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‘Aren’t you clever,’ she said. Gage had planned this. Where once he’d been an avenging angel on her behalf, the sword he carried today would be used against her. He was revelling in their fall and part of her couldn’t blame him for that. ‘Let me share something with you. So am I.’
‘If you’re so clever, where are the investors? No one will touch you. The juggling act must be exhausting. Drop one ball and it’s the beginning of the end. All it would take is a whisper in the wrong ear...’
The only piece of information held back right now was her father’s incapacity. If that came out in an uncontrolled fashion, it was all over. She couldn’t let that happen. Her mom and sister would never survive it. They were clueless about what was going on here, and that’s how she wanted it to stay for now.
‘It seems you know a great deal.’ More than she’d expected. He was right, she’d tried everything, and doors kept closing in her face. It was as if someone had been chipping away, determined to make the Chevalier name meaningless. She was staring at the man responsible; she was sure of it.
‘I’ve had seven years of solid study.’
‘I like to think I can still surprise people.’
‘There’s nothing you can tell me about yourself I don’t already know. It pays to have the measure of your enemies.’
A shiver ran through her.
Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned.
She’d bet anything that Gage didn’t know everything, and she knew that she had some devastating surprises she could spring on him if she wanted revenge of her own. In some respects, she believed her father hoped that one day she would tell Gage all the secrets she held. But no matter how much vitriol he spilled on her, she wouldn’t lower herself to joining the battle that had been waged by the two men so far.
‘I understand what led us here. That’s in the past.’
He picked up his sleek black and gold pen, twirling it nonchalantly in his fingers. ‘If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’re doomed. The past is instructive on what never to repeat.’
‘Thank you for the lesson. Today is for looking forward.’
Gage smiled. Once that smile would have lit her up like a candle. Warm, genuine. Now there was no heat in it. It was a shark’s smile, full of teeth and hinting of blood in the water and the bite to come. That smile chilled her to the marrow.
‘Knight should be allowed to topple and fall. It’s not a business. It’s your father’s vanity project.’
‘Yet you called me.’
This wasn’t an attempt at investment. It was a ritual humiliation. Revenge at its most acute from a man determined to destroy them all. If that was the ultimate end, Eve wanted to get it over with. She was tired of trying to prop things up when everyone around her seemed intent on cutting them down. If Madame Guillotine was bound to fall, she didn’t have the energy to watch Gage sharpen the blade while she waited for it to slice her.
He steepled his fingers. ‘There might be some aspects of the business that interest me.’
Eve let out a long, slow breath.
Let the games begin.
‘What are you offering?’
‘A lifeline.’
‘I can feel the “but”. What are the conditions? I’m assuming I won’t like them.’
‘Medicine isn’t supposed to taste pleasant, Eve.’
‘And I’m sure you’re going to take pleasure in administering my first dose, so let’s get started. I’m not big on procrastinating.’
‘Your father will be removed as CEO.’ Her lawyer spluttered. Funny, she’d forgotten he was even there. No matter. Since her father was currently in a hospital bed and she’d been carrying out the CEO’s role in his absence, that was no problem. ‘There will be a restructure. My wo
rd is final on what Knight keeps and discards. It needs to discard a great deal.’
‘And will Knight retain its name and integrity as a company?’
‘Caron will own eighty per cent.’
That was no answer at all.
