Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Rage, again. Reddish-purple rage. How dare this motherfucker speak about my family? About my mother?
I kept my mouth glued shut, though, as difficult as it was. No way was I going to let my temper dictate what happened next. No fucking way.
“I’m not moving,” I finally said.
“That’s your prerogative. But Addie knows where to find you. The stalking, as you like to call it, may continue.”
“As I like to call it? What the fuck do you call it?”
“I call it simply an attempt to keep in touch.”
I clenched my hands into fists once more. “I can’t believe this. I don’t want to move. I won’t move.” I was adamant. Boston was my home. I didn’t want to live anywhere else.
“So you’re rejecting my offer?”
“I’m rejecting your first offer. I’d like to make a counteroffer.”
“I’m not entertaining any counteroffers, Mr. Black. This is my one and only offer.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Addie will go to the police and allege assault.”
My skin tightened around me, my heart thundering. “You won’t get away with this. The truth is on my side.”
“Maybe so, but are you willing to take that chance? I’ll have the best lawyers advising the prosecution, and you’ll go down for a crime you didn’t commit.”
Fuck. Brock knew I hadn’t assaulted Addie. He fucking knew. If only I had a tape recorder on me. A wire. Then I could prove that Brock had just admitted I hadn’t committed any crime. I opened my mouth to call Brock out on his lie—
Then something hit me like a lightning bolt. Money.
This all came down to money. Brock had it. I didn’t. “How much will that cost you?” I asked.
“What?”
“Those greedy lawyers who will advise the prosecution. Don’t forget the judge. You may have to buy him off. How much will it ultimately cost you to bring me down?”
“Money doesn’t matter.”
“Not to you. So how much?”
Brock narrowed his eyes. “Six figures. Possibly seven.”
“Here’s your counteroffer,” I said, “and you’d do well to entertain it. Keep your little darling out of the spotlight and your money out of lawyers’ hands. Give it to me instead. I’ll drop the charges, and you guarantee me that this is over. Fucking over.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning your daughter will never make false allegations against me. I want it in writing, signed by both you and her. I’ll sign as well that I’ll never talk about the incident that put her in the emergency room. I’ll never talk to her again, if that’s what it takes.”
“Addie won’t agree to that.”
“Make her agree.”
“As you said before, Mr. Black. She’s an adult. She thinks she loves you.”
“A million. That’s what it would cost you to ruin my life. Give it to me instead, and I’ll sign whatever you want.”
Brock narrowed his gaze. He was considering it. Good.
“A quarter million,” he finally said. “And you never call the police on Addie again.”
“No deal.”
“Half a million.”
I smiled. That was what I was after. Half a mill. I could get my new product off the ground with that.
“Half a million,” I said, “and Addie stops stalking me.”
“I’ve told her to stop, but I can’t control what she ultimately does.”
“Then I can’t guarantee I’ll never call the police on her again.”
Brock met my gaze, his own determined. “No wavering on that part of the deal. You cannot call the police on my daughter. Not ever. I’ll write it into the agreement if I have to. Otherwise, you’ll have my assurance that you won’t be prosecuted on any false allegations. And there will be a non-disclosure agreement.”
…
Skye’s eyes are wide as dinner plates. “You agreed.”
I clear my throat. “I did.”
“And Addie…”
“Has been stalking me since.”
“Your business…”
“Was seeded with Brock Ames’s money,” I say, my voice monotone. “And I signed a document stating I’d never talk about what went on between Addie and me.”
“So that’s why…”
“That’s why I couldn’t tell you, Skye. Why I shouldn’t be telling you now. Though it probably doesn’t matter. I can now buy and sell the Ames business. If I crack, what can they do to me? Sue me, but then it all comes out anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me, then? At first, I mean.”
“Because I’m a man of my word, Skye. A man is nothing without his word.”
A brick hits me in the gut.
I’m no longer a man of my word.
I trust Skye, but that’s irrelevant. I broke my word.
But not because she goaded me into it.
I told her because I love her. Because I trust her.
If we’re going to have a relationship, there can be no big secrets between us.
Which means…I have one more to tell.
When the time is right.
“I learned some valuable things from Brock Ames that day,” I continue. “First, never take the first offer, even if the other party says it’s the only offer.”
She nods.
“Second, I learned that a man is only as good as his word. Brock kept his word to me. Addie never made any false accusations, and she hasn’t spoken of any details of our time together—”