Read Online Ambition: A Dark Billionaire Romance Anthology by Lauren Landish, Lauren Landish - Free Book Online Page B

The owner gave us free lunches, but with the caveat that we could only take thirty minutes to eat, and we had to use chopsticks. I got to the point that I could fit a lot of my daily caloric needs into a thirty minute window of binge eating while working for minimum wage, no tips."
    "Really? You mentioned some of it yesterday, but I have to admit, I didn't really pay attention to your stump speech during your campaign. I live in The Heights right now, and on the north side before that."
    Patrick chewed on his shrimp for a moment before answering. "Well, I'll be honest, it's not something I normally talk over with lunch. Think you'd be willing to trade?"
    "What sort of trade?"
    “I’ll tell you about my life, and you tell me about yours. I'll even be the nice guy and start off."
    I took a sip of the iced oolong tea that the restaurant had included and nodded. "Sure, why not. But I get to ask questions. If you don't want to answer them, you just have to say so, but no lying."
    "Deal. All right, so the basics. Yeah, I was born in Mercy Hospital twenty eight years ago. I have no idea who my father was, and my mom was, well, troubled. The state took me away from her when I was two."
    "What happened?" I asked.
    "Abuse, both of me and of herself through drugs. I spent the next sixteen years bouncing through the state systems, mostly within the city. I did get to do some summer camps upstate though, which were fun, but by junior high school the system pretty much didn't give a damn about me. I got into a lot of trouble during my teen years, which carried on until I was twenty one."
    "What happened then?" I asked. "Or is it my turn?"
    Patrick shook his head and continued. "A friend of mine got shot down in The Playground, and I missed getting killed at the same time by about three inches. Since then, I tried what I could to get out of the life, and keep myself on the right side of the law. I haven't always been able to, but on the other hand my arrest record is clean since I turned eighteen, mostly due to luck than anything else considering what I was mixed up with for three years. Your turn."
    I chuckled darkly and ate another bite of my food, which had lost some of its delicious flavor. "I'm pretty much the opposite. My family is down in Florida, where my father owns three car dealerships in the upstate area, the biggest near Pensacola. Ah, after high school I wanted to find success on my own, so I came up here. My parents understand, even if Daddy doesn't really like it, but he's got my brother to take over the business when he's ready to retire. I think in a lot of ways they're a bit relieved that I moved up north anyway, I was always a PR disaster waiting to happen with them."
    "How so?"
    Shaking my head, I smiled and chewed my food. "Sorry, maybe the next time we get together. Let's just say that I don't exactly fit in around the Florida culture, even in the more openminded places like Tallahassee. But, I came up here, found myself comfortable for the first time, and have stayed. My parents and I don't really talk much any more, but that's more due to just lack of common ground than anything else. All right, my turn. What made you run for city council, and don't tell me my boss."
    Patrick laughed and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
    "Go ahead. I've got quite the capacity for tall tales and bullshit. Besides, I may just be able to blow your mind as well with some of the things I've seen and done."
    Setting his chopsticks aside, Patrick scooped up some of the leftover orange chicken into his tray, followed by some ginger pork. "Well, like I said I ran with a pretty rough crowd during my teen years. You noticed my tattoos yesterday, and I regret to say that some of them are associated with the Confederation. I'm ashamed to say that yes, for a while there I did some stuff for them. Thankfully nothing too extreme, but still, not exactly the sort of tales that I want to tell my future children. Anyway, even