Page 34 of Twisted Knight

I cock my head to the side, begging him to argue with me. Fight with me. Let me tell you just how much I hate you, Holden Knight.

Of course he doesn’t.

“We’ll be working side by side going forward,” he says, his voice icy. “Late nights. Long hours. I’d suggest that you get your emotions in check. I would hate to have to let you go.”

I push away from the wall, my head pounding. “You can’t do that. I’m the one who—”

“Oh, I can,” he says, dropping his arms to his sides. “And I will without hesitation.”

My mind races to find something to grab on to—something to level out the playing field in some way. “That would be a grave mistake on your part.” I walk across the room slowly, keeping my gaze glued to his. “Rhett? Chad? They’re the reason we’re in this mess, and it seems I’m the only one who sees that.”

He lifts his eyebrows and gives me the slightest of nods as if to tell me his interest is piqued and for me to continue.

“I’m the one who knows everything that goes on in this company.” Aside from the fact that they were selling it. “I do more around here than play golf and pretend to be an executive. I work. I’ve taught myself the ins and outs of this business, of this industry. I know it like the back of my hand, and you, sir, do not. I’m the one you need. Not them.” I stop a few feet in front of him.

He squares his shoulders to mine. Despite his best effort to remain stoic, there’s a flicker of something, the tiniest crack in his veneer, hidden in the depth of his eyes.

“I’m impressed. Truly. How many times did you practice that in the mirror?”

“It’s the truth.” I refuse to back down. To let him disregard me.

His smile is faint but there. “Did you ever think that there’s a reason you’re in my office right now and they’re not?”

“What?” I ask, head tilting, eyes narrowing.

“You’ve all but said it yourself. Everyone here discounts you.” He runs a finger over his bottom lip, and I hate that my eyes linger there. “Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t.”

I feel like I’m wading through a minefield. One wrong step and this could all blow up. Is he playing me? Mocking me? Or is he being serious?

I don’t dare to lean too heavily one way or the other because his Jekyll and Hyde performance from the charity auction to the boardroom a few weeks later is fresh in my mind.

“I’m not following you,” I say.

“No? Then I guess I was wrong.”

Wait. I scream the word in my head but don’t utter it. My mind spins as I try to figure out what game he is playing now. Pitting me against my brother? Making me think I’m helping him while he’s scheming against me?

“What are you playing at, Knight?”

He angles his head to the side and studies me. “The question is why are you here, Rowan? Why stay? Your brother disrespects you, your parents disregard anything other than your looks, and the whole damn town thinks you should be barefoot and pregnant—well, in heels and pregnant because that’s more Westmore, right? So why are you standing here fighting for something that clearly doesn’t want you?”

Because I can’t walk away.

Because this is where I’ve always belonged.

Because I promised Gran I would fight.

“What would it take to get you to tear the letter of intent up and walk away?” I ask, completely disregarding his question and suppositions.

That toying smile of his returns full force. “There are only two reasons someone stays in a toxic relationship. They don’t have the money to leave, or they’re afraid of the ramifications. Which one is it for you, Sunshine?” He just quirks a brow in suggestion that has me turning my back to him and looking out the window.

I don’t know how this conversation was supposed to go, but this wasn’t it.

“Rowan?” His voice is a hushed murmur from right behind me, intimate almost, that causes chills to chase over my skin. I draw in a deep breath, steeling myself for his proximity and the scent of his cologne.

I turn around, standing mere inches from him. His breathing is measured, his expressions calculated. I study the lines of his face.

He doesn’t look the thirty-two years that the online stats give him. He’s younger somehow, yet comes off as wise and experienced. And damn it if he isn’t attractive in all the right kinds of ways. His build. The intensity of his blue eyes. The purse of his full lips framed by his strong jaw.