My grandfather wouldn’t accept any less from her daughter.

Her throat bobbed and I could see some fear in her eyes. She was in an ocean without a boat.

How she softened me like this, I’ll never know. “My grandfather and I run a large scale operation in the black market. Arms, drugs, shit like that. Your properties across the globe are places we use as meeting points and safe houses. My grandfather expects complete cooperation.”

She shook her head, partly confused, and partly horrified. The welcome party to the elites and how we ran the world must have felt like a bullet to the chest. From the little information I had about her and her mothers relationship, it appeared her mother shielded her too much from the shit show that was the top one percent.

One didn’t get rich and stay clean at the same time. If you believed that, you’d be a fool.

“I don’t...” she trailed off, her face said horrified and her body slumped into a hopeless pile in her chair.

Hopefully she didn’t puke again.

“I know,” I replied, voice soft. “But it’s better you find out now so you can prepare yourself for what comes next. Leadership.” I stood up to gather the food and put it in the fridge. No cleaning for her while her worldview kept crumbling day by day.

She stood when I did, legs shaky, trying to find her footing. “Is it bad that I keep feeling like something horrible is about to happen at any moment?”

I pondered that while sealing up the food, placing it all in the fridge. “I think I would say that’s a normal response. If you weren’t, I’d say you fit right in with the rest of us. Paranoia is a natural feeling and a lot of people feel it. My grandfather gets paranoid. Granted, it’s in a different way.”

“And what’s your motive for being here? Why are you here?”

Her question made me stop and look at her. Why she consumed my thoughts would be a better question. Why was I drawn to her, wanting her to drag me under with her?

“It’s in both of our best interests that I help you,” I said quietly, closing up the fridge.

“What about before the scandal crap?”

“What about it? I told you before that you’re different and I liked it. What’s so difficult about me being interested in you for more than one reason?”

She approached me, big blue eyes staring up at me. They had a sheen across them–sadness glazing them over. Her brows furrowed while her mind worked, but her face held the most innocent thinking expression. I almost melted into the floor.

Laying a hand on my chest, breathing deeply, she spoke softly. “You’re Brent Vaughn.”