Resisting The Tycoon's Seduction (The Berutelli Escape) (3 page)

She stood awkwardly in front of her father’s desk, waiting for him to acknowledge her. 

Did she really want to hear what he had to say?  She knew who her father was and what he did.  She should probably take a more active role in discovering evidence of his criminal activities, but in truth, her father terrified her.  She knew what he was capable of.  She knew that some of the men who had worked for him in the past had simply disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.  She didn’t know if they’d died or gone into witness protection, but she didn’t want to find out either. 

She was a coward. 

But that didn’t mean she was stupid.  Despite her father’s control, she’d gotten an education.  He’d wanted her to study literature and history and she’d signed up for all of those classes, but she’d also studied computers and technology and she was pretty good at it.  She continued to expand her knowledge of web and graphic design, enjoying creating web sites for her friends’ businesses.  She wasn’t going to be rich, she knew, but she was actually doing a pretty good business for herself.  She could be bigger, but she had to work on these projects without her father’s knowledge.  She wasn’t sure if he would forbid her to do the work, or if he would use her business for his own criminal activities.  Either way, she wasn’t giving him any opportunity to step in and corrupt her work.  She pretended to continue with her frivolous lifestyle by shopping and going to lunch with her friends and cousins, but many of those lunches were business meetings.

She even paid taxes on her income! 
Oh, her father be furious with her for that!  She almost laughed as she stood in front of her father’s massive, ornate desk, impatiently shifting from one foot to the next as the silence continued. 

After several minutes, he threw down his pen and leaned back in his large, leather chair.  She suspected that he’d purchased that particular chair with the high back and the sides that came out slightly as a symbolic “I’m a king” message to the people who stood
nervously in front of this desk.  It certainly had the lines of a throne and she’d noticed several television trying to convey the same image. 

She refused to squirm under his steady gaze, waiting patiently for him to convey
the reason for his unexpected, cryptic summons so she could get back to her room and finish her work.  She had several clients that were waiting on her to finish up their projects and she didn’t like to postpone a deadline.  She prided herself on meeting every deadline she set with her clients. 

“I want you to marry Zeke Vaughn,” he said without preamble.

Marissa continued to stand there, not exactly sure how to react to his command, not even sure she’d really heard him correctly.  His command seemed so outrageous, surely she’d misunderstood.  Had he really just ordered her to marry a stranger?

She blinked and cleared her throat, trying to hide the trembling.  She wasn’t sure if her nervousness was caused by the mention of the stranger’s name or being in her father’s office.  Both probably.  “Excuse me?” she asked
, sure she’d misunderstood.

Her father’s bushy eyebrows drew together and he almost snorted with disgust. 
“Marry him!” he snapped out impatiently.  “You’re a good looking woman.  Just seduce him and marry him.  Get him into our happy family so I can use his contacts and his business genius to grow my own businesses.  I want him, Marissa!  Make it happen!”

Marissa blinked one more time, trying to focus. 
His words and the implication behind his command were making her more than a little dizzy.  “I’m sorry, but you want me to just walk into his office and tell him that we’re getting married?”

He shrugged his shoulders without concern.  “I don’t care how you do it.  But that man’s net worth is about one hundred times my own.  He
also has powerful, international connections that I want to exploit.  Which means, I need him as a son-in-law in order to get him to help me expand my reach.  In order to do that, either you or Sierra need to marry the man.  So are you going to step in and do it, or am I going to get Sierra to accomplish the deed?”

Marissa felt a hot bolt of jealousy at the idea of her baby sister having anything to do with Zeke Vaughn. 
She loved her sister, but there was no way she would allow her to have Zeke.  It wasn’t that she wanted him for herself, she reminded herself sternly.  She just didn’t think that Zeke would treat Sierra well.  Yes, that was exactly it.  She wanted someone more kind and gentle for her sister’s husband.  She knew all too well that Zeke…okay, so he’d been very gentle with her yesterday in the living room.  Maybe too gentle.  His touch hadn’t been what she’d wanted…but she was digressing and she shook her head to focus on the current conversation once again. 

“Dad, I can’t just
casually waltz into a strange man’s office and ask him to marry me.  He barely knows me.  Yesterday was the second time I’d ever met him and yet you want me to just propose to him?”

He shrugged his heavy shoulders once again, his brown eyes hard and unconcerned. 
“You didn’t act like he was a stranger yesterday,” he replied with a sneer.  “So walk into his office, strip off your clothes and then propose to him.  I don’t care how you do it.  Just get it done.”

Marissa couldn’t be more shocked if he’d told her that he w
as going to…nope, not going to think about violence towards the man, she thought.  She hated the idea of anything hurting Zeke.  Not because she cared for him or anything.  It was simply because he was a human being and she didn’t want anyone hurt for any reason. 

“Dad, I can’t marry him,” she said softly, but with a firm determination. 

Her father leaned forward and picked up his pen once again.  “You should have been married several years ago.  I didn’t get any sons with your mother so I want some grandsons.  I need someone to learn the business and follow in my footsteps.  That takes grooming and grooming takes time.  I can’t believe you haven’t married already, Marissa, but it’s actually good because now I want Zeke Vaughn in the family and either you or your sister are going to make that happen.”

“I can’t…” she started to say, but he interrupted her once again.

“Either you marry the man, or you marry Jimmy!” he bellowed, so furious she could actually picture steam coming out of his ears.  “But one way or another, I’m going to get myself some grandsons!  And I want Zeke in the family!  Make it happen or I’ll make it happen through your sister.”

Marissa turned her head slightly, seeing Jimmy walk into the office and hand her father a piece of paper.  He looked up and winked at her, his bulky form ambling off
through the exit in the back of the house.  He knew!  The disgusting man with the protruding stomach, the man who was actually shorter than she was, knew what her father was demanding of her.  The pathetic jerk didn’t even care that he was offered up as second place! 

