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He looks up through his eyelashes as if tracing the plans in the air. “Yes, that’s right.”
“This guy is a joke,” Lorenzo groans, leaning on the kitchen island. “Want me to take him out of here, boss?”
“No,” I say, sipping on my whiskey, the heat of the alcohol starting to burn the base of my throat. “I’m actually enjoying the entertainment. I wish I had popcorn.”
Rich chuckles lightly, his smile crooked just like his filthy brother’s. It brings me back to the moment I saw Jacob Lacey pinning Isabella against his desk. It was the first time I had met either of them, and she looked so terrified while he was smiling.
Planning on ravaging my precious dove, he was fucking smiling at the prospect of her fear and pain.
I pull my pistol out, my trigger finger twitching. Everyone notices it, and it brings a stiffness to Rich’s back. He holds his hands up near his shoulders, watching my gun while I rest it sideways on my kitchen island. When it looks like he’s finally serious about talking again, I give him the opportunity.
“I’m not here to offend,” Rich reassures. “I’m here to offer you a business opportunity. That’s all. I would pay to have the project completed and just sell it myself, but I’m reaching out in an act of peace here. Besides, most of the money that came from my brother and my father is going to my mother’s debts and her medical expenses.”
“Surely they had a few million,” I counter.
“Not even close. Most of the money went to trying to pay off everyone they owed money to. That included taxes that they had been avoiding for years. I ended up paying the government more money than my mother will ever see.”
“Okay, so I pay to have the project finished. Your family of construction crooks finishes the job, and then you lease the building and the docks to me?” I shake my head, wishing I knew how this man had enough guts to come to this horrible idea. “It’s not that I’m saying you’re a jackass, but you’re acting like one.”
“Totally understandable,” he says.
Why does it seem like for everything I fire at him, he has a way of deflecting the bullet and letting the shell casing roll off his shoulder? I can’t pin his charm on work now, but it’s so odd, and weirdly enough, he’s confident about it.
“If you lease the property, then you’ll have full access to the docks. With those, I’m sure you can take your operation to the next level. You ship things in all the time, right? And don’t you ship out goods for guns and whatnot?”
“Perhaps,” I say coyly enough. “What do you want out of it, though?”
“I just need the lease money to keep my mother on treatments as long as possible. The construction fees are to help my family finish the project. If it falls through, a lot of my distant relatives will be stranded without a paycheck.”
“This is the same family that attacked me and my family, right?”
He nods solemnly. “If it makes any difference, I did get rid of those who were closest to Jacob Lacey.”
“The Donahue and Lacey clans are coming clean? Doubtful.”
“If it helps, I’ll show you receipts for where the money would be going. My mother, she’s my everything. I’m trying to keep her well enough to watch the Donahue name rise to some level of respect. Being associated with the Lacey family has ended with us dragged through the mud enough.”
“You also put my family through hell,” I snarl, the gun feeling heavy in my hand, even with it resting on the counter in front of me. “Why would I want to work with you?”
His eyes flicker to the stairs, something small catching my eye as well. I turn enough to see Isabella nearing the top of the stairs as Anita tries to pull her back, but she’s unsuccessful. I growl slightly, slipping my gun into the back of my waistband. She hurries down the stairs, stopping a few feet away from Rich.
Her eyes trail over his features, the same ones that resemble Jacob’s far too closely for comfort. Anita isn’t far behind, giving me a pleading look. She heads for the front door, leaving this meeting with a slam of the front door.
“Bella,” I breathe, watching her snap out of the trance that she’s in. “Go upstairs, dove. Please.”
She gives me a pleading look, eventually stepping around Rich so she can come to my side. “I got scared,” she whispers, kissing my cheek. “I didn’t hear a gunshot.”
“He’s trying to convince me to spare him.”
“Are you going to?”
I bring my lips to her ear, her body twitching when my bare chest hits her loose blouse and tight shorts. “If you don’t go upstairs right now, I’m going to take you back down to that hot tub, dove.”
I can hear her swallow. “I want to help.”
Her hands run over the impressions of my abdomen. She’s trying to soften me up, and weirdly enough, it’s working. I kiss the tip of her ear and wrap my arm firmly around her waistline. After the conversation she was having with Sam earlier, the one that accused me of being a cheater, I suppose she just needs to feel involved and not in the dark.
I’m happy to accept that for now.
