Page 65 of Snow

Her brows furrowed. “What does that mean?”

A faintly satisfied look crossed his face. “Last week I had the paperwork drawn up.”

“You already had it prepared?” she asked, looking surprised.

“I did,” Leonard replied calmly. “Signed and notarized. As of last Wednesday, Nova is the sole owner of the firm, which means once she marries, fifty percent of the ownership will go to Rick.”

“Merrick’s been patient,” Leonard continued. “He’ll get his money back through Rick’s half of the ownership, and the firm stays protected. Nova can consider it a wedding gift. It’s a win-win for all parties involved,” he said with a smirk.

Erica gave him a hesitant look before nodding. “I trust you. I just pray all this sneaking around doesn’t backfire on us.”

Leonard waved the concern off without hesitation. “It won’t. Once Nova and Rick are married, everything will settle down exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

And deep down, Leonard believed that completely. Nova might be angry for a while, but eventually she would realize this marriage protected the family, the firm, and her future, whether she understood it now or not.

◆◆◆

Rob stood motionless in the dim hallway outside his father’s office as he listened to his parents’ conversation through the partially cracked door.

He had come over to the house to talk with his dad about a possible investment deal tied to one of his new development projects downtown.

The housekeeper had let him in. When he got to his dad’s office and was about to knock, he paused when he heard Nova’s name mentioned.

Rob felt physically sick listening to his parents calmly discuss manipulating Nova into marrying a man who had already cheated on her, all while planning a public engagement announcement behind her back like it was some brilliant business strategy. Every word out of his father’s mouth made the anger inside him intensify.

But then the conversation shifted to some agreement with Rick’s dad. It sounded like his father owed Rick’s dad some serious money. There was no other explanation for his dad signing ownership of the firm over to Nova while quietly slipping a clause into the paperwork that would hand Rick half ownership and a partnership the second they married.

Rob’s hands curled into tight fists at his sides. It was no secret that his father could be controlling, manipulative, and calculating, but this crossed into something darker. His father had practically turned Nova into a bargaining chip to save himself financially.

This wasn’t about love, family, or even appearances anymore. His sister had become collateral in whatever financial mess his father had buried himself in.

The worst part was how calm his father sounded while discussing it. The man sounded like he was discussing a merger agreement instead of his daughter’s life. And his mother wasn’t an innocent party in this either.

Rick cheating on Nova had already infuriated Rob enough to drive to the guy’s penthouse and put him through a wall. But hearing this made it so much worse because now he understood why their parents had pushed Rick on Nova so hard all these years. It had never really been about love, compatibility, or wanting Nova to be happy. It was nothing but a business transaction. And Nova had no idea.

It sounded as if his parents and Rick’s parents were counting on the fact that Nova would never create a public scandal or embarrass the family by denying it.

A wave of anger surged through Rob so hard he nearly shoved the office door open right then and there. He and his brother had a feeling that their father was up to something. And now he knew. Every instinct in him screamed to walk in and demand what the hell was wrong with them. To defend Nova. To tell his father he had lost his damn mind. But he stopped himself, because barging in angry wouldn’t help Nova right now.

What she needed was a plan and a team in her corner. And maybe that was what twisted at Rob’s chest the most as he stood there listening. He and his brother hadn’t been lying when they told Nova how sorry they were for not stepping in sooner when they knew that she had been carrying the weight of the family expectations almost entirely, all the while they and Sophia pulled away from the family.

But Nova had hung in there, taking a job at their father’s firm, protecting the family reputation while trying to make everyone happy. And somewhere along the line, all of them, including Rob, had let that become normal without realizing how unfair it really was.

His jaw tightened harder as he slowly stepped back from the office door. Through the crack, he could still hear his father talking confidently about how “everything would work itself out,” like manipulating his daughter’s future was perfectly reasonable.

Rob quietly turned and moved down the hallway, careful not to make a sound. The last thing he wanted was for his parents to realize someone had overheard the conversation before he had time to figure out what to do next. Because Rob already knew one thing with absolute certainty. There was no way in hell he was letting this happen to Nova.

He slipped out the front door unnoticed. His pulse was still pounding with anger as he crossed the driveway toward his truck. Once he climbed inside, he pulled out his phone and dialed his brother.

The second Wallace answered, Rob didn’t waste time. “Hey, I’m in the truck right now, but can you conference in Sophia?”

“Uh, yeah. What’s going on?” Wallace asked.

“I just found out what Dad’s been hiding, and it’s not good for Nova.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Nova sat at the makeshift desk in the rig’s office, her laptop open in front of her as she nibbled on a granola bar and reread Paige’s email.