Chapter 18 #2
Lowering his voice, Jasper added. “I thought my fiancé had explained that she wants nothing more to do with you?” His voice was angry but hushed so as not to alert anyone standing outside of our group.
We were now all in a huddle, almost shoulder to shoulder in front of the main table.
There was still a substantial gap between the guests and us, but we would easily attract attention, especially if things got nasty, and from Nix’s expression, that was exactly what he wanted.
And I had no idea why. What the hell had they found out?
Phoenix had always been civil with Jasper, but from his glare, that ship had sailed.
“Then you thought wrong. And in the next few minutes, you’ll find out why,” Reed snarled, forcing me to grab his arm to hold him back.
“Another threat, Prescott?”
“No, a fucking promise, Remmington.”
“If you don’t leave now, I’ll have security throw you out,” Jasper threatened, fiddling with his bowtie. I could see sweat beading on his forehead.
“They can try,” Nix snarled, flexing his shoulders.
“You stay out of this, Carter. It has nothing to do with you.” I found it interesting that he second-named Phoenix.
“It does when you’re threatening my brother,” Nix batted back, scrubbing a hand over his jaw.
Jasper sniggered, clearly braver than usual, being in the middle of a crowded room. “Ah, of course, I’d forgotten that you're both rejects from the care system.”
“Who are you calling a reject?” Hudson seethed, suddenly coming to life, aggressive waves rolling off his body. He stared Jasper down with the same level of disdain he used on most people who weren’t part of the Sawyer circle.
I stepped into the center of everyone, holding my hands out to stop things from becoming violent. “Please, everyone, just stop. We have guests.”
“Yes. I agree with Storm. I feel there is some bad blood here, and I suggest we take this discussion somewhere more private?”
Jasper turned to glare at his father, looking horrified. The man wasn’t stupid; he realized that the only reason he still had his teeth was due to the witnesses mingling in the background.
“I won’t be taking this discussion anywhere. As my fiancée mentioned, we have guests,” Jasper seethed, making as if to move around Reed and me. Hudson stepped in front of him, stopping his exit.
“I suggest you stay put. Someone’s looking for you from the looks of things.” A lump appeared in my throat as I glanced over my shoulder towards where Hudson had nodded.
My eyes instantly latched onto my father. He was standing inside the doorway with a dark expression. As soon as he saw Phoenix, his eyes roamed over our party before he started moving.
He was clutching a bundle of papers and did not look happy.
Jasper and Theodore exchanged a worried expression as he approached.
“I’d start to think of a way to dig yourselves out of the shit, right about now,” Reed suggested with a smug look, moving to one side to give my father some space.
“Daddy?” I questioned as he appeared next to Reed, slamming the papers against Theo’s chest.
Jasper’s father’s hands rose automatically to grasp the documents, his watery eyes confused.
“Care to explain what the hell is going on, Theo?” Dominic Summers barked. I went to move to my father’s side, but Reed stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
“Your fiancé has some explaining to do,” Reed replied, loud enough for everyone to hear.
And then a heated discussion began, right there in the ballroom of my wedding rehearsal, minutes before we were due to sit down to dinner. It was like a face-off, a them-and-us scenario, as the two Remmington men attempted to explain what they had done behind my father’s back.
It didn’t take me long to realize what the Sawyer boys had uncovered.
“So, you decided to attempt a majority share throw-over after all?” my father growled, dashing a hand through his hair. I noticed his bow tie was missing.
Theo tugged the papers down and glanced at them, reading them with a perplexed look that soon morphed into guilt.
I glanced at Reed, who wasn’t even trying to hide his look of contempt. Hudson had his arms crossed, and Phoenix stood there with a we got you look.
Screwing the papers into a ball, Theo lowered his hand. “What can I say, in my defense, you pushed me into a corner, Dominic?”
My father turned away and then twisted back, “How did I do that? By managing my side of the business?” He was gesticulating with his arms, which had drawn some attention from those standing closest.
“Apart from taking your eye off the pulse when you decided to play mayor. There are countless opportunities we’ve missed over the years, purely by your lack of drive to branch out.”
My cheeks must have been bright red as I tried to take in everything they were saying.
