Page 51 of Twisted Knight

His gaze fixes on mine. “You tell me. Would you want someone managing you who’s afraid to go against the grain? Who’s afraid of making changes for the sake of the company’s success?”

He’s right. He knows it and worst of all, he knows that I know it.

“Maybe I didn’t speak up because I wanted to avoid getting involved in your and Rhett’s pissing match.”

“And maybe I expected more from you.” He angles his head to the side as I bite back the unwelcome feeling of disappointment.

Why do I care what he thinks of me?

But I do, and I hate that I do.

“You want to run this company, Sunshine, but you’re afraid to speak up and ruffle feathers. That means you’re not ready.”

“I beg to differ.”

“There’s a lot more to running a company than understanding how to market a product or look pretty selling it.”

Ah, the asshole who pisses me off has made his appearance. That didn’t take long. “There you go discounting me. Again.”

“Stating facts isn’t discounting you. It’s calling it like I see it.” He shifts, puts his feet on the floor, and sits forward with his hands on his desk.

Energy courses through me, making me stroll around the office like I own the place. Probably because up until two weeks ago, I did—or at least my family did.

“You’re standing here because you know you want what I’m offering. The new marketing plans. The ability to matter. All of it … but taking me up on my offer fucks up where your loyalty lies, now, doesn’t it?”

“Why were you in Fairmont?” I ask, purposely shifting topics and voicing what I’ve wondered numerous times since last week.

He wants answers from me. Well, I want answers from him.

He pauses and stares at me, fingers steepled, muscle pulsing in his jaw like he’s contemplating how much to tell me. “I used to have family who lived there.”

I don’t know what I expected him to say, but this wasn’t it. I never expected him to admit anything outside of business, so it takes me a second to find a response.

“Used to?” I press for more information. The more I know about Holden, the more ammo I have to potentially use against him and even the playing field a bit. “So, what? You were just there on a casual stroll down memory lane?”

“Something like that.”

“Were you following me, Holden?”

His dismissive snort is believable, but I have a feeling he’s capable of selling anything to anyone. There’s a half smirk on his lips. “I have better things to do than follow you.”

“Just like I have better things to do than entertain the notion that you’re going to be majority owner of this place.”

“The sooner you accept it, the easier it will be for you.”

I have a feeling that when it comes to Holden Knight, nothing is easy. He gets off on this. The banter. The baiting. The battle.

“You don’t own anything yet.”

His looks at his watch and flashes a full-force grin at me. “Well, you’ve got forty-five-ish more days to try and stop me.”

“Plenty of time,” I lie.

“I welcome the challenge.” He lifts his hands. “The offer to work with me still stands though.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing already? Working with you?”

“No. You’re trying to figure me out. You’re figuring how to undermine me at any turn. Hell, you just said it yourself that you’re trying to find a way to stop this deal from happening.”