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KALUM
It has been a week, and I have moved my schedule around to have Aura wake up in my arms, but she is distant. Something is wrong, but she won’t tell me. The pop-up store was a success on the first day of opening. She sold out of every design, but her smiles don’t reach her eyes, and I’m confused. I thought she would be happy. I have asked her if she is okay, and she says everything is fine, but the spark in her is gone. Something is wrong. Is she not happy? Does she miss Lane?
I’m looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office.
My phone rings, and it’s from Melissa out front. “Yes.”
“There is a Miss Exie Turner wanting to see you, sir. Do I let her in?”
I roll my eyes. Great. What does she want? “Let her in,” I reply.
The door opens, and Exie Turner enters wearing a blue pantsuit. The epitome poster child of the female CEO. She made the cover ofForbesas one of the most influential businesswomen to own a billion-dollar fortune, the Turner fortune. She has almost as much money as me. Almost but not quite. I beat her profit margin by a couple billion.
“What can I do for you, Exie?”
She crosses her arms over her coat in her hand. “We need to talk, and it’s about Aura.”
My head snaps to attention. “What is it?”
She sits and levels her stare on me. Her expression hard and serious. Whatever she is going to tell me, I’m not going to like.
“My parents are gearing up with lawyers.” She blows out a breath, and her left leg is shaking.
“Tell me, Exie. What is going on?”
“That means she hasn’t told you.”
“Told me what?” I snap.
The fucking suspense is killing me. I want to reach over my desk and shake it out of her.
“They are threatening to take LJ away from Aura. She put everything in a trust that LJ can only access when he is of age, and he is still too young to make any decisions. My parents are expressing their concerns over her ability to provide adequately for him in the same capacity as they could. My parents are going to get a court order from a judge to have LJ stay with them because they can provide a more stable environment than Aura. They will want to see financial statements that we both know only show Lane’s assets, cars, and his company.”
“They want to blackmail her so she sells it. This is not about LJ and his lifestyle.”
“Exactly,” Exie says.
I lean back in my chair but then get up and walk over to pour a scotch. I turn my head. “Want one?”
She sighs and places her coat on the chair next to her. “Yeah.”
I pour her a glass and hand it to her. “What are you willing to do?”
She looks up. “Honestly, she is my best friend, my brother’s only love, and the mother to my nephew. Anything.”
“How much of the company do you own?”
“Majority share, and I placed some in Aura’s and LJ’s names. She doesn’t know.”
“How is your parents’ retirement? Do they have enough?”
“Of course, they wouldn’t threaten her if they didn’t feel a sense of financial empowerment. They have more money than they know what to do with. Since my brother’s death, I’m the sole beneficiary. Why? What are you proposing?”
I level her with a hard expression, taking a sip of my scotch. The cubes inside the glass move with the amber liquid. “Retire them like I did mine and outvote them with the board. Take away their power, and in return, it will give you your freedom with Dex.”
Her face softens. I can tell she is in love with him. Dex was Lane’s right-hand man. He runs Turner Automotive and takes care of the shops and sends reports to Aura on a weekly basis. The guy is loyal but has the same issue Aura has with her in-laws. He doesn’t come from a privileged family, so their relationship is hidden.
“That would piss them off, but if they move forward, they still have enough money to get even with Aura. Even in the sense of dismantling what Lane built. They were never happy Lane had deviated from the family business and built cars to race. He moved out when he turned eighteen and never went back. It was against their wishes, and let’s not even talk about his marriage to Aura and the fact he had a child with her. My parents don’t believe their children should marry for love but for convenience and money.”
