Page 21 of Beauty and the Bosshole
I have to control my face not to wince. A perceived insult to his daughter is bad enough. I hate to think what he’d do if I insulted Felicity as well.
“My mother put those ads out. I’m not looking for a bride.”
“Your mother and I have drawn up a contract. We just need you to sign.”
“My mother is a meddling busybody whose want of grandchildren is greater than her common sense.”
Leon slams a fist down on the table, making the snake hiss.
“I will not tolerate a bad word said about your mother. Nina is a fine woman, beautiful, ballsy, and her style…” He actually chef’s kisses his fingers. “Her style in incomparable.”
He gets a faraway look in his eyes, and fuck me, I realize the old gangster’s crushing on my mother.
“Your mother came to me with the idea, and she was… very persuasive.” When he licks his lips and almost blushes, I can’t even think about what that means.
I’m reeling from the thought of Leon and my mother, his snakelike lips on her, multicolored clothing strewn on the floor…
I shake my head to get the image out of my mind.
“Whatever you agreed to with my mother, it has nothing to do with me,” I grit out. “I make my own decisions, Leon, and while I’m honored you thought of me—Daniella is a beautiful woman—I won’t be marrying her.”
I hold his gaze so he knows I’m not backing down on this. I will not be forced into marriage by my meddling mother and a gangster who wants a cut of my business, and it appears a slice of my mother, too.
“I can make things difficult for you,” he murmurs, stroking the body of the snake.
I anticipated this. I moved the head office of Aurora to Porter to get away from Vegas, but the manufacturing still takes place here. It’s a liability having a pissed-off mobster controlling the highways I need to move my goods.
I’ve been hunting for manufacturing plants in Texas and will be moving all operations there as soon as I get the factory set up. I’ve kept it secret so Leon doesn’t get wind of it.
“I’m sure you can. But I’m willing to take that risk.”
His eyes narrow at me, and he crosses his leg, bringing his foot to rest on his knee, showing off his snakeskin shoes that are the same sandy color as the viper around his neck.
“You know what my shoes are made of, Reese?”
“I don’t give a shit what your shoes are made of.”
I’m done pandering to Leon. If he wanted to cause me physical harm, he would have had Felicity bite my balls.
“Snakeskin. Before Felicity, there was Tania. I loved that snake.” He shakes his head sadly.
“That’s a touching story, but I really need to get back…”
Felicity hisses and I’m not sure if it’s at me or her little protest at the fate of her predecessor.
Leon strokes her and she tucks her head back into his neck.
“Until she bit me one too many times. I had her skinned and turned into a pair of shoes.”
He’s trying to intimidate me, but I’m just not in the mood.
“I get it, Leon. I cross you and you’ll turn me into a man bag. As much as I don’t want to end up as one of your weird accessories, I really have to go…”
He looks behind me and nods to one of the guards. The man steps forward and throws a photo down on the table.
“I really didn’t want to have to do this, Reese.”
My gut feels heavy even before I glance at the photo, but when I do, it takes all my willpower not to react.