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"That's Mr. Linfox to you."
"Are you kidding me? After what we"—my breath hitches. His grandmother is standing right next to him—"shared?"
"Thatis firmly in the past." He sticks his shoulders back and puffs out his chest, then closes the gap between us in two giant strides. His pupils have gone big and black. "No one messes with my family. From now on,Mr. Langdon, we are keeping things strictly business. Our days of…pleasuring are well and truly over."
"Fine." I gather my things off the table. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
He juts his chin out defiantly. "I plan on doing everything the hard way."
"Suit yourself."
"I intend to."
I growl. He's so freaking infuriating, acting like a child and staring at me with a smug look on his stupidly handsome face, his shirt so tight against his bulging biceps that he's crossed in front of his chest.
Not the time, Col.
As Wilby said, those days are over.
Fuck. They'd barely even begun.
I'm going to have to do some rearranging of my heart, it seems, replacing the space where I liked the guy with whatever ammunition I'm going to need to handle this next phase because Wilby is clearly gearing up for a fight.
Fine. If he wants a battle, then I'll give him one. I’m here to help him and his family save their farm, even if he thinks the exact opposite. I’ve got a lot riding on making this work, like my actual job, so there's no way in hell I'm going to report back that I was unsuccessful. My career is the thing I'm best at in my life.Mr. Linfoxhas got no idea what he's got coming his way.
But before I go full warrior mode on his ass, I need to say one last thing to Polly. I look her right in the eye. "I know this is a very challenging situation, but I swear to you I had no idea about this before today, and I promise you I'll do everything in my power to get the best outcome here."
"Yeah. For Gorbin, Spackett and Fuckitt, or whoever it is you work for," Wilby spits out.
I look at him, willing myself to hold my shit together and not to engage. That's what he wants. He's poking and provoking. I cannot give him the satisfaction of affecting me.
"No. Not just for my employer, but for everyone."
Then I glance back at Polly. "For everyone."
It's hard to tell if she actually nods her head a little or if I'm imagining it, wanting it to be real so that I can feel like I've atleast gotten through to one of them to make them see that this doesn't have to be a lose-lose situation.
Don't get me wrong, things are fucking dire. I've never seen such a messed-up, entangled, complex case as this one. But I go into every job from a place of hope. I have to believe there's a way out, otherwise, like Wilby said, what is the point?
It would be in their best interests if they worked with me on this and not against me.
I head for the door, and they follow me out, then stare at me from the front porch as I head toward the Land Rover. Before I get into the car, I say, "You know, for what it's worth, I'm really not the enemy here."
That's when Wilby charges down the stairs and runs over to me.
Oh, thank god. I've finally gotten through to him. I knew he'd understand, he just needed a moment to process it all.
He gets close, and I let out a relieved breath. "We really can work this ou— Hey! What are you doing?"
He's smiling, but it's not a good kind of smile. My stomach drops. What's he up to?
He twirls the car keys on his pointer finger and grins pompously. "I believe these aremykeys, Mr. Langdon. And I also believe that I am the rightful owner of this vehicle."
He pats the side of the Land Rover to drive his point home.
"Yes, you are," I say slowly.
"Excellent. So it's agreed. You won't be using anything that belongs to Linfox or Grayson people…proprietary…limited."
