Page 21 of Twisted Knight

A ghost of a smile flickers on his lips, almost as if I’m a mouse and he’s the cat having fun batting at me, but he doesn’t answer.

If I was uneasy before, I’m even more so now.

“Look. I’ve dreamed of running it since I was a child, and I’m not letting you take that from me.”

His sigh is condescending at best, the chuckle that follows even more so. “I admire a woman who knows what she wants … but this is my dream too, Miss Rothschild. One I’ve waited way too long to have. And nothing—nothing—will get in my way of having it.”

His cryptic response has me taking a step closer. “I’ll get in your way, and I’ll enjoy every second of it.”

“I think you’re forgetting that we’re on the same team here.”

I snort and take a few steps back, our eyes still locked on each other’s before I turn on my heel.

“I think what you meant to say was ‘thank you,’” he says at my back.

I turn to face him. “Come again?”

“Thank you. I believe those were the words waiting to come off your tongue. Thank you for saving my family’s company. Thank you for making sure it doesn’t devalue to nothing. Thank you for not firing the current management on the spot like they deserve to be.”

“I don’t need saving. Not by you. Not by anyone.”

“What? You were going to single-handedly come in and turn things around yourself when it’s clear the golden boy disregards you and your intelligence?”

His words sting but I take the hit on the chin. “Yes. I had a plan. A proposal drawn up. I was possibly coming into some money. Had planned to buy out—”

“Possibly? A trust fund, I presume, then? How … Westmore elite of you.”

I work a swallow down my throat as I force myself to think before I speak. But screw decorum. Screw manners. Screw him.

“You get off on this, don’t you?”

His eyes scrape up and down my body, doing way more than just unnerving me. “Oh, Sunshine, you have no idea.” And when I stalk out of the conference room, ire adding the extra sway to my hips, the chuckle he emits carries down the hall after me.

SIX

Rowan

“Row. Wait up!”

The sound of Chad’s voice doesn’t cause a break in my stride as I make my way down the empty hallway. It seems everyone who was in the meeting got out of here in a hurry. “Go away,” I say over my shoulder.

I need fresh air. I need a second so my skin doesn’t feel like it’s suffocating me. I need the silence of being locked in my car so I can sit and think and process and … scream at the top of my lungs if I want.

“Please. Let me explain,” he huffs as he jogs to catch up and then falls in step beside me.

“Being blindsided is pretty self-explanatory if you ask me.”

He reaches out to grab my arm to stop me, and it takes everything I have not to yank it away and plow it into his stomach.

“Rhett made me promise to keep this under wraps.” His eyes search mine. “He’s the top dog here. You know that. If I had told you, you would have marched right in there and blasted him, ruined the deal … sent all the employees running scared.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“C’mon. I know you, Rowan. Are you telling me I’m wrong?” He lifts his brows, and I can’t deny that he’s right.

“I had a right to know, Chad.”

He hangs his head for a beat and nods. “You did. Rhett’s made a mess out of this place and when Holden approached us a few weeks back, it was like his offer was hand-tailored to what we needed. Capital. Retention of operating control. His experience navigating various marketplaces.”