Chapter 147: Chemistry with her bodyguard.

Gideon

"This is child abuse!" Irene screamed, kicking around her father’s study.

Fitzgerald poured himself a second glass of whiskey and watched his daughter with tired eyes. "See what I have to deal with?"

"Isn’t it a bit too hasty?" I asked, setting my beer glass down on his desk. "Irene isn’t ready. She’s twenty two."

"Twenty two and wild," Fitzgerald grumbled.

"She’s a Fitzgerald. She has every bit of my stubbornness in her. Last month she got detained at a casino, of all places."

"That was a misunderstanding," Irene whined.

"Dad, come on. Can you bear to see me married? I’m your little princess."

Her father ignored her pouting and drained half his glass. "If she’s married, she’ll settle down. Besides, Stanley is a good kid. He’s a doctor!"

"G!" She pointed at me. "You have to convince him. You have to. I’m not ready."

"Calm down," I said.

"I cannot calm down!" She whirled on her father.

"Daddy, seriously? Stanley Blanchflower? Even his name sounds so... icky!"

"That’s a prominent name in the business world, Irene."

Irene threw her hands up. "It’s a plant. You’re marrying me to a plant, Daddy."

"Blanchflower, Blackflower, Blankflower, I will not remember it, because I will not be marrying him!"

She flopped into the armchair beside me, crossed her arms and gazed up at me with wide, pleading eyes. "G. Tell him. Tell him I need more time. Tell him I’m blooming."

I chuckled. Irene’s antics were quite adorable. Behind us at the doorway, her bodyguard folded his arms and watched her.

"Fitzgerald. Why the rush?"

"Grandchildren," he replied curtly. "I’m not getting younger, Gideon. And this girl needs a leash."

"Leash," Irene muttered. "Great, I’m a dog now."

"You behave like one."

"That’s..." She paused, considering it. "That’s fair."

My lips tugged up slightly, but it fizzled away as soon as Fitzgerald leaned forward. "There is nothing to discuss, Knight. I know she begged you to come all the way here to change my mind. This is your fault too."

I arched a brow, and he scoffed. "Don’t give me that look. You and I spoiled her. I thought when I handed her to you and your brothers, you would be stricter with her. I spoil her, you caution her, and now look, we’ve both spoiled her and she behaves like this."

I had never heard a more ridiculous shifting of blame in my life, but it was amusing to watch a business mogul lose his mind over his precious daughter. Something I might never be able to experience.

"The wedding is in six months, and that’s as far as I’ll extend it." He stood and adjusted his jacket. "Unless she finds a more suitable husband in the meantime, in which case I’ll consider it."

He left the study, and Irene’s face crumpled.

"Oh, he doesn’t get it," she whispered. "Does he really think a ring is going to make me behave? Stanley doesn’t even know me. Stanley thinks my favorite thing is quiet time. What the fuck even is that?"

"Language, Ren."

She fixed me with a glare. "Kai curses all the bloody time."

"Is your name Kai?"

"Ugh, so much double standards," she groaned, and tears began sliding down her cheeks.

"Hey," I said, reaching out to pat her hair, but the sound of heavy footsteps boomed from behind me and Duke immediately crouched and brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumb, his whole hand covering the side of her face.

Irene sniffled and turned into him, burying her face in his chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

My brows shot up. Duke’s hand settled on the back of her head. His eyes met mine over her head, and he glared straight at me.

Don’t say a word, Knight.

Now that was interesting. Was Fitzgerald totally blind to this?

I sat there watching them for a moment as she buried her face deeper against him. The sight looked rather familiar... shit.

Before I could stop it, another image slid into my head. Brown hair spread across a pillow in my villa. A soft, warm body curled into my side, a cheek smushed against my chest, one leg slung over my thigh and a small hand fisted in the sheet near my ribs.

I shoved the image down to the fiery past of my mind where it belonged. I would not waste my time and thoughts on a traitor. So why could I still hear her voice from yesterday afternoon at the coroner’s office?

Gideon...

I detested it. The study smelled of whiskey and old leather, and I dug my nails into my palm until the memory loosened its grip.

Irene pulled her face out of Duke’s chest, wiped her cheeks with her wrist, and then her eyes lit up. "Oh! Wait, G, I saw the news about Ivy. She’s Harper Kingsley?"

"That’s how it looks."

"Wow, I was so shocked! Why was she working as your housekeeper? Is it like some heiress test?" When she saw the confusion on my face, she shook her head. "Do you not watch those dramas? Like maybe her father makes her do weird jobs so she learns the value of money and stuff. The way Dad’s forcing me to marry Stanley."

Irene leaned back in her chair, and Duke rose and stepped back into his corner while she stretched. "That’s sad, actually."

I arched a brow. Sad? Sad that she had wormed her way into our lives and stabbed me square in the chest?

"No, really." She pulled her knees up on the chair. "It’s so sad. She’s rich and all, she had everything. Why would she give that up to scrub floors, wear a uniform and work for you guys? I heard her mom’s dead like mine too. Her dad has to be forcing her or something. She would not have put herself through that for fun... Hey, where are you going?"

"Since you’re much more stable now, I should go. Stop throwing tantrums for your father. He only wants what’s best for you."

"Ugh, I know what’s best for me, and it’s definitely not Stanley Blackflower or whatever his name is."

There was no arguing with Irene, so I rose from my seat and walked toward the door.

"I know she was more than a housekeeper to you guys, and she’s pretty nice..."

"Tell your father I’ve gone."

"You’re just running away, G. Just say that," she mumbled, wincing when I glanced at her before striding out of the study.

There was no arguing with Irene. I usually left that to Kai. Since the situation was under control, I left the Fitzgeralds and sank into the backseat of my car while my chauffeur drove down the highway. I was scrolling through my schedule for tomorrow when he spoke up.

"Sir? I do not mean to disturb you, but... there’s a car that has been following us."