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“Then why are you still here?”
Her menacing smile widened, showing off her perfectly white teeth. “Because I want something, and that something is here.”
His eyes narrowed. He’d already told her he wasn’t going to give her money. Eventually even his money would run out. She had to know that.
Madeline leaned forward so her face was inches from his. “I want to be your business partner. I won’t be too greedy. Fifty-fifty should do it.”
Something lodged in his throat and he choked. Air refused to pass beyond the obstruction even as he pounded on his chest. When he finally was able to catch his breath, he gaped at her. “What?”
“For heaven’s sake, Shane. You heard me perfectly well. And you know how much I hate repeating myself.”
“Over my dead body,” he ground out, launching to his feet.
She didn’t look fazed at all. Rather than confront him, she dug around in her purse until she retrieved a compact mirror and a tube of lipstick. “That’s the funny thing, Shane. I know you almost better than you know yourself. You won’t have a choice when you finally realize what I have.”
“There is nothing that is worththat,” he shot back.
She glanced at him and then rolled her eyes. “Oh, and did I mention? I want you to break up with your little girlfriend. She’ll only get in the way.” She returned her attention to her reflection and applied the bright red lipstick to her plump lips. Then she pressed them together before making the smacking sound. “You see, I’ve thought about this a lot over the last few years. You were never supposed to get any of the fortune Gramps gave you. It wasn’tyourbirthright. But I couldn’t do a thing to stop him from giving it to you when his will was airtight.”
Her eyes swept over him, and she smiled again. “You used his money to make your fortune. Money that should have been mine. So I get access to half of everything that is yours.”
“What makes you think I’m going to do anything you say?”
She stared at him, and he could see the cogs in her mind working. She was enjoying this conversation far too much. Finally, she uttered one word. “Brielle.”
The brief relief that washed over him when she didn’t say Eloise’s name was quickly wiped out when he realized that she’d found something so devastating that she thought it would convince him to leave the woman he loved.
His stomach roiled and his extremities went numb. As much as he tried to tell himself that this wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, he knew better. Madeline never did things halfway. That was one of her strengths. She could look at a problem from all different angles and figure out where the weaknesses stemmed from before attacking.
Deep down, he already knew this was checkmate. If Madeline had something against Brielle, it would not only hurt her, but it could hurt Eloise as well.
He saw the triumph in her eyes before she even said a single word. She cocked her head, and her eyes flashed much like he’d imagine a lioness’s would right before she lunged for the jugular. “There he is. There’s the man I knew would bend to my wishes. You see, your problem is that what you think your biggest strength is… well, it’s actually your biggest weakness. Youcaretoo much, Shane. You always have. It might have gotten you far, but you can only climb so much before you get knocked off the mountain.”
His eye twitched, the stress becoming too great. “How do I know you even have anything you can use for leverage? You could be all talk.”
Madeline laughed, and the sound raked against his frayed nerves. “You know better than that, Shane. We’ve been through this before. I never show up empty-handed.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She flung it on the desk in front of him. “Tell me, Shane. What would this town do if they found out one of their beloved cowgirl royals up and got married to some moonlight dancer in Vegas?”
His eyes widened. As far as he knew, Brielle had never left the state. How would she have married someone in Vegas? She was so scared of commitment he couldn’t see her getting married to anyone. At least not anytime soon. Shane snatched the paper and opened it to find an official-looking document with Brielle’s signature next to some guy named Theodore Brooks. He read over the document several times, then scowled and threw it on the desk. “How do I know this wasn’t doctored? I wouldn’t hold it past you to do just that.”
“You’re right,” she said simply. “I could have had that document falsified. It might even be real, but she got wise and got divorced. I guess you’re just going to have to decide whether or not to call my bluff. Because the second I leave this office, my offer is off the table. I’ll spread this information in this sorry excuse for a sweet small town and enjoy watching the dominos fall.”
His jaw ached from how tight he clenched it. If Madeline had picked anyone else—literally anyone—to target, he would have thrown the document at her and told her where to shove it. But he couldn’t do that. Not to Brielle, not to her family, and not to Eloise.
Shane couldn’t help wondering if Eloise knew about this secret past her older sister had. Or supposedly had. Was it something the whole family knew? Or was it something Brielle was keeping all to herself? It wasn’t like he could go asking around. He’d have to tread carefully. At any given moment, Madeline could leak this information. Could he risk that it was all a lie? All a bluff?
He crumpled the document and threw it across the room. “Fine.”
Madeline lifted a brow. “Fine? Am I correct in assuming that you are willing to accept my terms?”
“No. I’m not going to blindly accept anything until we have something drawn up by my lawyer. I’ll not have you holding this over my head every single time you want something else.”
She pressed her lips together into a thin line. She was smart enough to know this was how things would turn out. He had no doubt that she would accept what he had to say. Madeline just didn’t like being bossed around. She never did. “Okay. We draw up a contract that both of us agree to. But in the meantime, you have to break up with your sweet little girlfriend.”
He felt sick to his stomach. Of course that was how this would go. “I don’t understand why you don’t just demand I give you half of my money. Why drag Eloise into this?”
She rolled her eyes as she got to her feet. “Just do what I said. I want half of everything. Now and in the future. I’m not an idiot, Shane. I’ve thought through everything. Don’t worry your pretty little head about why I want you to break up with her. If you fail to keep your end of the bargain, then I unleash my wrath. And if I—heaven forbid—don’t hold up my end, then I don’t get a penny… let’s just call it mutually assured destruction.” She slung her purse over her shoulder and winked at him. “I expect you to break things off by midnight tonight. Don’t test my patience, Shane. I’ve already had to wait long enough.” She flipped her dark locks over her shoulder and left the room.
The second the door closed, he lurched from his chair and started pacing the room. He’d spent enough time with Brielle to know that this information would destroy not only her father, but her reputation as well. This town still held onto traditional values, and even a divorce could start unwarranted judgment. On top of that, it wasn’t a secret how many men had spent time with the second eldest Callahan daughter—something she shouldn’t be involved with if she had a spouse somewhere.
