Free RequiredSurrender by Riley Murphy

and tried not to scowl. It was a picture of Jo when she was
much younger. Early teens or there about. The inscription on the bottom in
thick adolescent-type lettering read, “To my pal, my friend, my hero! Love you,
Boo Boo”.
    If he’d had any doubt before that this fucker had it coming
there wasn’t a doubt in his mind now. Jo had trusted this guy with her heart
and the bastard had ripped it out of her chest and stomped on it.
    “Sit, sit.” Patel waited for Ted to sit in one of the two
wing chairs opposite his desk before he sat himself. “After corresponding with
your attorneys, I’m excited to have this opportunity to meet you. What would
you like to know about the foundation? I sent them all the information. The
pamphlets and the financials. Were they able to speak to any of the other
donors?”
    Ted didn’t have a fucking clue, but he nodded anyway. “Of
course. Now, I have a tradition, Anjay, can I call you that?” He didn’t wait
for an answer and continued. “Where I come from, when my lawyers say it’s on
the up and up I say okay. The only thing left to do is drink to it.”
    He let Anjay get his head around the concept for a second
and then said, “I’m a simple man and as such I believe when a guy decides to
donate a hundred thousand dollars to another man’s pet project they should have
a drink together.” He pulled the small, limited-edition bottle of Patron out of
his coat pocket and placed it on the desk between them. With a smile he said,
“I won’t take no for an answer.”
    “A hundred thousand?”
    “Yes. Do you have any glasses around here?”
    Anjay’s brown eyes widened and he jumped all over that.
“Yes. Yes, right here.” He produced two tumblers, pushing them to Ted across
his perfectly neat desk.
    “Great.” Once he’d poured a couple of fingers in each glass
he slid Anjay’s back to him. “Here’s hoping you get everything that you
deserve.” He toasted and leaned forward to clink glasses. When he put his glass
to his lips he was careful not to get any liquid near his mouth. He just held
the glass there until Anjay swallowed.
    Then he slowly put his glass down and eyed the smiling
bastard until the bastard’s smile wavered and confusion donned in his rapidly
hazing-over eyes.
    “Huh,” Ted reached across and took the glass from his hand.
“I bet you’re feeling a little funny right about now.”
    Anjay tried to speak but couldn’t and when he made a sloppy
grab for the phone Ted pushed it aside.
    “It’s really not nice when your control is taken. I mean,
personally I’m all about a woman giving up control to me, but that’s different,
isn’t it? I work hard to earn that right. I don’t steal it from her.”
    Anjay’s head lolled so Ted leaned over the desk and helped
him keep his jaw steady. “I want you to pay attention. That hundred grand? I’ve
decided I don’t want to donate it to your cause after all.”
    He tried to shake his head but Ted wouldn’t let him. “How
does it feel, you fucker? To have something you were looking forward to,
something that excited you, turn to shit? That’s what happens when someone you
trust steals your innocence. It takes a toll and leaves a mark. I don’t like
you, Patel, so be warned. I’m watching you.”
    He gave him another shake to get him focused. “Trust me, you
don’t want to piss me off. And upsetting any woman you know will make me mad,
you understand? Upset Jo or tell anyone about my little visit with you today
and I’ll gladly tell the world what you did. They’ll deport your sorry ass so
fast you’ll be back in your mother country operating by candlelight. No more
state-of-the-art digs for you. I heard about the complex you’re trying to buy.
Great location. Too bad you’ll be turned down for that grant you were hoping to
use as your down payment. They seem to have lost the paperwork. I guess you’ll
have to find the cash somewhere else if you don’t want to lose what you’ve
already