Chapter 43 Coming to Terms #2
“What kind of information did you find while you were staying in that big apartment, kitten?” he asked her. “Some numbers, maybe? How about something on the other Black brothers, huh? Owen? Or maybe that prick, Ronan? Even dirt on the youngest daughter would do right now.”
I stared at my sister in horror, realizing that she hadn’t just been sheltering at Brendan’s apartment those few days but snooping.
Selena looked like she wanted to cry—either from wanting the drugs he promised or from the pain of the situation. “I told you, everything was locked. I couldn’t find anything.”
“Sel?” I asked. “How could you?”
She had the decency to look sorry, even through her drug-addled daze.
“Stupid. Little. Liar.” Ezra’s voice was almost conversational before he reached back a hand and slapped my sister clean across the face.
“STOP!” Kylie wailed. “DON’T HIT MY MAMA!”
“She has my financial information,” I lied quickly, desperately trying to draw Ezra’s attention away from Selena and Kylie.
“Or I can give it to you if you want. Bank statements, deposit slips. You want money? I can give you money. You’ll have what Brendan gave me, enough to buy another farm just like Dandelion, and I’m sure I can get more if you just let us go. He’s worth billions—you know that.”
Ezra paused, tilting his head with interest. “Black gave you money?”
I realized my mistake. Ezra hadn’t been interested in money before, but I’d just admitted something was out of the ordinary.
I babbled on. “I—yes—it was part of, um, the prenup.”
“Yeah, but prenups usually cover what happens when things fuck up.” He bent down to look me in the eye. “What was big bad Brendan Black paying you for, huh?”
I swallowed. No. He couldn’t know. No one did but Owen, and that had already been a colossal mistake.
“He paid her to marry him,” Selena slurred. “I saw the contract. Read the whole thing.”
I balked at her. “Sel, you didn’t.”
Her smile might have been sweet if it hadn’t been soaked in alcohol and drugs and her own deception. “Had to find out what you were up to. Can’t believe you were gonna keep it from me too.” She looked back at Ezra. “Gave you some already. Told you I’d get you the rest of the ten mil.”
For a moment, hope fluttered in my chest. Ezra seemed to be considering it, weighing the offer. Then he threw back his head and laughed.
“Ten million?” He wiped tears from his eyes. “Oh, kitten, you think that will make up for what I want? What that bastard has done to ruin me? I want billions, not millions. I want Brendan Black’s empire handed to me on a silver platter.”
I stuck out my chin. “He’ll never do that.”
“He could sign over enough shares to give me a controlling interest. He could make me a partner instead of an enemy. Show me the respect I deserve instead of treating me like some second-rate player in his game.”
“And if he doesn’t?” I couldn’t help but ask, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
Ezra’s gaze made goose bumps rise on my skin. “I can be very creative about ways to extract value from this situation. Thought you would have figured that out by now.”
“Auntie Simone?” Kylie asked from my lap. “What’s the bad man doing?”
“Honey, get behind my chair,” I told her, not taking my eyes off Ezra as he stood up. “Or go under that big table and stay there.”
Kylie obeyed as her mother curled up onto the floor like a cat and passed out at my feet.
Ezra stepped over Selena’s prostrate body with a chuckle so that he was directly in front of me. “You know, I’m starting to understand what Black sees in you. There’s something refreshing about someone so na?ve and protective at the same time. Stupid, maybe. But brave. It’s actually kind of hot.”
“Stop.”
“Stop what?” He drew a finger down my cheek, and I jerked away.
“I’m just trying to understand why a man like Brendan Black would pay a small-town baker, of all people, to be his fake fiancée.
” His fingers found the neckline of my T-shirt, and I felt the fabric stretch.
“Tempting. Maybe I should just take everything else I want too. Maybe that should include you.”
“No!” The word tore from my throat as he ripped the coarse cotton down the front, exposing my bra.
“Auntie Simone!” Kylie’s voice was high and scared from under the table. “What did he do!”
“I’m fine, honey,” I called out, praying she could only see my back from where she was hiding. “Just stay there.” Then, between my teeth, I gritted, “Stop, Ezra. You don’t have to do this.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Ezra said, his hand moving toward the center clasp of my bra. “Tell me this, sunshine? Did Black taste the goods before he committed to them? Or are you as virginal as you look?”
“Touch her again, and you die, Huntington!”
Ezra, his henchman, and I all jerked toward the door, outside of which a familiar voice had just shouted his threat.
Then the noise started. A smoke bomb went off, obscuring all views out of the windows.
“What are you waiting for?” Ezra shrieked at his men. “Get out there!”
But before they could, the door smashed open, and four armed men poured into the room, set to a soundtrack of Kylie’s screams. They made swift work of the two henchmen, making space for one more man to stride into the room like the shadowed knight he was.
The Black Prince in all his glory.
My Brendan.
I’d never been so glad to see anyone in my life.
“Bren—” I shouted just before a hand clapped over my mouth.
“Simone!” Brendan lunged toward me, then jerked like he’d been tugged by a pair of reins when he saw the gun pressed to my temple.
Ezra angled me in front of him.
Everyone in the room except my snoring sister froze.
“Nope,” Ezra said as if he were turning down an offer of sparkling water. “I don’t think so. Everyone stays exactly where they are, or this ends very badly.” He tipped his head at Brendan, who was rippling with rage. “Nice of you to join us, Black. I assume you’re here to save your little escort.”
“Don’t fucking call her that.”
“Oh, please. Like I give a shit where you dip your prick in your spare time. I only care about the answer to one question: what, exactly, are you willing to give up to save her?”