Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
My curiosity was piqued.
Something was off, and I needed to know what it was.
I knelt at the coffee table and pulled documents from the other piles, going over line after line.
Something was definitely wrong.
I could feel it. I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
“Do you even know what you are reading?” Marksen asked.
“Quarterly and monthly statements showing someone is blocking your trades,” I muttered, not bothering to break my concentration by looking up.
“Not someone. Luc. You should go back to your room.”
“No, you are holding my reputation, my future, and my hard work over the flames. I deserve to know why.”
Marksen didn’t say anything, and I glanced up at him. He was sitting back in his rich leather chair, studying me. Without saying a word, he gave me a nod, and I went back to the forms.
For over an hour, we quietly worked together in his office.
I knew there was something here that was wrong. Not because I didn’t think Luc was capable of something so cutthroat. I knew he was. I had seen him take down empires just as massive as DuBois Investments without breaking a sweat. That was what didn’t make sense to me.
If Luc was going after Marksen’s business, this was how he would do it, but he wouldn’t try to hide it. He would want Marksen to know it was him.
“Now do you understand why this has to happen? He started this.”
I shook my head without taking my eyes off the spreadsheet I was reviewing. “No, you started this when you went after the warehouse intended to expand the business that my family built its fortune on.” I glanced up at him. “You poked the bear. You shouldn’t have done that.”
He leaned his elbow on the desk and rubbed his jaw as he looked down at me. “Maybe you’re right, princess. But he struck back. He stole Amelia in a very public way, ended the deal that would have secured the warehouse. He took his pound of flesh. That should have been the end of it.”
He was right.
He’d tried to get one over on Luc, but Luc stopped it and struck back.
Tit for tat. Then it was over.
That was how business worked. It happened all the time.
Enemies one week. Business partners the next.
I leaned back on my hands. “How sure are you that this is Luc?”
He dropped another file on the table and ran his fingers through his hair as he leaned back in his chair.
Even after everything, he still looked as handsome as the devil, which was disturbingly on point.
I could see us like this on a weekend, going over our quarterly earnings and loss sheets. Each of us would get a little work done before spending the rest of the weekend together, pretending work didn’t exist. Maybe we’d go to another event like Theophane or back to that house on the shore, hiding from the stress of our jobs and losing ourselves in each other’s touch.
I closed my eyes for a moment and shut those thoughts down, shoving them into the back of my mind to daydream about later or, better yet, forget entirely.
That was not how this story ended.
He was not my dark prince, and I was not a weak damsel in distress that would show him the error of his ways. Disney would not be making this movie.
“Look at those forms. You aren’t stupid. I know you know what holdings your family has, at least some of them—”
“I know all of them,” I interrupted.
Then I saw it, what looked like a typo. The name of a shell was wrong, and the account number was one I didn’t recognize. “I think someone is setting this up to make you think it’s Luc.”
Marksen stared at me for a moment like he was trying to read me. “He did this, Olivia. I need to respond and strike back. It’s unfortunate that you were the best avenue to do that, and I feel for you, but ...”
I raised up on my knees and grabbed the sheet. “No, you aren’t hearing me. This isn’t Luc.”
“It has to be. This is exactly how he took down Robinson Investments, and the Montague gro—”
I stood up and raced to his side. Slamming the sheet down on his desk, I pointed my finger to the shell company with the typo. “Yes, this is how he would attack you, sort of. But this is a shell game. Luc would have no reason to do that. He wouldn’t hide.” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you see? This isn’t him.”
He grasped my wrist and turned me away from the desk to maneuver me to stand between his thighs. “Look, I understand you don’t want it to be him, maybe you don’t understand the shell companies and how they work.”
My eyes narrowed as I pulled my wrist free and placed my hands on my hips. “Just because you have a dick doesn’t make you smarter than me, Marksen DuBois,” I snapped. “I spent years learning everything I could about our family business. I wanted to be a second to Luc, to help him, but my father wouldn’t hear of it. I still worked my ass off studying how my family ran their shell and shelf companies. I know what our holdings are, and these are not them.”