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“I’m saying in a little over a month’s time, your company’s going to be worth a quarter of a billion dollars. I suspect every single member of your board is living on tenterhooks right about now. Some more than others.”
She gasped as the penny dropped. “Warren. You mean Warren.”
He nodded. “Besides you, he has the most to lose if anything goes pear-shaped.”
“And why would things go pear-shaped? Everything is on track. Once due diligence is completed next week, the SEC will sign off on the paperwork. And what the hell does this have to do with my stepfather?” She shook her head. “I know you don’t like Warren”—she sucked in a deep breath at his raw snarl—“but you don’t know him, not like I do.”
“Obviously.”
“Noah, don’t do this. It’s beneath you.”
His eyes narrowed into cold ice chips. “What the hell do you see in that guy? How can you not see what I see when he’s around you?”
“Please…”
“Fuck, Leia. The guy’s a prick with a hard-on pointed at you and your money.”
“Even if that were true, does that automatically make him a suspect for fraud? Or accessory to statutory rape? I’ve known him since I was a child. He’s never done anything to hurt me.”
His fist bunched. “Not yet.”
She lurched to her feet. The sound of the chair scraping the floor filled the silent restaurant. “What you’re implying is sick, Noah. You have to know that I won’t accept it without any hard evidence. I just can’t. I’m sorry.” She brushed away tears she hadn’t known were forming until they dripped down her cheek.
Noah stood and leaned over the table toward her. “Tell me you’re not fucking crying over that asshole?” he snarled.
“Why does this mean so much to you? We broke up. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your relationship with Ashley and your baby?” she snapped, her insides twisting all over again at the reminder.
He straightened, his nostrils flaring as he glared down at her. “I thought you’d want to know, seeing as that bastard is still out there with you in his crosshairs. But all you want to do is keep burying your head in the sand, isn’t that right? What? You think ignoring the issue is going to make it disappear?”
She brushed at her wet eyes and glared right back. “Believe it or not, I’ve been thinking about the situation with my stepfather.” Besides losing Noah, her stepfather’s threat was her greatest nightmare. “The board thinks the best option is to pay him off.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled.
She raised her chin at his derisive tone. “They think it’s the quickest way to get rid of him. Information has a way of coming out, as you’ve just proved. If you know my company is set to float its shares, then most likely so does he.”
“I seriously doubt that he and I move in the same circles.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. But assuming he’s found out about the shares, I need to take action now.”
“So you’re going to reward a rapist and extortionist with fifty million dollars? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“The alternative is to leave him to flood the internet with humiliating pictures of me, ruining my company’s stock market announcement.” She trembled at the thought.
“No fucking way am I going to let that happen.”
The brevity in his voice slammed into her. She closed her eyes and basked in that protective heat for a second before she dragged herself out of it. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.
She knew it was foolish to ask, that she was leaving herself wide open for hurt, but she couldn’t help herself. “Why do you care so much, Noah?”
“Because I’m finding it damned hard to let go of the fact that you belong to me. And no one harms what belongs to me.” The censure and icy detachment had drained from his face. Raw possessiveness, which he’d stamped on her the very first moment they met, blazed from his eyes.
Her breath caught. That heavy weight of unhappiness started to lighten as hope teased her heart. But she knew she was fooling herself.
He grabbed her hand, and the plastic bottle crackled. “You will not pay that asshole off, do you hear me?” he rasped. “I promised I’d handle this for you and you’re going to let me.”
Temptation to let him take charge flooded her, but she rejected it.Stay strong. Stay strong. “Don’t tell me what to do.” She tried to snatch her hand away.
His grip tightened until the pressure stroked the edges ofpain. “Did any of what I just said get through to you at all?” he rasped.