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In his case, the only thing he had of value—other than the 10% of his inheritance they’d agreed on— was his heart. He’d gladly give her that 10%. After all, the remainder would be plenty for him to get out of Stars Point and start over somewhere new. But his heart?
That just wasn’t something he was willing to part with.
So, he’d learn to ignore the fact that she loved dogs. She thought she was slipping Layla table scraps on the sly, but Knox had seen her do it. She’d waited until she thought he wasn’t looking to lean down, tell Layla she was the most beautiful girl in the world, then kiss her nose sweetly. He’d seen that, too.
He’d eventually not notice how her little button nose crinkled up when she was concentrating on scamming someone. Or how she completely butchered song lyrics when she was singing along with the car radio and didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
And he imagined if he tried hard enough, he’d eventually not be charmed by her off-center sense of humor, the absolutely diabolical way her mind worked, or the way she fearlessly charged through her life, taking no prisoners. He could learn to at least pretend he didn’t want her more than his next breath.
Yep. He was pretty sure he could ignore and/or forget all that.
Knox stifled a groan. Fuck. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t going to forget anything about her. And if, in the end, she took him for everything he had—including his fucking heart—he’d probably regret nothing.
She tapped her pink pen against her plush lower lip as she narrowed her eyes on her list. “So, I think we’re ready for the meeting with Luther tomorrow, don’t you?”
He had to force his gaze off her lips before he could formulate an answer. “Yeah. I guess so. I don’t think Luther will give us too much trouble. There’s not really much we can do until we hear the full terms of the trust.”
“And you truly have no idea what they might be? I mean, other than being ‘settled down’, of course,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers.
Knox snorted. “It’s hard to narrow it down. My dad pretty much wanted me to do everything differently. He could’ve put a lot of stipulations in there.”
There was that sympathy in her stormy eyes again. The sympathy that brought him to his fucking knees every single time. He hated it. Mostly because he knew he could get used to it so quickly. “Do you mind telling me what his chief complaints were?” she asked.
“Well,” he said on a sigh. “There were the drugs and alcohol. I could see him asking for drug tests.”
She nodded. “That seems doable. You’re not on drugs, right?”
“No. That’s all behind me.”
“Good. What else?”
“He was really concerned with carrying on the family name. He wanted me settled down—married with kids at least on the horizon.”
She cocked her head to one side. “You’re obviously not there yet, but we can convince him. Especially given how limited your dating options have been for the past few years.”
His brain snagged on the thought of having babies with Tenley. Or more specifically, the thought of making babies with Tenley. He gave his head a quick shake to dislodge those images. “He wanted me to take control of the company, too. Thadeus is in charge, but Dad never liked him. He was just more responsible than me and was the only other family member he could hand control over to.”
Tenley nodded and set her notebook down on the nightstand. “Now that is something I could see working to our advantage.”
Again, his stupid brain got hung up on her use of our for a second. “How so?”
“Even though Thadeus looks like a good successor on paper, your dad still preferred you and wanted you to take over. That means his stipulations won’t be impossible to achieve because he wanted you to succeed. At the end of the day, he believed in you. He knew you could do it. You just needed a push.”
Knox had honestly never thought about it like that before. He’d always thought his dad hated him on some level. Whether it was because he was such a fuck up or because he couldn’t be counted on when everything else in their family was falling apart, Knox wasn’t sure.
But what Tenley was saying, that his father had believed in him and wanted him to succeed, that he knew he’d get to a good place in his life eventually, was actually…life changing.
He’d always identified as a fuck up. Had assumed he’d always be a fuck up. Was it possible that he could move beyond his past and become the kind of man his father always knew he could be?
Knox cleared his throat, trying his best to dislodge the lump of emotion that had settled there. “Tenley…um…I need to tell you…well…”
“Good grief, man,” she said with a playful smirk. “We’ve been through a kidnapping together. What are you getting all shy about now? Just spit it out.”
Smart ass. “I just want to say…you know…” He shoved a hand through his hair. “…thank you. That’s all.”
Her eyes softened. “I guess I understand why that was so hard to say, given our circumstances and all.”
He snorted. “You have no idea.”