“If refusing to agree to an allegiance with questionable officials in the underbelly of the government is my lack of drive to branch out, then I hold my hand up, guilty as charged. I became the Mayor of Newport to sort that shit out, not to add to its problems.”
There was a moment’s pause before my father chewed Theo out while we all watched in silence.
“You can’t still be sore about losing the mayorship? That was years ago.”
“The Remmington crew are clearly grudge-bearing men,” Phoenix chipped in.
Theo’s expression darkened, and the corner of his mouth filled with spittle, “It isn’t about the mayorship.
Which, I might add, you secured by those underhanded means you just mentioned.
From what my son has deduced, you’ve cost the company millions, Dominic and I feel, as a major shareholder, it is my role to do something about that. ”
“By attempting a hostile takeover behind my back?” My father yelled, no longer able to rein it in.
“You forced my hand,” Theo whisper-shouted, stepping forward.
“Look, there must have been some misunderstanding,” Jasper interjected, his voice, dogs only high.
“I forced nothing, Theo.” He then turned on Jasper. “And as for you? You’re as conniving as your father. To think that I took you under my wing, showed you the ropes, gave you my daughter’s hand to cement our union? You’ve been playing a dangerous game, boy.”
Jasper’s face turned ugly as he shot me a look of disgust. I felt Reed’s arm come around me.
“And isn’t that the point. You haven’t, Dominic.
You’ve played it safe for way too long. If you don’t take risks, you miss out on opportunities.
You took your eye off the ball years ago: to be honest, you both have.
” It didn’t surprise me that he had no qualms about throwing his father under the bus.
“You may see me as being overly cautious, but I am a businessman with a keen eye for due diligence. Something I clearly failed to do when I put you in a position of authority. And more fool me. I didn’t give you enough credit for how ruthless you could be, Jasper.
I would be interested to learn how you secured my nephew’s shares? ”
“What has Adam got to do with it?” I asked, not realizing my cousin had shares in my father’s business.
An argument about shares and majority control started, and I just wanted it to be over.
Clearly, Jasper and his father were attempting to take over my father’s company.
And after what he had told me at dinner, I knew it was all down to money.
Money to pay off his father’s debts and cement his own future.
So, in a nutshell. Jasper had been blackmailing me to marry him so he could inherit my shares and take over the company.
As the two Remmington men started talking over each other, my father turned to me. Apologising for involving me and saying that he was sorry for being so blind. Snippets of conversation started to penetrate my thoughts, and I felt like the naivest person alive.
The ugly truth of what both Jasper and his father had been planning for the last few months circled the air around us like a cancer.
Only I knew the other reason: Jasper had also wanted the union to hide his sexuality.
The plan to take over the company came after Theo’s decline into gambling addiction, but of course, that hadn’t come up.
And then my father revealed something else incriminating. “So, you decided to reinitiate marriage to Storm to inherit her shares. All with the intention of taking control of the company. Well, you failed to carry out your own due diligence, as that would never have happened anyway.”
“How do you figure that? We still have a signed agreement. If either of you fails to honor that? You must compensate me. That was the deal.”
“Look, I don’t think we need to be hasty. We should go somewhere where we can discuss this, Dominic,” Theo cut in.
“I want what was promised,” Jasper rasped.
“At this point, I’d pay you anything to get you out of my little girl's life,” my father announced, running a hand down his dress shirt.
“Done. I want Storm’s forty-six percent.” I felt Reed strain beside me, like he wanted to take Jasper’s throat in his hand. I placed my hand on his arm, clutching my dress with the other.
“And that is why you should have done more research, Jasper. Storm doesn’t have forty-six percent in Remmington Summers Consultancy.”
“Excuse me?” Jasper grunted.
“That schedule isn’t the most up-to-date version,” my father explained with a smug expression. “In fact, it’s years old.”
“What are you saying, Daddy?” I asked, turning to face him.
“When I found out I had a son, I split Storm’s shares between both my kids.”
“What?” Jasper snarled.
“Are the board aware?” Theo added with a surprised look, rubbing his forehead, almost struggling to get his words out.
“Yes. Both Storm and Phoenix have an equal share. So, unless you were planning on marrying both my children…” There was no need for my father to finish that sentence. I felt frozen and didn’t move an inch.