Page 25 of Twisted Knight

“And yet you chased her down the hall after the board meeting like a lapdog waiting to heel.”

Chad’s attention switches to his shoes.

I shouldn’t get this much pleasure from pushing their buttons. I didn’t come in here to drivel back and forth, but watching them squirm—putting them in their place—is too satisfying to pass up.

Rhett sighs. “There’s a history there. Between them.” He motions to Chad and to the air, making me assume he’s talking about Rowan.

I chuckle. “Of course there is.”

“He’s going to marry her.”

Come again? I’m rarely at a loss for words and yet that comment did just that. Dickless Chad is the last person I’d expect a woman like Rowan to fall for.

I’m rarely wrong with first impressions. Guess there’s a first time for everything.

“Charming,” I finally manage, while losing what little respect I had for Rowan and the woman I thought she was. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me.”

They share a look. What happens next will tell me how easy or hard the next few months will be.

Without a word, Rhett collects some of the stuff off his desk while Chad stands and waits for his friend.

“You forgot something,” I say, pointing to the lighter.

He falters, looks at it, and mutters something about it being his grandfather’s.

Clank. He flicks the lid back. Click. He lights the flame. Clank. He jerks his hand so the lid closes over the flame and extinguishes it in what looks like a nervous habit.

But the memory those three sounds evoke hits me hard and out of nowhere. The last time I saw that fucking thing our positions in life were so very different.

I grit my teeth, contain my anger, and hold my hand out for his key. “Move the rest of your stuff into the office down the hall by Monday.”

Rhett meets my eyes and the muscle pulses in his jaw. I dare him to look a little closer.

Do you feel the slightest flicker of recognition when you look at me? Do you question why you’re brushing that feeling aside every single fucking time we meet?

A part of me wants to remind them who I am. The other part wants me to wait until they fall and I have my foot on their throats before I jog their memory.

You have time, Holden. Time to bat and tease and play with them before you move in for the kill. Don’t deny yourself all you’ve waited on.

My smile is meager at best when Chad passes by me on the way to a waiting Rhett at the door.

I watch them leave as the realization of what they’ve done, what they’ve given up so easily, begins to settle in.

You ignorant fools.

I blow out a breath and take a seat in Rhett’s cookie-cutter office. It’s straight out of a “how to look the part of CEO” article. Dark greens. Deep mahogany. Nothing inspired or creative or articulate to be seen.

Then again, I shouldn’t expect anything less from a man who leveraged his family’s wealth and legacy for his own personal benefit.

I strum my bottom lip with my finger as the tiniest bit of stress eases from my shoulders.

This part of the plan is complete. Now on to the next—the one they really don’t see coming. It’s not surprising, really, that they’re so fucking clueless. Those two have no idea the amount of dirt I have on them—or how I plan on burying them with it. Shovelful by shovelful until the pressure is so intense that they can’t breathe anymore.

I sigh in satisfaction.

They didn’t even expect it. Questioned nothing. They were so goddamn desperate for more that they just held out their hands and ate up every word I told them.

Chad turns and looks back at me before rounding the corner. Despite the distance, the glimmer of irritation in his eyes is undeniable.