Page 136 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

Five hundred thousand.

One million.

My stomach tightens.

She places identical stacks before Lucian and Voss.

“Ten million each,” Lorenzo says.

Oh my God. This cannot be happening.

Shaking my head, I turn to Lucian. As quietly as I can, I demand, “You’re gambling twenty million dollars?”

“Not exactly.”

“The money controls the game,” Voss says. “It isn’t the real stake.”

I look across the table at him. “Then what is?”

He removes a slim black card from inside his jacket and places it on the felt.

Caleb’s expression changes.

So does Lucian’s.

I frown, and Lucian explains. “It’s a decryption key.”

“For what?”

He levels me with a cold, hard, unblinking gaze. “A copy of your father’s private ledgers.”

For a moment, I can only stare at him.

“Everything he kept off the books,” Caleb says. “Loans. Property transfers. Political contributions. Offshore payments.”

No… My pulse is frantic now.

Voss rests one hand beside the card. “Your father was not as careful as he believed.”

I look at Lucian. “And you’re gambling for this?”

“We offered to buy it.”

Voss smiles. “I declined.”

I’m struggling to understand what’s happening. “You don’t have to do this, Lucian. Whatever is in those ledgers belongs to my father.” I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “If it destroys him, maybe he deserves it.”

Lucian turns toward me. “I have no interest in protecting Richard.”

“Then…?”

“They don’t know who else is in the ledger,” Voss says, sitting back. “I believe your mother was involved in his business.”

My mother?

Everything inside me goes cold.

I look at the black card again.