Page 9

I frowned at him. “I don’t have a lawyer.”
“Well, you can hire one, or use one of the company lawyers.”
As he pulled out onto the highway my mind continued to process what he had said to me. “Why do I have to come to New York?”
“The will has some stipulations. Part of that is that you have thirty days to decide if you want to accept your inheritance. That would entail coming to New York and learning about the company. After that point, you have six months to prove yourself a viable asset. If at any time you wish to take a lump sum instead of shares in the company, your father arranged for five million dollars to be settled upon you.”
“Five million dollars?” I could hardly believe it. How could this even be possible?
“You are worth billions,” he said shortly. “Only a fool would take the lump sum.”
I felt faint.Billions.“What do I have to do?”
He turned onto the gravel driveway that led to my lone, single wide trailer. “We will leave for New York immediately. Once there you will be pampered, plucked, and waxed at the spa, as well as given an entire new wardrobe.”
“What is wrong with my clothes?” I said defensively.
He wasn’t cruel or derisive when he answered honestly. “The employees at Sutton Enterprises won’t take you seriously in cutoffs. You will have to look the part, then you will have to learn about the business.”
I didn’t have a college education. Hell, I had barely graduated from high school. A lot of that had to do with Mama’s drug issues. But I wasn’t about to go into that. “Looks like we are home.”
He looked up in surprise even though he had driven us to the trailer. I didn’t ask how he knew the address, and he didn’t offer.
I opened my door before he could make it around the car and shut it behind me. My mind was reeling with the information he had given me. Could I really go with him to New York?
“What would happen if I took the five million dollars?” I asked.
He frowned. “I can’t in good conscience tell you to take the five million. It’s far better for you to come to New York and give it a try.”
I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat and nodded. “Okay, we can talk about it in the morning.”
Chapter Four
Sutton
I snuck surreptitious gazes at Mr. Williams in the moonlight as we approached the trailer. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the man was drop dead gorgeous. I liked the fancy way he talked and the air of superiority that radiated from his body. I especially liked the five o’clock shadow on his jaw that I had a feeling most people never got to see.
Everything about Mark Williams was precision and purpose. I wondered what it would be like to have that kind of focus and determination trained on me. My body to be specific.
I climbed the steps of my childhood home with Mark close on my heels. I pushed the door open and dropped my bag near the door. It was dark inside, and the trailer wasn’t very big. But I was used to navigating through the hodgepodge of furniture.
“Why isn’t your home locked?” he asked, his tone laced with disapproval.
I tried to ignore the way that his body heat could be felt despite the fact that we weren’t touching. I let out a tired sigh as I answered his question, “Mr. Williams, everyone who is anyone knows this is where I live. Look around you. Do you honestly think there is anything someone would want to steal?”
His eyes never left my face as he replied, “Yes, Miss Landry, I do.”
Fuck me twice and call me done, color mounted in my cheeks.
“I am not flirting with you, Miss Landry. I am stating facts. Beautiful women should not live in homes that do not have proper protection.”
“You think I am beautiful?” I had the feeling that this wasn’t what he wanted me to get from his statement. But I had sure liked hearing it from his lips.
Those same lips compressed into a straight line. “Miss Landry.”
“Mr. Williams,” I countered saucily.
From the flare in his eyes I could see that my quip hit it’s mark. I knew that I was pushing his buttons, but the man was too scrumptious not to goad. I couldn’t wait to see what happened when he blew his top or, better yet, blew mine.