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“Just because we can’t put him in prison doesn’t mean we can’t make him pay,” Tenley said. “Look, you’ve known Thadeus longer than I have, but if I had to guess, I’d say the most important things to him in life are power and money. Am I right?”
“Totally.”
“Then we hit him where it hurts. We take every red cent he’s got and rip his power out from underneath him like a rug.”
Knox let out a weary sigh. “I don’t give a shit about the money. What would I do with it? Unless you’re saying you want his money.”
Tenley’s sharp intake of breath was like a knife to his heart. Damn it. He shouldn’t have said that. Hell, he knew Tenley wasn’t just looking for a new con. She wanted to help him get justice.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean that. I know you don’t care about the money. But neither do I. He can keep it. And as long as he’s doing what’s right for my mother’s company, he can keep that, too.”
Ren sucked in a hiss of air through his teeth. “What if he wasn’t doing what was right for the company, though?”
Maybe he wasn’t as smart as everyone kept telling him he was, because Knox had no clue what Ren was talking about. “What the hell do you mean? The company has seen record profits since Thadeus took control.”
“Yeah, but the way he achieved those profits was by making specific changes that made the company ripe for a sale.”
Tenley did a little fist pump. “I knew it! That motherfucker wants you out of town and far away from that board so he can sell off the company and make a fortune.”
“Yep,” Ren said, making a popping sound on the p. “HomeTech Enterprises. It’s a—”
“Chinese furniture company,” Knox murmured, rubbing his now-aching forehead. “They do pre-fab, mass produced stuff. Their company and their furniture is everything my mother hated about the industry. They’ll buy Wilder Days, use their resources to create what they’ll call a higher-end product line, then make the same cheap shit they’ve always made, just at a higher price point. It’ll destroy my mother’s legacy. Thadeus has to know that.”
Tenley nodded. “And he doesn’t give a shit. Are you going to let him get away with it?”
You could still leave, a distant corner of his brain reminded him. Grab Tenley and your trust fund, and retire to some South American tropical paradise, never to hear from assholes like Waylin and Thadeus ever again. It’d be easy. Fun. Sexy. Low drama.
And damned if he didn’t really love the idea of that kind of retirement.
But there was no way in hell he could sit idly by and let the asshole who sent him to prison ruin his mother’s legacy.
“No, I’m not,” he said through clenched teeth. “No fucking way.”
Tenley’s smile could only be described as violent. “Excellent.”
Ren sighed. “Guess I won’t be getting any sleep tonight.”
“Nope,” Tenley said, still smiling her serial killer’s smile. “None of us are. We’ve got lives to ruin.” Her eyes sparkled. “This is going to be fun.”
CHAPTER 26
There were dead people who didn’t rest as hard as Knox.
It was a fact that delighted and annoyed Tenley in equal measure. On the one hand, she loved to see him sleeping, mouth open, breathing so deep it couldn’t even be called snoring, because he obviously needed the REM. But on the other hand, she was the lightest sleeper in the world these days. A gentle breeze ruffling one lock of her hair woke her up. And sleeping longer than three or so hours a night? Unheard of lately.
So, she couldn’t bring herself to sit there, wide awake, watching him sleep and getting resentful about it. He didn’t deserve that. Especially not after the three—no, four—orgasms he’d given her after dinner.
She’d never be able to look at that doorframe in the pool house without blushing ever again.
But that was beside the point.
It was her insomnia that allowed her to answer the door before Thadeus managed to drag Knox out of his hard-earned slumber. Tenley tightened the robe over her tank top and sleep shorts because Thadeus in no way deserved a peek at her legs or cleavage and stepped out of the house to greet him, easing the door shut behind her.
She knew a split second of surprise at his appearance. For the first time since they’d met, he wasn’t wearing a suit. Instead, Thadeus was wearing jeans (albeit obviously expensive, designer jeans), a wheat-colored cashmere sweater (which was a waste because despite its quality, it was still boring and ugly as fuck) and boat shoes (like the pompous, pretentious yacht owner he was).
But it wasn’t his attire that gave her pause. It was his drawn expression and disheveled hair. He looked like he was under an unbearable amount of stress and wasn’t handling it well.
Good.
