“I think he’ll do it with or without my help. Leon’s a very powerful man, though, isn’t he? I’d say he has much better chances of successandgetting away with it if I help him.”
My mouth was dry. Because Benny had already accepted a deal with Shady, but he didn’t have anything Shady wanted as payment. That was why he was here.
“I don’t have anything you want.”
“Oh, but you do. You’re still the legal heir to Lorens Industries. Once dear old dad kicks it, you’ll be sitting pretty in that big glass tower. Question is, will Benny be sitting with you?”
My palms ached from clenched fists. “Leon will have officially removed me as his successor by now.”
“He hasn’t.”
“How would you know?”
He smiled, pointing at his eye, then gesturing to the shadows surrounding us again as he wiggled his fingers.
If he was telling the truth, and if Leon died, I was set to inherit everything. The company, the money, all of it.
“You want the money?”
He shook his head.
“You want the company?”
He smiled wider and fluttered his eyelids at me. “You’re offering me your father’s empire? Why, that’s so generous, I couldn’t possibly.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.
“Well, okay, you’ve convinced me. Such a negotiator.”
“Why do you want Lorens Industries?”
“Does it matter?”
It didn’t. I wanted Leon gone. I wanted Benny safe. I didn’t give a fuck about that company, even if it had consumed my entire life for as long as I could remember.
“So,” Shady continued. “I will help you and your lovely puppy murder your father and get away with it. You inherit the company, and then you sell it dirt cheap to Noctis Tech, and we all live happily ever after.”
“Noctis Tech?” My brow furrowed at the mention of our biggest competitor. “Wait, you own Noctis Tech?”
He shrugged. “I own a lot of things.”
My mind spun. I knew I should take my time to consider it, but beyond this, I had nothing. He was holding all the cards.
“I have conditions,” I said, and he scoffed and rolled his eyes. “When you take over, you give Rachel Forrester her own lab and team, and you’ll pay her twice what she was making at Lorens Industries.”
He gave an exasperated sigh. “Anything else?”
“If Matthew Kimberly wants a job, you’ll give him whatever position he wants there too.”
“And am I to make you head of human resources while I’m at it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to work for you.”
“Well, that hurts my feelings. I’m a lovely boss. Ask anyone. Except Reggie. And Ivan. Or any of the Shadows.” He grinned and winked playfully. “Now for my conditions.”
I inhaled, completely unsure what else he’d ask for.
“You’ll say nothing of this deal to Benny, or to thatverminHenrik Kovats. Or his vile little family. Understood?”
