“I’m quite content with the terms.” I met his wild gaze momentarily. “I don’t see a reason to modify anything.”
Come Sunday morning, I would be adding another company to my current portfolio, as well as a few numbers to my net worth. Neither of which I needed, but it was the principle of the matter.
“I can’t lose my home or my business,” Rhett blurted, his brown eyes slamming into my face. “It’s all I’ve got.”
“You’ve got a wife and a daughter,” I reminded him.
“I know. And I’m doing this for her.”
Forher. Not forthem. I didn’t care for the direction this was headed.
I kept my tone calm and controlled. “You probably should’ve thought about that when you stole seventy million dollars from me.”
Rhett’s thick eyebrows darted down. “You know I didn’t steal that money.”
“You’re right. Your wife stole the money.”
“She’syourmother,” Rhett countered hotly.
“She is.” I gave him a mirthless smile. “That doesn’t make it okay.”
“I…” Rhett took a deep breath, seemed to calm himself. “I’ve apologized for what happened. And I fully understand that you’re upset.”
I didn’t think pleading his case and begging for mercy qualified as an apology, but I let it go.
I shook my head. “I’m not upset. I’m quite content, in fact.”
Rhett’s eyes were wide, beseeching. “I’m here to throw myself on your mercy, Knox. I’ll do anything. Give you anything. Just … don’t take it all away.”
I cocked an eyebrow, pretended to consider his proposition. As it was, Rhett Campbell would lose everything as of 12:01 a.m. on Sunday. Everything except for whatever millions he might have in the bank. Based on the contract he’d signed, every physical possession he owned would become mine on the day his daughter turned eighteen, the day she became officially legal to take care of herself. It was the least he owed me after he and my mother deceived me the way they had.
I got to my feet, preparing to dismiss him. “You have nothing to offer me, Rhett.”
“Surely there’s something.”
“I’m already taking your houses, your cars, and your company.” I barked a laugh. “Short of your only child, you’ve got nothing left.”
“Emily?” he said as though just now realizing she was a part of his life.
Rhett’s eyebrows rose, and I didn’t care for the gleam that came into his eyes.
“What if…” Rhett swallowed again and squared his shoulders. “You can have Emily.”
I stared at him, frowned. What the ever-loving fuck?
I was not a man who was usually at a loss for words, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t wrap my head around what he was offering me.
“You can have her,” Rhett repeated, his words coming faster. “I can’t lose my company. I just can’t. It’ll devastate Kitty. It’s a fair trade.”
A fair trade? Was he fucking insane?
“What do you say, Knox?” Rhett’s eyes flashed with hope as he stepped forward. “Do we have a deal?”
The man was absolutely out of his fucking mind, and though my own dark and twisted desires urged me to take what he was offering, it wasn’t an option. Not now, not ever.
“No, we don’t have a fucking deal,” I ground out fiercely, masking my expression. “You’ve had plenty of time to get your affairs in order. I think I’ve been more than fair.”
For three years running, Rhett had shown up in person to make a formal request that I give him more time to tend to things. Each time he seemed more stressed, as though his feeble world was already crumbling at his feet. Which, I figured, for Rhett, was probably the case based solely on the fact he was married to my mother, Katherine Marie Wybler Campbell, a.k.a. Kitty. Because she was nothing more than a gold-digging whore, the cracks in his foundation were likely growing direr each day. We both knew the minute Rhett lost everything, Kitty would move on to a bigger payout, and he would be left with nothing.
