Page 50 of Threaded Lies

Shit.

“We need to talk. I … I was always going to fulfill my promise to you,” he says as I rise to my feet. “I knew Rhett wouldn’t sign the deal if I presented it to him with you having a board seat and voting shares. So we closed our deal, signed it per our original agreement, and then I had my legal team draw up documents to make these adjustments after.” I move to the door. “To create a new position so I could offer you a board seat.” I press my hands to it. “I was just waiting for it all to be completed.”

“I…”

“I know about Chad. Why you agreed to marry him.” My body stiffens. “It took me longer than it should have to figure it out, but I know all about the shares and the board seat that come with it. You don’t need that, you don’t need to go through with it because those are the same things I gave you today.”

I don’t respond. Can’t.

“I know you can hear me,” he says.

“I want to believe you, Holden, but … how can I trust you this time? How can I…” My voice breaks and I hate how weak I sound. I hate how much I want to hope but fear to.

“How can you trust me?” His voice rises in pitch with each word, disbelief peppered in every syllable. He barks out a self-deprecating laugh that borders on hysteria. “How about because I had those documents drawn up over a month ago. I never once balked on my promise to you.”

A month ago? I hate that those three words have hope bubbling up in a way I never knew I needed.

“I have proof of it, Rowan. Page after page of proof.”

I stare at my hand on the handle and will myself to walk away. Is it so wrong that I want to believe him? That I want to think the one person who I thought backed me actually did?

“C’mon, Sunshine. Open the door.” There’s a thud against the door and I swear he is resting his forehead there. I follow suit. “I’m going to assume you went to put the cuff links in my top drawer and saw the contract there. That you … that you thought I betrayed you. That you left and went to Georgia thinking I had and … whatever happened with Chad happened.”

I squeeze my eyes closed and draw in a sharp breath.

“I printed the emails out. The ones I sent to my lawyer before we closed the deal. They’re date stamped. They show I was planning this new position, the offering of a board seat to you weeks before the deal closed. C’mon, Row. Open up and let me prove it to you.”

I turn the handle without thinking, needing this to be true—not only for my sanity and my heart but for my faith in my own judgment. And when I open the door, there he is. He stands on my porch like a puppy dog with eyes begging and lips turned up in the slightest of hopeful smiles.

It’s a look I’m not used to on him and it does things to my insides that I don’t want it to do. I hold my hand out to see the proof in his.

And once he hands it over, I shut the door in his face.

“Rowan?” He laughs my name out in disbelief, but I don’t answer as I take a few steps backward until my ass is resting against a console table in my entry.

I shuffle through the papers, one after another. I take note of the dates on each email and Holden’s requests detailed beneath them.

“Please review the company bylaws I’ve attached to see what I can and can’t do given you know my end goal.”

“Please advise. What is the best way to create a new board seat and adhere to the bylaws I sent last week?”

“Get the contract drawn up ASAP for Miss Rothschild. Include the newly created position as we discussed, a board seat, and a transfer of 1 percent of my shares to her.”

“I’d like you to work on getting that contract for Rowan completed on an expedited timeline. The last thing I need is this deal going south and losing her. She’s a valuable asset to my team.”

“As you know, the deal for TinSpirits was finalized today. Thank you for taking the trip here to make sure everything ran smoothly. I don’t see the contract for Rowan though. Please forward as that is my next matter of business.”

With a heavy sigh, I lower the stack of papers and shake my head. “You could have told me,” I say through the door.

He’s silent for a beat. “I’d much rather speak to your face than the door,” he says.

I go to the door, yank it open, and hold the papers up. “Okay. Fine. These all state you were asking about it all beforehand, but you didn’t say a word to me. You didn’t even warn me. Instead, you closed the deal, you shut me out, and you treated me like—”

“What’s the first thing you would have done had I shown you the legal documents? Huh?” He takes a step closer. “Call up your lawyer or a friend to ask for her advice whether you should sign the contract or not? How fast do you think that would have been leaked out for all of Westmore to know?”

“My lawyer, my friend, would never share anything. She’s a total professional and she’s loyal to me.”

“I’m sure she is but her receptionist or paralegal might not be. What about the guy who cleans the office at night after everyone leaves for the evening? One of them might mention something to someone and before you know it, the game of telephone has happened in this stupid fucking town where everybody is desperate to get a leg up on someone else. Next thing you know, Rhett is calling the deal off or putting it on hold and rewriting the bylaws to prevent me from being able to give you what I promised.”