Page 101 of Say You Will

Her eyes narrow, and she huffs. “No.”

Almost there.I lift an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Because you look hot and bothered. I didn’t realize you’d be into the dominatrix thing. Naughty minx.”

She channels a little bit of me when she lets her eyelids drop to half-mast and gives me a flat look that says,“I know what you’re doing”as plainly as if she’d spoken the words out loud.

“Would it be possible for the two of you to table this conversation until Dante and I leave? I’m endeavoring not to hear something that is clearly none of my business, because, andI cannot emphasize this enough, I do not want to know,” Spencer says.

“Speak for yourself. I want to hear about the weird-ass kinky games they play. It’s the quiet ones you’d never expect it from. Know what I mean?” Dante says.

“You’re very disrespectful employees,” I say, keeping my tone mild.

Franki has never seen me engage in real violence before today, despite the fact that she knows I do. The shoot-out in the car was different. Less personal.

Dante is trying to come across as less intimidating after his show of aggression, and I’m giving her the opportunity to see that I don’t respond with violence out of a loss of temper or something as simple as being challenged or disrespected.

Maybe she already knows that, but I can’t stand the wariness lurking behind her eyes.

Never mind that Iwasfurious that he would go for his sidearm near her.

The fact is, if Dante believed she was an imminent danger to me, he would have fired on her without hesitation. He’d have taken her out and asked questions of the corpse, and though I’d explained that she was the one whose safety was our primary concern, he hadn’t understood. She’s more important than I am.She’s more important than anything or anyone else. She’s our priority.

Now, he knows.

I heave a sigh, wrap my arm around her waist, and lean in confidingly. “It’s impossible to find good help these days.”

Some of the tension in her muscles relaxes, and she blows out a slow breath.

Spencer hands me a shirt. I shrug into it and jerk my head toward the front door. “You two get some air.”

When Spencer and Dante have gone outside, Franki carries Oliver to the sofa and sits, looking lost. “Why would he try to take my dog? He doesn’t even like him.”

Crouching in front of her, I rub her back and give Oliver a scratch behind his silky ear. “His brand is floundering. He now needs a large investment of capital to bail him out, and he’s getting desperate. His last conversation with you didn’t go as planned. So, he attempted damage control with his social media posts.”

“He tried to control you through me,” she says.

“He failed. This morning, my PR team issued a statement indicating the two new companies that I’m ‘excited’ to be working with. Your father’s name was conspicuously absent. At the same time, several of his investors withdrew their financial support, and others demanded payment for outstanding debts. I’d say he’s panicking. His goal was to speak to you. Taking Oliver would have been a crime of opportunity. He could use him as leverage.”

“Did you do that? Wreck his businesses?”

“Ahh . . . yes. And no. He was already in financial trouble. He made some very poor decisions. I did, shall we say, bring the situation to a head sooner, rather than later.”

“Good.” Her fury is banked, not fully abated.

She leans back and looks at the ceiling, then sits up and squares her shoulders. “Will you pass me my phone, please?”

I don’t want to do it. I want to protect her from him, but if she needs this, I won’t rob her of her power. I’ll keep my hands to myself if I have to sit on them. I cross to the kitchen table and return with her work phone in my hand. “Do you want me to stay here, or do you want privacy?”

“Stay here. Please. But don’t say a word.”

“You do like to test me.” I pass her the phone.

thirty-one

Franki

Skyscraper | Demi Lovato

Ihit the FaceTimebutton. I want to see Jonny’s face. More than that, I want him to see mine. My call is automatically forwarded to Jonny’s assistant. I’m not at all surprised. The only part that surprises me is that when I say, “Put him on the phonenow,” he does.

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