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There won’t be a next time. There’s no point in regurgitating the same argument. Instead, I thrust the folder at him, slamming it on his chest. “This is for you.”
He watches me with suspicion as he takes the folder. “What is it?”
I jut my chin at the contract he clutches in his hands. “Open it.”
His expression turns wary as he opens the folder and, after another glance at me, lowers his gaze to read what’s printed on the paper.
The more he reads, the more his features transform with surprise. He flips a few pages and scans over them.
When he gets to the final page, he looks back at me with a deep groove running between his eyebrows. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s long overdue.”
His brow creases. “Why?”
“It was your father’s business. It should be yours.”
He clenches his jaw. “Are you buying me off because of what happened to my sister?”
“There’s not enough money in the world to make right what happened to Sabella.”
“Then why?” he asks again, stressing the why.
“It’s fair, or do you disagree? Don’t you want the business?”
“But whynow?”
“You know why I took the business.”
He shuts the folder. “To leave my father powerless.”
It boils down to one truth. “To marry Sabella.”
He measures me, weighing me with a calculating gaze. “And now you’re giving me back power. What if I use that power against you?”
“Sabella and I are a team.” I smile as I use the words she gave me in the hospital. “We’re on the same side. If you hurt one of us, you’ll only hurt the other.”
He drags his tongue over his teeth as he contemplates the statement. After a moment, he says, “How is this supposed to work? We swear peace for the sake of my sister?”
“If you remember well, we already swore to stop the bloodshed. I’m not asking you to be my friend. I doubt we’ll ever be anything as remotely close as that, but we can do decent business together.”
“For my sister’s sake,” he says with a wry smile, but something like respect sparks in his eyes.
“Not only.” I opt for honesty. “I always respected your intelligence and your character. I even admire your business sense.”
He looks both taken aback and doubtful.
I take my pen from the desk and hold it out to him. “If you agree with the conditions, I’ll make the official announcement tomorrow.”
Reaching out slowly, he wraps his fingers around the pen. He wrestles with something, maybe his pride, but then he puts the folder on the desk and signs his name next to mine.
When he straightens, it’s a done deal.
As of today, Ryan Edwards is the owner of Edwards Imports and Exports.
ChapterThirty-Seven
Sabella
