Page 141 of Twisted Knight

“Problem solver and referral artist. A regular jack of all trades,” I say. How does he keep a straight fucking face? “But, question, why doesn’t the current owner do that in the first place? Hand out the report debunking the crazies so they can keep their valuation as is?”

“Beats the hell out of me,” Rhett says with a look to Chad. “Maybe they’ve already washed their hands of it.”

“Their stupidity could be your gain,” Chad adds in.

You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Me to buy it? To save your asses? Maybe if you two read the fine print you could do that yourselves.

Then again, maybe not.

The two of them stare at me. “Was there something else besides your need to know where I was?”

Rhett straightens his spine. “Just wanted to make sure we’re still on track with buttoning everything up on this deal in the next few weeks.”

You want your money, don’t you, Rhett Rothschild?

I nod. “We are. There will be a few changes based on some of the issues I’ve found.”

“Like?” Rhett asks. I give a glance to Chad and then back to him. “You can say it in front of him.”

“Some things don’t add up in the ledgers. Why we’ve picked up payments to Greatland when units are the same. Why we’re paying consulting fees when we don’t need consulting. Two and two isn’t equaling four in some aspects.”

“Yeah, we’re still unraveling the damage our controller did. She screwed a lot up,” Rhett explains.

Sure. Blame it on the controller. Fucking spineless prick.

“So, what’s changing in the deal, then?” Chad asks.

“Just a few more commands and controls set into place. The fine print is always important,” I say.

“Agreed,” Rhett says. “But we’re still going through with it, money to be transferred and all that jazz?”

“Yes, all that jazz,” I say wryly. “My lawyers have been in touch with your lawyers on all of this.”

“Great. Perfect.” He fidgets some. “Some of the board members were asking is all,” he explains.

I nod. You have payments coming due, Rhett, and no way to pay them. There’s not much more you can shift and then reshift to cover all your bases, is there?

“Anything else?” I ask.

“No. I think that’s it,” Rhett says.

“Make sure it is.” I shift my focus to my laptop and start typing to dismiss them.

They hesitate before leaving.

But it’s only when both of them enter the elevator and the doors shut that I let my guard down.

Fuck, Knight. Just … fuck. I scrub a hand through my hair and lean back in my chair, staring at the cursor on my laptop taunting me to work, but my mind is lost somewhere else.

To her. To moonlight in her hair. To her carefree laugh. To her dancing in the sand.

To Leo. His wary eyes. His hopeful smile. His reminding me of a little brother I never got to see reach that age.

To Rhett. His bullshit lies. To the freight train barreling down on him. To the warm, fuzzy feeling I have deep down inside knowing I’m the conductor on it.

To one hell of a fucking day that really had nothing to do with work.

I don’t know how exactly to think about that.