign her up for a marriage with me? Hell, with anyone? No, not really. But he always did like to surprise us all. I guess he’s just taken it to the next level.