Page 138 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“She’s got a mind of her own, if you know what I mean.” He bounced his eyebrows.

I immediately thought of Brooke, because she was a woman who did have a mind of her own, and I loved it. I glanced in the direction of the table I’d left her at, but I could no longer see it.

“It might be helpful if you would accept a lower offer for Luxury Holdings in Chicago. I’m already losing a great deal of money on the deal,” I said. Matthew was driving a hard bargain, and I wondered just how much money his nephew had lost running the company.

Matthew’s eyes flashed. “You’ll lose a lot more when your father gets brought up on charges.”

This still wasn’t new. What bush was Matthew beating around, and why?

He leaned in, alleviating the need for me to ask. “I want you to drop the downtown Manhattan deal.”

Calculations ran through my mind like a computer program. How much was that deal worth to us? If we dropped it, would it bring him any sort of advantage in the city? Or would it merely put us at a disadvantage? How much had Harris Inc. already poured into it? Was this personal or professional?

The possibilities were vast, and I didn’t have enough information to formulate a clear hypothesis.

“If you do that, I think Katrina will drop the charges.” Matthew smiled, as if proud of himself.

So we were down to extortion. If Harris Inc. dropped the Manhattan deal—likely so Matthew’s parent company could pick it up—and bought Luxury Holdings, then Matthew would have Ms. Smith drop the charges against my father.

I didn’t like being forced to do things.

Not a single muscle in my face had twitched since this had started. Now I gave the man a small smile. “I’ll take it under consideration.”

“Good.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but I turned and walked away.

No doubt he would accuse me of being rude. I could live with that. Thanks to Courtney, I had plenty of experience with how to smooth ruffled feathers.

“Wait.”

Matthew’s voice was close. I stopped and found him walking after me. “I noticed you still have the new woman on your arm.”

I blinked and started to turn away, but he reached out and grabbed my elbow. “It’s only been a few weeks since the last one. She’s still pining over you.”

Business associates rarely attacked me or my personal life, mostly because I gave people precious little ammunition. Carlotta had changed that.

I’d known Brooke would be a target if I brought her here. Anyone who didn’t fit a certain mold was usually picked on until they gave up coming to events and only sent their money or had beautiful children and sent them instead. Since Brooke didn’t have the money, the bullies would go after her.

For the first time in a long time at one of these functions, I felt anger swelling inside of me. The thought that any of these people would try to make Brooke feel less than she was curled my hands in to fists.

It didn’t help that I needed to have a frank conversation with her about her ranch.

Matthew went on, oblivious to my growing rage. “She’s a looker, but not in the conventional way.” He craned his neck as if to look at her. “Have you finally found your type?”

“Excuse me?” My type?

“Your father likes his with long hair and ample, shall we say, assets.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Apparently, you prefer yours with more meat on their bones?”

I wanted to wonder how men like this were still in the business world, but my father was proof enough that Matthew wasn’t an outlier.

“If so, after you get bored of this one, I have a few suggestions for you.”

Suggestions?

Matthew shrugged. “Your father has been using the service for years. I didn’t think you had it in you, but I believe you’re coming around.”

I tried to file everything he’d said into a logical order, but all that my mind was coming up with was that he thought I was like my father.

The last thing I wanted was another woman. The only thing I wanted was Brooke. I took a breath, and when I raised my hand to point a finger at Matthew, I found my whole arm shaking. “I never want to hear you speaking about any woman like that again.”

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