With a cry of outrage, she spun around on her heel and walked out of her father’s office
, shame, anger and righteous indignation carrying her out into the bright sunshine. 

“I want to hear news in a week, Marissa!” he
bellowed out to her retreating form.  “Your wedding is already being planned.  The groom is the only thing not nailed down.”

She almost tripped
when she rounded the corner as she ran down the hallway, unconcerned that she might stumble and fall in her sling back heels.  She ran all the way to her bedroom, slamming the door and leaning her head back against it.  She wasn’t aware of her heavy breathing or the panic filling her chest.  All she could see in her mind was the very possible image of Jimmy Traveri, her father’s second in command, looming over her as he pressed her into the mattress on their wedding night. 

With a shudder at the image of his maliciously smiling face, she shuddered with horror and revulsion. 
She couldn’t do it, she told herself, squeezing her eyes shut as if she could block out the image. 

Grabbing her purse and her car keys, she yanked open her bedroom door once again, rushing down the hallway to the garage.  She drove away from the house as fast as she could, wishing she could just keep on driving and never look back.  She could do it too!  She could just find a small town somewhere,
hideaway and never enter this evil house again. 

But what would happen to Sierra?  She couldn’t leave her sister to endure a future with Jimmy.   Sierra was only eighteen years old, much too young to be facing a wedding to a man she didn’t like.  And Marissa knew that Sierra disliked Jimmy.  They’d talked about the men coming through her father’s house on several occasions and Jimmy just had a look about him, something that told both girls that he was cruel in ways they couldn’t even imagine. 

Marissa shuddered and pulled her car over to the curb, afraid she might get into an accident as she fought down the emotions that felt like they might smother her at any moment. 

She couldn’t leave.  If she took off and headed out of town, w
here would Sierra be?  Still married to a gross, disgusting man without her big sister to protect her and warn her of the dangers lurking everywhere, but the worst ones being inside their own home. 

How could her father order something like this
of his own daughter?  Oh, yeah.  He wanted grandsons!  What a chauvinistic pig!  Her father deemed that boys were the only ones willing and able to follow in his footsteps.  He’d always railed against fate that had given him two daughters instead of sons that he could train to take over the family business.  She had to laugh because he was actually right in that area.  Both of his daughters abhorred his business. 

She leaned her head against the steering wheel, feeling furious and impotent. 
Why couldn’t she and Sierra have been born into a normal family?  Why couldn’t they have been part of a family where the father cared about his children?  Why wasn’t her father a man who wanted his offspring to sprout their own wings and fly?  Why had her mother had to die of cancer so many years ago?  Maybe if she’d been allowed to live, her mother could have stepped in and stopped her father’s crazy marriage plans. 

That raised a more realistic
question, why couldn’t her father just pass on his criminal life to one of his lieutenants?  Or one of his nephews if he wanted to keep the businesses in the family?  He had several, many of whom were eager to learn more about the criminal enterprises they all seemed to thrive on!  She probably had ten male cousins, all of whom were currently running some aspect of her father’s businesses.  It was only the women who weren’t allowed to join the gang. 

Well, they were actually
part of the family business.  Their roles were to contribute to the wealth of the family through marriage and giving birth to the next generation of criminals.  It was disgusting how this whole business was so dynastic.  She knew that other fathers, and mothers for that matter, hoped to pass on their legacy to their children and grandchildren.  But those enterprises weren’t illegal!  They weren’t brutal!  They weren’t teaching their offspring to shoot, kill and maim! 

Her head fell onto the steering wheel and she
stifled her anger and resentment so she could figure out what to do.  She had to come up with a plan so she drove to one of her favorite coffee shops.  Once she was sitting by the window, a cup of tea warming her hands, she went through the possibilities, considered all her options.  She could ask Zeke to marry her, but of course he would tell her no.  The man had been quite clear on his intentions and, although they involved the marriage bed, they didn’t include a marriage. 

But the alternative, marrying Jimmy, was abhorrent! 
Fat, disgusting, evil Jimmy was not an option!  She couldn’t do that.  Nor could she leave Sierra and allow her to fall victim to the fate her father had planned out for either of his daughters.  The thought of letting Sierra marry Zeke didn’t even enter her mind. 

She’d just have to do it, she realized.  Somehow, some way, she’d have to marry Zeke. 

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Marissa stated, clutching her purse tightly so Zeke couldn’t see how badly her fingers were shaking.

Zeke watched the pale, nervous beauty enter his office.  He
observed her carefully, his eyes noticing that she barely moved inside the doors.  It was almost as if she were afraid to enter although why that would be the case, he wasn’t sure.  His mind took in all of the details and realized that something was extremely wrong.  “I was thrilled to hear of your request to see me.  But I’ll admit, I’m curious as to why.  Our conversation two days ago was interrupted abruptly and I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you so soon.”  He gestured to a sofa and chairs set up in one corner of his office, indicating she should sit there instead of in the comfortable looking chairs in front of his desk. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

Marissa immediately started shaking her head, but then changed her mind.  “Do you have any water?  Water would be nice.  I’d really
appreciate some water,” she replied, then realized she was rambling and forced herself to stop speaking, pressing her lips together as if she doubted her ability to cease. 

She looked down at the floor, her mind not seeing the expensive carpeting or the magnificent view of the city’s skyline outside the amazing windows.  Vaughn Enterprises was
located in the heart of Chicago with views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.  She didn’t care about any of this, wishing with all her heart that this man wasn’t so successful.  If he weren’t, her father wouldn’t be trying to pull him into the organization, her father wouldn’t be demanding that she marry him and she wouldn’t be in this painfully awkward position about to do something that violated every one of her moral codes.