Psychotic Maniac

Chapter 46

"Be better." she was saying. "We both could keep the people we love safe."

He pulled himself from all the other noises and faced her. "You can't beat a monster without being a bigger monster."

.........

I'm in. Carlos texted. I'll text as soon as I find something.

Edward's reflection was staring back at him when he entered the empty elevator. His tired eyes were now rejuvenating with positivity. He fixed his tie and unpocketed Jay's watch that he'd been keeping with himself, wondering why he had it on him in the first place.

The door dinged open and he veered out, heading for the conference room. Slipping the watch inside his coat, he went in.

The lack of chatter or mechanical noises from the projector made him question if he was in the right room. He squinted his eyes down at the big round table in the middle of the room and three sets of eyes greeted him.

He guessed correctly why his assistant was not on duty today.

"I wasn't told you were doing the presentation, Mr. Parker," Edward said to the oldest of the three.

"My presentation may begin any time now but I still prefer a jury over this boring gray room any day." The lawyer joked back.

"If you two are done," Benji slipped in, feigning boredom. "Let's just get over with. Jasper and I  need to be somewhere, you know, more fun."

His friend Jasper, now bald due to the stitches from the wounds Edward caused was looking nowhere normal. The stoic look on his face was still bearing the bruises he had left.

Mr. Parker, their lawyer, unaffected, rolled his eyes and detached the file on the table. "Assuming you're already aware of the marriage between you and Benji's sister, we are here to present the nuptial agreement. In any case, this can't be altered."

Edward laughed out hard. "A nuptial agreement?" he said. "What is this? A joke?"

"We're businessmen," Benji said. "We all know marriages are lame excuses to merge our companies and etcetera etcetera. It's just that we have the upper hand in this marriage. So it's our call."

Edward slid the agreement back at him. "Take it and go fuck yourself."

"You think I want my sister to marry a bastard like you," Benji bit out.

Mr. Parker shot him a look. "Maintain some civilization, here, Mr. Hart."

But Edward liked where this conversation was going. "Will you leave us alone, Mr. Parker?"

He was taken aback. "No, I think—"

"Five minutes," he pressed. "We'll keep it civilized." and hesitatingly, after looking back and forth at them, he left the room. "So, Benji you were saying something?"

Cocking his head, he resumed. "I said my sister can't marry a bastard like you. Everybody knows you're not a real Blake. You don't even go by that name anymore." he said, feeling pleased with himself. "I did some digging. You dropped your father's name long ago. It solidifies the rumor about you. Although my dad, for some reason believes you're going to lead the company, not Elvis. But I know that's not gonna happen anytime soon...or later."

His nonsense was draining Edward's energy faster. "And what makes you think that?" he yawned at them.

Benji sneered but it was Jasper who spoke for the first time. "'Cause you're soon to be a dead meat."

"You children," he chuckled. "First get off your mommy's milk and grow some balls."

Jasper was on his feet, looking red, however Benji was pulling him down like the last time. "Knock it off," he told him, forcing him to sit down. When he did get down while keeping his bloodshot eyes trained on Edward, Benji cut through the tension. "Look we didn't come here to pick up a fight. I'm here to make an offer."