His fangs retreated; he bowed his head, and backed up toward the control switches.
“Well, the next time you see me…you will know.” She revved the motor and rushed forward into the gates.
Parking the motorcycle next to her father’s Rolls Royce, she wasted no time as she made her way through the front door.
Arianna passed a maid dusting in the main room and found her father in the dining hall eating breakfast. When she entered, he looked up from his platter.
She pulled out a chair at the far end of the table and sat down.
Her father put down his fork, regarding her studiously. “Are you ready?”
The nerve of him to ask her that. “No, I actually came to tell you that I’m not doing it.”
“I see.”
“What led you to make such an agreement with the Zeldanos?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want the real truth?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in the chair. “Nothing but the truth.”
“The Zeldanos have been a client of mine forever. Our liaison started back with my great-grandfather. They have been silent investors in many of my endeavors…the most recent one includes the purchase three casinos and resorts out west.”
Her father had always been one to invest in land and property, so this was no surprise to her.
“Why would you need the Zeldano’s to invest?”
“More capital, of course,” he said. “I’ve limited resources.”
“It’s because you have been gambling away your liquid capital, and losing. Just a year ago, you bought into an expansion of a strip mall in California that never came to fruition.”
“I’ve failed, yes…but I also succeed.”
Lately, it had been less of the later.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why did you promise me in an arranged pairing?”
“It was something that I felt needed to be done at the time. Luther and I wanted to ensure a certain degree of nobility in our offspring. This union ensures it.”
“So you honestly believe that I will bear children with Ivan.”
“When you were little, you told me many times how you wanted to live in the biggest castle and wear the prettiest dresses…”
“Times have changed,” Arianna said. “I am no longer a child, and those were only fairy tales.”
“For my daughter, I only want the best. Do you know how much the Zeldano’s are worth?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t care.”
Her father got up and sauntered over to the corner of the room next to the small bar area. “You don’t care now, because you don’t understand how beneficial this will be.”
“To you, you mean?”
“To both of us. For you the most. When I am dead and buried, who will carry on my name and my legacy?”
“I will do this,” she said.
“You will, but I trust Ivan Zeldano to carry on the business I have done. Their goals and mine are aligned, you see.”
“No, I don’t see.” She got up and joined him on the other side of the granite-lined counter tops.
“You have to understand that things changed when your mother passed carrying my only son with her.”
Arianna bowed her head and swallowed the rising lump in her throat. “I may not be a son, but I am still your child. Like you, I never wanted to see our family being lowered in ranks like this, but that is something that fate decided for us in this life and something we must accept.”
The Klein’s had once been one of the most influential families linked to the human branch of Caedmons. As soon as it was known that Mr. Klein had no son and that his wife had died, they fell down the noble ladder giving way to others to take the top spot.
Arianna didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about being on the top. Being on the top never ensured their happiness before.
He poured two ounces of whiskey over several cubes of ice. “I believe we can change fate.”
“If my brother had lived, then what…?”
“These plans were in place before your brother was ever conceived. My son is not here to carry on the business as
“Well, the next time you see me…you will know.” She revved the motor and rushed forward into the gates.
Parking the motorcycle next to her father’s Rolls Royce, she wasted no time as she made her way through the front door.
Arianna passed a maid dusting in the main room and found her father in the dining hall eating breakfast. When she entered, he looked up from his platter.
She pulled out a chair at the far end of the table and sat down.
Her father put down his fork, regarding her studiously. “Are you ready?”
The nerve of him to ask her that. “No, I actually came to tell you that I’m not doing it.”
“I see.”
“What led you to make such an agreement with the Zeldanos?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want the real truth?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in the chair. “Nothing but the truth.”
“The Zeldanos have been a client of mine forever. Our liaison started back with my great-grandfather. They have been silent investors in many of my endeavors…the most recent one includes the purchase three casinos and resorts out west.”
Her father had always been one to invest in land and property, so this was no surprise to her.
“Why would you need the Zeldano’s to invest?”
“More capital, of course,” he said. “I’ve limited resources.”
“It’s because you have been gambling away your liquid capital, and losing. Just a year ago, you bought into an expansion of a strip mall in California that never came to fruition.”
“I’ve failed, yes…but I also succeed.”
Lately, it had been less of the later.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why did you promise me in an arranged pairing?”
“It was something that I felt needed to be done at the time. Luther and I wanted to ensure a certain degree of nobility in our offspring. This union ensures it.”
“So you honestly believe that I will bear children with Ivan.”
“When you were little, you told me many times how you wanted to live in the biggest castle and wear the prettiest dresses…”
“Times have changed,” Arianna said. “I am no longer a child, and those were only fairy tales.”
“For my daughter, I only want the best. Do you know how much the Zeldano’s are worth?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t care.”
Her father got up and sauntered over to the corner of the room next to the small bar area. “You don’t care now, because you don’t understand how beneficial this will be.”
“To you, you mean?”
“To both of us. For you the most. When I am dead and buried, who will carry on my name and my legacy?”
“I will do this,” she said.
“You will, but I trust Ivan Zeldano to carry on the business I have done. Their goals and mine are aligned, you see.”
“No, I don’t see.” She got up and joined him on the other side of the granite-lined counter tops.
“You have to understand that things changed when your mother passed carrying my only son with her.”
Arianna bowed her head and swallowed the rising lump in her throat. “I may not be a son, but I am still your child. Like you, I never wanted to see our family being lowered in ranks like this, but that is something that fate decided for us in this life and something we must accept.”
The Klein’s had once been one of the most influential families linked to the human branch of Caedmons. As soon as it was known that Mr. Klein had no son and that his wife had died, they fell down the noble ladder giving way to others to take the top spot.
Arianna didn’t care about that. She didn’t care about being on the top. Being on the top never ensured their happiness before.
He poured two ounces of whiskey over several cubes of ice. “I believe we can change fate.”
“If my brother had lived, then what…?”
“These plans were in place before your brother was ever conceived. My son is not here to carry on the business as
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