Page 58 of Twisted Knight

Will it come in time? Later in life when I’m established, have smashed my goals, and have a more prominent role in the company? Maybe. Maybe not.

All I know is the thought of having to put me on hold for the collective of an us just doesn’t hit me as something I want right now.

My mom calls it selfish. I don’t really care.

The lump sum would go a long way to trying to fix the current situation.

Are you out of your mind, Rowan? Who are you going to just pick up and marry? Why would you fuck up your life like that?

I groan and finish the last of my wine.

Leave it to Gran to blackmail me. To make me question everything about myself because of it.

I promised her I’d keep the company in Rothschild hands.

Don’t look now, Row, but you’re failing at both.

Winnie comes my way when I whistle, and I absently pet the top of her head as she drinks water from the bowl beside me. My mind wanders.

How can I fix this?

How can I stop this?

How can I keep my promise when things are spiraling out of control?

I lift my glass to my lips only to realize it’s empty. Shit. What would Gran do if she knew what was happening right now?

Assess. Adjust. Adapt. Kick ass.

Does that motto include bending some rules to reach the end game I promised?

I’m beginning to think that’s the only way I can.

SEVENTEEN

Holden

I lean back and stare at the console of screens set up in front of me. There are six in all, curved in an arc around my desk. Each one holds a treasure trove of information I’ve been coveting for some time.

On Chadwick Williams and the price he’s paid and people he’s crossed to be where he is.

On Rhett Rothschild, the hasty decisions and all-encompassing greed his last name gave him carte blanche to but that I plan to use to fuck him over.

Both families enabled their sons and wielded their corruption for their own benefit. To keep their power at the cost of so many others.

I’m here to stop it. To harness it. To use it against them as it was once used against me.

The Rothschilds’ baby? TinSpirits and its subsidiary products? I’ll own it. Then I’ll destroy and dismantle it so as to cause maximum collateral damage.

The information is laid out in front of me. I can recite the facts and figures and details without looking at the screens.

But it’s the added information I’ve amassed over the past few days that holds my attention the most. Rowan is an overachiever in all aspects. Graduated magna cum laude from college. A prestigious internship with one of the top entrepreneur programs in the country while getting her master’s degree. A rise through the ranks at TinSpirits.

Interesting.

Daddy didn’t hand her the VP of marketing position right off the bat like he did for Rhett and his position straight out of school. She had to work for it. Surely she was moved up the ladder faster than most, but she was in fact on the ladder.

And she volunteers at the Sanctuary.