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“What was that again?” I’d heard, but this was ridiculous.
They’d only just offered me ten million, then left me alone to do my own audit, and now they were back with an increase of four million?
And I’d told him to leave me the fuck alone. His arrogance was astounding.
That math was certainly ridiculous, too. So if they were happy to come up four million dollars when I didn’t cave at the first offer, just how much did they think Gold Moon was worth? Perhaps Parker had been right. Maybe twenty million was closer to the truth, after all.
“Just walk away from the company, Jo.”
“But I’m—”
“No more digging through the records. Fourteen million. Final offer. The papers are with Lupen Lawyers in Carwyn City. Sign them and walk away.”
“What? No.” I was losing count of the number of times I hung up abruptly on Patrick Crenshawe or whoever the hell he’d gotten to call me from Apex, but I did it again.
I sat on the floor, my movement abrupt, and stared at my phone like it had committed a crime. I shoved it away from me across the fuzzy carpet tile.
No sooner had I released the phone then it rang again.
I blew out a short, frustrated sigh as I answered. I didn’t say anything, trying to work out if this was a legitimate call or another one that I didn’t want to be involved in.
“Don’t hang up again.” The same male voice. This time, clearly issuing a warning. “We’re very serious, and if you don’t accept these terms, we’ll come to you to negotiate better ones.”
Anger sent white-hot heat through me, and I gritted my teeth and tightened my hands to prevent myself from shaking. “I suspect you might know, but I told your boss to leave me the fuck alone. That sentiment hasn’t changed. I don’t care if you offer me ten million dollars, or fourteen million. I’m not selling Gold Moon to Apex.”
“Miss Everly—”
I didn’t move. The tone of the voice had changed again, and there was something more malevolent there.
“We’re not from Apex, and we prefer our interest to remain anonymous. It’s why we haven’t paid you a visit.” His little chuckle when he said that was chilling.
I waited a moment, trying to restructure my thoughts. A different company wanted to buy Gold Moon. Not just Apex. And this one was willing to apply even more pressure.
What the hell was going on at Dad’s company?
“No.” But I didn’t sound as confident as before.
I looked around the office, trying to find all of Dad’s energy I’d thought was here before. I hadn’t expected a confrontation like this over the phone. It felt like an invasion.
I just wanted to make Dad proud and continue his legacy. All my life, really, I’d wanted him to be proud of me.
The man laughed again into the silence, but it was still mocking. “You need to take this deal, Jo — I can call you Jo?” He didn’t wait for my reply, and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t done it before. “It’s a deal you need to take, because Gold Moon won’t even be worth ten million if your current clients decide to take their business elsewhere. Can you afford to lose anyone?”
My face turned cold as the blood drained from it, and I gripped my phone tighter. I hadn’t even gotten a proper look at the accounts yet. I didn’t know how many clients away we were from bankruptcy, or whether Gold Moon would survive losing one or two.
I didn’t want to test that, either.
“There’s no way you can know about Gold Moon clients.” But how did I know? Who the hell was I even talking to?
“Do you want to take that chance?” The voice turned silky smooth.
I shook my head, but the words didn’t betray my lack of confidence. I stood up from the floor, straightening my spine as I held my voice steady. “There’s no way Gold Moon would ever consider doing business with you. We’re not entertaining anonymous offers. We aren’t entertaininganyoffers,” I added, trying to really bring it home. I’d made my point. Dad’s company wasn’t for sale. “You can’t even bring your so-called offers to my face.” I forced out a cold laugh.
If they scared me, I didn’t want them to know. They’d only increase in power if they thought they could intimidate me.
He laughed again. “Above all else, Jo, we’d all really hate you to run into a pair of larger-than-normal strays again. I’ve heard that second encounters aren’t usually as easy. There’s an increase in the chance of injury.”
I didn’t care that this man had warned me not to hang up. I did it before even thinking about it. It was like it was my new secret super power.
