“But—” Raquel called after his retreating figure.
“What he said.” Everett stared Raquel down and smiled sadly at Kenzi. And then he was out the door.
Julia shrugged and got to her feet. “I have a copy editor to check on.”
Leo stopped to hug Kenzi. His brown eyes hung low with disappointment. “My vote will always be for you, pumpkin.”
She leaned against him for an extra moment, needed support. Her world was crumbling and she was grabbing at rubble, everything slipping and sliding out from under her. “Thank you.”
With only family left in the room, the tension crackled. The betrayal from each person before her was too much to face, and yet she couldn’t walk away without letting them each know how deeply they’d cut.
She aimed for Harrison first. His was the first deception, the one that started the wonky ball rolling. “All this time you knew about his record, and that’s why you’ve been rude to Nash from day one. Don’t deny it.”
Harrison didn’t look up from the papers he arranged and rearranged. “I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I am under strict con—”
“—fidentiality,” Kenzi spat. “You can step in your confidentiality agreements, because they’re horse crap and you know it.”
He lifted his head and squared his shoulders.
“Oh, cut the lawyer stance. I’ve seen you snort Icee out your nose. You should have told me, Harrison, as my friend.”
“I work for Aunt Pamela, Kenzi. I couldn’t treat you different than any other client.”
“What does Aunt Pamela have to do with this?” Raquel asked eagerly.
Beside Kenzi, Nash stiffened. He grabbed her forearm, his fingers gentle but cold. She turned to see a warning in the firm line of his jaw. Yeah, like she was dumb enough to tell Raquel how she’d married him. And why he’d married her. And that they had a pending divorce. One she was sure she didn’t want only twenty minutes ago, and now …? Now she was confused and hurt.
“Was any of this real to you?” she asked him, ignoring her sister’s hunger for drama.
“All of it.”
Harrison grunted. “Don’t listen to him. He’s only in this for himself.”
Her eyes stung and she tasted sorrow on her tongue. “Tell me you didn’t want to be CEO. And don’t lie, Nash. The truth is easier to live with than a lie.”
He looked pointedly at her. “I’m not the only one who has lied here.”
Kenzi reared back. “I may have lied to them.” She threw her arm out, indicating the empty seats and her open-mouthed sister. “But I never lied to you.” Tears, hot and insistent, burned her eyes. “Not to you.”
He took her by the arms, his hands running up and down them, coaxing her to believe what he was about to say. His touch did the same thing to her that it always did: it warmed her and sent her pulse pounding. “This company is ripe for expansion, Kenzi. It’s ready to explode into the market and be the biggest dairy supplier in the western United States.”
She swatted away the feelings of contentment being near him brought to the surface as her mind rolled things over. “And you want to take it there?”
“I can’t say I don’t want the opportunity. It’s what I prayed for, what I worked for. But I never wanted to take this from you. This is your dream, and you should have it. I—I’m so sorry. I’ll step down. If that’s what you want. I’ll sign whatever I have to.”
She turned away from him.
He gently took her chin between his fingers and brought her gaze back to him. “I begged God for an opportunity to prove to the world and to myself that I’m not the guy they put in prison.”
The tears pooled in her eyes, hot and heavy against her lids. “And you think taking my company is the answer to your prayers?”
“No.” He released her and ran his hands through his hair. “Dang it, Kenzi—I didn’t plan for this to happen. I’m not even surewhatjust happened.”
Raquel stepped forward. “It’s called betrayal or disloyalty, take your pick.”
