Page 28 of Twisted Knight

“Right. A job I didn’t know was in jeopardy on the night of the auction.” I roll my eyes. “You are so full of shit. No amount of rumors you push about me will shift everyone’s attention off of your fuckups.”

He shrugs. “The board’s not fond of the rumor. Sleeping with the boss would be a very bad look for you. They’d question your judgment first, then your motives. Then discount you from there on out as being like every other woman out there—gold-digging her way to the top.” I ball my hand into a fist and cock it back as he barks out a laugh. “Oh relax.” He waves a hand as if nothing is amiss. “I’m just fucking with you. Jesus. You’re so easy to rile up.”

“So glad you think all this is funny. This isn’t a joke, Rhett.”

“I know. It’s pretty damn serious.” But the chuckle he emits says he thinks it’s anything but. “This is for the best. I promise you. He has big plans for us. He wants to take us from a regional brand to one with national recognition. I know what I’m doing. You don’t. That’s why you need to stay in your own lane and let me take care of mine.”

But that’s the thing. He doesn’t realize that he doesn’t have a lane anymore.

“Stay in my lane?” I raise a brow. “You mean the lane where you disrespect me in front of our employees by pulling the ‘you’re just the VP of marketing’ crap? Or the one where I’ve been poring over ways to keep the company you drove into the ground in Rothschild hands?” I smirk at him. “No worries there. That lane is gone now, because once Holden signs on the dotted line, no one is going to give a shit what you say, Rhett. You sold the only reason anyone listened to you at all. Great job.”

“I’m still relevant.”

“You keep thinking that.”

“Winning the election for city council will guarantee that.”

I snort. “You’re so full of yourself you can’t see straight.”

“I know I’ll win and when I do, I’ll have a hand in controlling what Holden can and can’t do with the company. He wants to expand manufacturing? He’ll have to come to me. He wants to finish my idea to build a new distribution center in Fairmont? That’ll be all me.” His smirk is smug. “I’ve already been promised a seat on the urban planning committee, so I’ll be the one pulling and controlling those strings.”

“Just like a Rothschild to buy something instead of earn it fair and square, huh?” I say.

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“And you’re being the condescending prick I’ve come to expect.”

I stand there, dumbfounded, trying to process why I care. Why I still want this company and the chance to run it when no one else does.

My life could be so much easier. I could take the money and vacation with Caroline. A beach in Ibiza could be calling to me to stay for months—and I could without worry. I could visit Cannes and Paris Fashion Week. I could make a thing of visiting and seeing every symphony in the world. Everything—every action, every trip, every reaction—could be on a whim.

But I can’t do any of that because I care.

Because I have a heart.

Because I have something he doesn’t have—loyalty. To what my great-great-grandfather built and what my gran held tight to.

And that, more than anything, is what has my gut churning.

“So we’re good, then?” Rhett asks.

I stare at him and shake my head before turning on my heel and walking away.

No. We are most definitely not good.

NINE

Holden

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

“God, it’s hot in here,” Mason says quietly, pulls off his shirt, and tosses it on the couch beside him.

“Shh.” I look up from my American History textbook and fire off a warning glance to be quiet.

He’s right though. It’s as miserable and muggy inside our tiny apartment as it is outside. Feels like hell on earth. The Carolina summer has arrived with a vengeance, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be abating anytime soon.

Air so thick you can feel it when you inhale.