Page 32 of Twisted Knight

“Yes?”

She nods curtly. “I’m Audrey, Mr. Knight’s personal secretary. He’d like a moment of your time.”

No “nice to meet you.” No “I’ve seen you around the office.” Just a summons to go see the King Asshole.

Lovely.

“Nice to meet you too,” I say with a tinge of sarcasm. “I wasn’t aware he was in the office.”

“He has a habit of being everywhere and nowhere all at once. You’ll get used to it.”

Unfortunately. “Sure. Yes.” I glance at my desk and then back up. “Let me finish what I’m doing, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She lifts her eyebrows. “Now, please.”

Seriously?

I grit my teeth as I stand and make my way down the hall to my brother’s old office.

When I walk in, my feet falter. He’s rearranged the furniture.

A subtle hint, no doubt, that change is coming. Or just a plain, old-fashioned power play.

And there Holden is, sitting behind the lavish desk, head down with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up. He’s scribbling something on the pad in front of him while I silently seethe from being ordered like my only purpose is to be at his beck and call.

I wait.

And then I wait some more.

He clearly knows I’m here as Audrey shut the door when I walked in. Is this yet another power play to let me know where I stand? To let me know who’s boss?

Fuck that.

“Nice of you to finally show up to work,” I say.

Holden sets his pen down, leans back in his chair, and his gaze all but bores right through me when our eyes meet. He purses his lips and nods very slowly. “So that’s how you want this to go, Sunshine?”

I shrug, ignoring his little nickname for me. Aren’t we a ray of sunshine? “If you plan on ordering me around, then expect to be treated accordingly.”

He chuckles. It’s a low rumble in the quiet room. “This is where you’re under the impression that we’re on equal footing. We’re not, Rowan. Rest assured, we are not.”

I take a step forward, run my finger over the credenza against the wall, and don’t acknowledge his remark. “It was a nice touch taking this office. Petty to say the least.”

“From your comments the first night we met, I’d think you’d appreciate Rhett being put in his place.”

“Things have changed considerably since then,” I say.

“Not from where I stand. Rhett’s still Rhett, you’re still you, and everybody wants to be me.”

“And the company is still going to be yours.”

“Glad we have that clear,” he murmurs as he tracks my movement about the room. A room I’ve been in countless times before but that suddenly feels so very different. “You’re a complicated one to figure out.”

“Depends on your definition of complicated.”

“You dislike your brother and yet you stand here defending him.”

“As family does. Do you not have any siblings?” I ask, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Do you—”