“Good.” He paused. “But?”
“There’s something else I need to tell you. Something my mom told me, and I wasn’t sure…But you said you’ll love me no matter what.”
He set his hands on her shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “And that’s true. I will. Now, out with it.”
“The thing is, we’re sort of between a rock and a hard place.” She gave him a funny look, one that warned him not to argue, even though he wouldn’t—couldn’t, because he didn’t know what they were talking about. “And I don’t want you to get all defensive when I outline what the rock is and what the hard place is.”
“All right.”
“The thing is, I know this isn’t ideal. But we don’t get to pick the perfect circumstances in which to fall in love, or stay in love, or fight for love. We just get what we get.”
“Okay.” He liked the way she saidlovethree times. He’d never get tired of that.
“Three years ago, my father played us against each other. He knew that you wanted to be your own, self-made man. He knew that if he pushed theshe’s an heiress and you can’t take her moneybutton, you’d get defensive, because of course you don’t want my money.” She held up her hand, as if to stop him from interrupting.
He couldn’t even if he wanted to. He was transfixed by her fire.
“And he knew that all I wanted in the entire world was to love you. To be loved by you, yes, of course, butloving youwas the best thing I’d ever found. I went twenty-one years not really understanding what love is, and then I found you. So he knew he could use that. Make me give you upbecauseI loved you. And he manipulated me into telling you it was about the money, to hide the legal threat…for your own good.”
“I hate how effective that was for him,” Josh admitted.
“Me, too. We both resented him for that then, and now. We saw him as a bully, right?”
Josh nodded. “Yes. And I’m sorry—”
She shook her head. “Don’t be. I’m not. His loss. But Josh.Josh. He’s not a bully. Well, he is. But that’s notallhe is, and not what primarily drives him. He’s scared.Wescared him. Because…” She took a deep breath. “And this is where the rock and the hard place comes in, and please please please don’t leap to any conclusions, okay?”
“Sure.”
“I need a stronger assurance than that.”
“I love you. I’m just listening. I promise.”
“Well, the thing is, I can’t let you divorce me without a fair settlement. I just can’t. So that’s the rock, although I did just give away a chunk of money, so that reduces how much you could get from me.”
He had zero intention of divorcing her. “And the hard place?”
“If you stay married to me, you are entitled to a seat on the Fischer Racing board of directors.”
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Josh’s eyes narrowed,and he tilted his head a little, but he didn’t say anything.
Monica took that as a cautiously good sign and steamed ahead. “Not just entitled to—once the board is notified that I am married, they have to provide a protected seat for you. It’s written into the governance documents. And the seat comes with shares—”
He held up his hand.
She stopped.
The head tilt slowly rocked to the other side. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I didn’t know.” That confession came out in a rush. “I knew my father’s ex-wives all have seats and shares, but I thought that was part of their divorce settlements. It was something my lawyer dug up while I was gone, with my mother’s help.”
Josh rocked back on his heels. “Your mother said something to me…I don’t think she wanted to tell me that outright, but she was really adamant that I not give up on you. And I wouldn’t, but I didn’t want to tell her that before I had a chance to tell you. I was waiting for the right time.”
“My grandfather built it into the design of the company to ensure that it could always stay a family business, if a majority of the stakeholders want it to be so.”
“You said your father was taking the business public.”
