“No! This is too much. I won’t accept it,” I objected.
“Baby, why don’t you just relax and let your old man handle things?” He kissed me on the cheek. “I told you I took care of everything.”
I scoffed, glancing at poor Carson, who was wiping his sweaty forehead now without saying a word. He just nodded in agreement.
“Dandy. And just so you know, she might still beMiss Meneceo, but she’ll be treated asMrs. Lazzarini, yeah?”
“Of course,” Carson said.
Furore slapped the arm of his chair and rose to his feet. “Let’s roll.” Ty stood, too, following him to the door. I didn’t move, in awe. Furore tilted his head, nudging me. “Baby, we’re going.”
I scowled at him, grasping what just happened. “I… I’m not accepting this job without a proper interview.”
“Baby, it’s done. Let’s go.”
Furore might be a powerful gangster that could coerce people to do his bidding, but I realized something important. I, too, had power. Over him, myol’ man. While I had changed my mind to teach at a school where Ty was a student for Ty’s sake, not Furore’s, my ol’ man still wanted me to go through with that plan, which made me have the upper hand here. I’d do it my way. “If I leave here without presenting a class and get approved based on being a good teacher, I’m not taking this job,baby.”
*****
The HoD, Mr. Chance, a man in his late forties in a blue suit, wearing glasses, took the lesson plan sheets I’d prepared after I finished the demo and smiled at me. “I’m not going to lie to you. Principal Carson told me this interview was just a formality.”
My fist clenched. “I insist on being treated like any other applicant. I’ll only accept this job if I qualify for it.”
“Well, in all honesty, I didn’t expect either that attitude…or that performance.” He gave me a small smile. “Miss Meneceo, you genuinely impressed me. Welcome to Westfield.”
I grinned. “Thank you so much.”
“What baffles me, though, how a woman of your intellect can be associated with someone like your boyfriend.”
In other words, “How could an innocent, well-educated teacher be that dumb to be in love with a gangster from the Night Skulls?” Well, I wasn’t innocent, and no education in the world could sway a heart from what it wanted. “My personal life is my business, Mr. Chase.”
“The Night Skulls is going to stand in the way of what could be a bright future for you, Miss Meneceo.”
Something dark rippled in me. An urge I couldn’t ignore. “Tread carefully, Mr. Chase. The Night Skulls are my family and my home. I won’t tolerate any offense of any kind regarding them.” I wouldn’t let anyone trash Furore or the club.
He pushed his thick glasses up his nose and cleared his throat. “Duly noted.”
“Great.” I was glad he understood the threat underneath my words. For years, I’d kept my head low, feeling weak and defenseless on the inside even if I projected a different energy. A few days with Furore, and things were changing for me. I smiled as Mr. Chase opened the door, liking this new power I began to discover in me, the power of belonging to the Night Skulls, the power of belonging to Furore.
“My secretary will email you the schedule,” he said, frowning at Furore, who had been waiting with Ty outside all the time—after he’d threatened to chop Mr. Chase’s hand off if he’d even thought about touching me in that closed classroom. “We look forward to working with you, Miss Meneceo. Have a good day.”
Furore wrapped a possessive arm around my waist. “You, too.” He induced enough fear in Mr. Chase with a glare before he spun and walked me outside, Ty next to us, baring his teeth at his father’s arm.
I slipped out of Furore’s embrace. While I loved snuggling into him, the last thing I wanted was another fight between them at the place I worked. “You didn’t have to wait for me outside the whole time. I’m not a baby, and you know you’re not my father, right?”
“I do. Your father is a piece of shit fuck I’ll kill the second I see. But,” he lifted me and placed me on his bike, while I yelped, “you are my baby girl. I’ll protect you, spoil you, take care of you,” he slapped my butt, “and spank you if I have to.”
“Laius,” I bit under my breath, heat burning my cheeks, looking around me to see if anybody was close enough to witness.
“The next time you undermine my authority in front of someone I wouldn’t let shine my boots, it won’t be just a spank. That piece of shit Carson might look fancy to you, but he’s a stupid gambler with a heavy debt I now own. I have him by the balls. You can’t make me or you look weak in front of him, you hear?” He put on his sunglasses and straddled the bike. “Stick your tits on my back and hold tight.”
CHAPTER 14
Tirone
“Did you not say you want to go shopping?” I had to say something, anything to keep his hand off my girl. “I wanna buy shit, too. Let’s go to the mall.”
“I’ll take you both later tonight. I have to head back. I have to meet someone,” Furore said.