Page 60 of Say You Will

Franki swallows hard. “He upset me. I guess we’re even.”

“I literally give you the clothes on your back, and you can’t throw me one fucking bone.”

“I said I wouldn’t—”

“AndI saidyou would. Is this because I didn’t return your phone calls for a couple of weeks? Grow the hell up.”

He takes an audible breath. “He made it clear that he’s willing to accept you if you change your mind, even after you embarrassed him. He’s giving you another chance. I reassured him that Henry McRae is just an old friend of the family. Leo is going to pull out of this deal if you don’t cooperate. You will call that number he gave you and beg his forgiveness.”

“I’m not apologizing—”

“You will do as you’re told.”

I curl my hand in a fist and shove it in my pocket to prevent myself from barging over and scaring the shit out of Franki.

Jonny’s next words are more controlled as his voice becomes coaxing. “I’ll find you somewhere to live. I’ll pay for your health insurance, and I’ll pay for your grad school. All I need is for you to play nice with the man.”

I have a moment of pure self-loathing when I hear his words. No wonder she’d wanted to stab me with a fork. I sounded just like her piece-of-shit father when I proposed.

She shakes her head. “I don’t need—”

“Say, ‘Thank you, Jonny,’” he snaps.

I’ve heard enough.

When I reach over her shoulder to lift the phone from her hand, she barely startles. Eyes wide, she turns my way and watches.

I move my lips into a reassuring smile for her sake.

“Hello, Jonny,” I say pleasantly. “How are you this evening?”

“Who is this?” Jonny sounds wary. Feeling out exactly whom he’s speaking to before he lets the vitriol fly.

No one can say he’s unintelligent, and it makes me hate him more. He’s not an equal-opportunity asshole. No, he looks at Franki and abuses the power he believes he holds over her because he’s done so from the time she was a vulnerable child. He’s groomed her to accept his treatment of her as normal.

The same cold numbness that fills my veins when I snap on a pair of surgical gloves to torture someone for information, floods through me now.

“Franki didn’t mention she was living with me? This is her fiancé.” I affect a genial tone. Butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth.

This, Franki reacts to. Gaze flying to mine, she drops to sit on the edge of her bed and chews on her lip.

I pause to let my words sink in and for Franki’s father to realize what it means. Then I clear my throat. “Henry McRae,” I say gently.

He’s silent for a long, satisfying moment while he absorbs that information. He knows my reputation. The carefully cultivated rumors surrounding me aren’t exaggerations. In fact, they’re mild compared to what I’m actually capable of. He has to know that, at the very least, I would dismantle his business and his reputation without blinking if I view him as my enemy.

Finally, he says, voice strangled, “She didn’t mention she was engaged.”

I sigh dramatically. “Understandable when you won’t take her calls. We would have preferred to share our happy news in person.”

I glance at Franki and say, “Isn’t that right, darling?”

I don’t expect her to say anything in response, but a martial light enters her eyes, and she says, quite loudly, “We were planning a family dinner where we’d share the news. It was a surprise.”

This time, my smile is slow, but real. I wink and mouth, “Good girl.” Color blazes in her cheeks in response.

It takes Jonny a beat too long to recover from my announcement before he says suspiciously, “She hasn’t been back in New York long enough for this.”

I laugh. “Have you heard of airplanes? Telephones? It’s amazing how two people who live on opposite sides of the country can manage to stay connected over the years.”

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