AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She held herself like a queen and her tone revealed no emotional upheaval. She had this locked down.
"No, he doesn't."
Cyrus sputtered, but slicing his hand through the air, Lysander cut his words off. "Don't bother. It's obvious you never even tried to figure out what makes Rowan tick. If you had, you would not have risked the assets assigned to her in the prenup by cheating. She's not a woman who would tolerate that. Ever."
No, his brother had assumed that because Rowan put up with their unhappy marriage, she would not balk at being cheated on. He'd completely misread her commitment to loyalty. Once he gave her an out, she was going to take it.
And she had.
"Surely that is something for Cyrus and Rowan to work through. They cannot do that if you have her in your bed." Lysander's father hissed his disapproval in a quiet tone, his attention clearly on the proximity of others and the potential for their discussion to be overheard.
"They aren't working anything out," Lysander said with bite, making no effort to modulate his own tone. "Regardless, you and Cyrus mistook my meaning. I wasn't talking about Rowan when I mentioned an opponent. I was talking about myself."
His father reeled back like Lysander had struck him. "You are my son, not my enemy."
"If you come for Rowan, I will be," he assured the older man.
"No. That's ridiculous. You don't have relationships," Cyrus said. "You're the consummate playboy." He gave Rowan a pitying look. "You must realize you are not the only woman in his bed."
"That just cost you the deal you're trying to make with the Japanese conglomerate," Lysander informed his brother. "I do not tolerate slander."
"What? How did you know about… You can't…" Cyrus stuttered.
Baptiste's expression revealed that he had finally figured out how badly he and Cyrus had messed up. "Do not be hasty, son."
If he thought calling Lysander son was going to sway the outcome, Baptiste was a fool.
"Let's make something very clear here," Lysander bit, his tone cold and threatening. "I do not care if Andino Enterprises goes bankrupt, much less loses a few million on a deal. I damn well do care if you harm someone under my protection."
"You're telling us that Rowan is under you protection?" his father asked, clearly shocked. "Since when?"
"You would know the answer to that if you had bothered to pay attention." Lysander had never been impressed with his father and brother's lazy approach to accumulating necessary information.
"She'smywife," Cyrus said belligerently.
"Ex. I'm yourex-wife," Rowan piped up with that reminder, emphasizing the ex. "I haven't lived with you for over a year. The divorce is final. I changed my name back to Johnson. We're as over as over can be."
Cyrus and Baptiste looked at Rowan with twin expressions of consternation. Baptiste's gaze turned considering, but anger tightened Cyrus's face.
"I know you're a petty, vindictive man, Cyrus," Rowan said, showing she knew her ex much better than he'd ever known her. "Refrain from trying to get back at me for having the audacity to divorce your cheating ass, or I will sign my shares in Andino Enterprises over to your biggest competition."
"You're not giving shares inmycompany to that bastard," Cyrus shouted, pointing at Lysander.
Baptiste grabbed his legitimate son's arm in warning.
Rowan laughed, the sound more mockery than humor. "You think you're in competition with Lysander? You're not even in the same stratosphere. He doesn't need shares in Andino Enterprises to crush it."
Her words filled Lysander with unexpected pride. Not only did she know more about his business than his so-called family, but she recognized the financial power he wielded.
His reaction to her approval was disconcerting though. It was too intense.
"Who are you talking about then?" The snide condescension rolled off his half-brother.
Rowan named the company Lysander himself considered most likely to launch a hostile merger attempt on Andino Enterprises if they were able to add a block of the company's shares to their portfolio.
"Lysander, you may not be part of Andino Enterprises, but you are still my son. You owe family loyalty." His father sounded almost desperate.
Was Andino Enterprises in trouble financially? Why else would Baptiste and Cyrus be so fixated on bringing the shares and the land parcel back into their greedy little hands?
