Chapter Two
Bruce's POV
Before.
"You're not still considering this, are you Bruce?" Aimee, my best friend, asked. His eyes were squinted.
"I'm not considering it. It's going to happen. Plans have been in motion and soon I get to begin." I said, trying to concentrate as Skyler continued to kiss me.
"You could get yourself killed. I heard Parker Harper is not what he seems to be on the outside. He will kill you if he discovers you have the slightest hint of how he got to become a billionaire." He warned.
"That's why he's going undercover." Skyler hissed before I could say anything.
Aimee glared at her, then glanced back at me. "You're going to get the organization shut down. Don't you care about the business you've dedicated your life in building?"
"That's why the company's yours for the time being. I trust you won't let me."
Suspecting that he wasn't going anyway, he threw his hands up, finally letting his frustration show. "It's been years, Bruce. Years. You have everything. You have more than what your father lost all those years ago. You're the richest man in Washington. Heck, you've made it life. Don't you think it's high time you let this grudge go?" He said and Skyler glared at him.
"That's what you think this is? A mere grudge?" I grew hot at his words.
"Man, you're a good guy but this is turning you into a monster."
"If I didn't know better I'd say you're in Parker Harper's payroll."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Aimee slammed his fist at the table, making Skyler jump.
I walked to the bar and poured myself a drink. It was a diversion. I'd rather do that than lunch my best friend for suggesting I let everything go. This was the reason I was now. It was all I could think about. All I could dream about. How one day the Harpers would be nothing but beggars. If they would eat out of trashcans, that would be lovely.
"This is happening. You either get to be a part of it or get out." Skyler sneered at Aimee. I smirked. She was the most loyal mistress I'd ever had.
"I saw my father kill himself. I was there. After Parker stormed into our lives and stole everything they both made from being partners. He shot himself and I finally have a shot at avenging him and you're telling me to let go?"
Aimee sighed. "I get that you want to make Parker Harper pay for everything he did to your father all those years ago, but isn't he the person you are supposed to be focused on? I've seen you plot and all you do talk about what you're planning to do with Dakota Harper. The girl wasn't even born when her father maliciously robbed your father."
I shrugged, not shaken slightly by what he just said. "I don't care if she'd been born or not. Parker's her father and that's enough reason to deal with her."
"Look, I know that Dakota Harper is annoying. Trust me there's no one she annoys more than me, but I also know that she doesn't deserve what you're about to do to her. We're talking a lifetime shame. You're about to turn the first family into puppets for crying out loud." Aimee tried to reason. "All for the sake of one man."
"When you see your father take his own life perhaps you'd understand. I don't want anything to do with Dakota Harper, trust me. But if she's going to help propel my plans forward then I'm going to use her. She has a nice body too, so I guess I'm gaining two things at a time." I said and Skyler chuckled.
"Just don't forget me when you start sleeping with the president's daughter."
"Never, darling, never."
Aimee sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing, Bruce."
"I'm certain of it."
***
Now.
I tried not to smile as the fake gunshots continued being fired. Skyler had promised she'd find the best gang for the job. I shouldn't have doubted her. Dakota Harper kept on screaming from the back. Her hands were over ears. Oh, how I hated her. I wanted her to suffer. She looked just like Parker.
"Stay down!" I said, swivelling down the road. People were screaming and running for cover. The shots continued for a few more minutes, then just as we had agreed, I lost them. Dakota was still crying when we pulled over to the white house.
Infront of the fountain, I turned the engine off and I got out and opened the door for her. She was still shaking. Parker Harper, Sophia Harper and a few bodyguards came running over to us. The plan was going well. If not better than I'd imagined.
"Dakota, honey. Are you okay? Tell me you're not hurt!" Parker said.
She shook her head. She'd seemed to have lost her voice. "I... I..." She stammered and Parker's hand encircled around her tightly.
"You're okay. You're okay." He kept on saying. When a few minutes had passed, he lowered his hands and took a step backward. He seemed embarrassed to have been seen displaying that kind of emotion in the presence of his staff. What kind of man worried about appearances at a time like this? Sophia went to hold her sister.
"Why are you wearing that?" He asked and everyone including Dakota's mouth hung open at his rebuke. "I have told you to stop dressing like that out in the public, people are going to talk. You're embarrassing Harry and I."
If I didn't hate Dakota so much I would have felt sorry for her. She quickly wiped her face and stared down at her sneakers. "I'm sorry."
"Daddy, not now, alright? You wouldn't be saying this if they brought her in her wounded, or worse, dead. She's alive, let's soak that in."
"I just don't want the CEO of my company out in public looking like a peasant. Is that too much to ask?" He glared at her. "And take those spectacles off, you look stupid." He ordered and she slowly removed the spectacles. Sophia looked like she wanted to burst into flames with anger at his words. Dakota's eyes filled and she quickly excused herself, then practically raced inside. Sophia followed close behind her, but not before glaring at her father first. The man was a monster and his daughter was even weaker than I thought.
He turned to me. He stared me down, then brought his hand for a handshake. "You saved my daughter's life. Thank you, Mr...?"
"Keller. Bruce Keller." Your worst nightmare.
"I don't recall putting you in charge of my daughter today. I don't even remember hiring you." He said, rubbing his sleep deprived eyes.
"Lorenzo recruited me last week, Mr President. He also had me covering for him today. He had to have his eyes checked at the hospital."
"And thank God he did. For all we know my daughter could have died in his care. He has never been a swift driver." He drew back, his eyes assessing me. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"
Of course you do, butthead. I'm the son of the man you robbed twenty five years ago. "I do not think so, Mr President. I wouldn't be so quick to forget had I ever been opportuned to be in the presence of the president."
"I guess you're right. Let's take this conversation to my office, shall we?" He started moving before I said anything. I followed closely behind, so did ten other armed men.
***
"I do not need a baby sitter!" Dakota's voice cracked even though it was loud. I didn't need a magician to know she was about to cry.
"After what happened today if it's still not clear to you that you need an around the clock bodyguard then you're even more stupid than I thought." Parker's fist slammed into the table.
Dakota turned to me, sending me more of those glares she'd been sending my way ever since she'd overheard her father telling me he wanted me to be her bodyguard around the clock. Everything was going beautifully, at the expense of Dakota obviously.
"Anyone! Anyone but him." She begged again her father.
"Why?" He demanded.
She looked away, her face reddening. Oh, she was still embarrassed about that morning. "Nothing. I just don't want him."
"Yeah, well, you're stuck with whether you approve or not, am I clear?" He demanded and in a matter of seconds, all the fire that was just in her green, beautiful eyes fled. She nodded.
"Good and please, ask the maids to help you do something more classy with your hair and your clothes. The king of England and his son, prince Jordan are on their way here this very minute."
A knock came at the door and when it opened, Skyler stepped inside the office. She had a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Here's your coffee, sir." She said, then winked at me when Parker and his daughter wasn't watching. The plan was going beyond great.