She studies me for a long beat.
I hold her murderous gaze.
A hysterical laugh leaves her lips. “You’re such a bullshitter.”
Okay, I have no idea how to read this woman.
“And you’re blind,” I say.
“You’re a pretentious asshole.”
Time to remove the kid gloves. “If you deigned to get off your high horse and open your fucking eyes, you would’ve noticed your father is drowning in debt. He owes a ton of money he can’t repay. But no, you’re here pretending to know what you’re talking about, but in reality, you know shit, and you’re only shooting your mouth off.”
Her shoulders stiffen at the insult.
“That’s right, sweetheart, you’re not the only one who can throw the punches,” I say.
For several long seconds we enter a Mexican standoff, nostrils flaring, eyes trained on each other, breaths meshing together.
“I don’t believe you,” she says.
Niels Knight was supposed to step up to the plate and explain his precarious situation to his daughter. The onus wasn’t supposed to fall on me.
Michaela is still staring at me like she wants to stab my eyeballs with a fork.
“Everyone has a price, Miss Knight.” My words are cold. “Niels made a promise to your mother. A lot has happened recently, making it harder and harder for him to keep that promise. I’m unwilling to go into details—that’s your father’s job, not mine—suffice to say, his back was up against a wall. He needed a quick exit strategy. I just so happened to be in the market for a new hotel in Manhattan.”
Her lips form into an O.
I didn’t expect our first encounter to be sugary sweet, but this hostility is amped up by the fact she has no clue how much shit her father is dealing with.
“As far as merger-marriages go,” I say, “it’s part and parcel of everything else I’ve agreed to. Your father had a long list of demands I was willing to meet.”
“A merger-marriage?”
“Yes.”
“What does that even mean?”
“The merger part is where I bail out your family hotel and fold it under our umbrella of hotels to prevent it from going into bankruptcy.”
“Bankruptcy?” Her question comes out on a stunned breath.
I nod.
“The hotel is no longer ours?”
“Not until the debt is paid off.”
“But that’ll take forever,” she says.
“There are ways of shaving off a considerable number of years from the repayment plan.”
“What kind of ways?” She’s no longer spitting fire at me.
“That’s where the marriage part kicks in.” I allow for a pregnant pause. “You and me… in holy matrimony.” A little sarcasm never hurts.
She hitches a breath. Her green eyes are so huge right now.
