Page 40 of King of Deception

I look down at the phone. I know I hit Luke with that comment about him being like Mason, but Luke would never talk to me like this. He would appeal to my heart, not try to get inside my head. In the past, I’ve crumbled during conversations like this with Mason. But I don’t want to. Not this time. “I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. What happened between you and Luke?”

“I told you—” he grits between his teeth.

“You haven’t told me anything. And I don’t know why I should share with you when won’t with me.”

“Christ, Arabella.” Frustration colors every syllable.

But he isn’t the only one who has had enough. “I’m not marrying him for Kincaid. I’m not going to be fodder for the company.”

“Is that what you think I would do?”

“It’s what you did to Luke, isn’t it?” The words fly out before I can stop them.

Mason lets out a string of curses. “Did Luke tell you that?”

“Of course not. Luke would never do that.”

Mason is silent again. I know he’s doing mental math.

“I’ll attend a few more events in the coming week if you need me to, but work quickly to gain those investors you need.”

“You do not get to tell me how to run the business.”

“And you don’t get to tell me who I should marry.”

He curses again. “We can’t afford Luke’s shares. I’ve invested all of our capital and more into the tunnel.”

I never hear Mason talk like this. I know I have been a beneficiary of Kincaid Enterprises. I’ve given nothing back. It’s why I’ve been silent for so long as this whole situation has unfolded with Preston. “I’ll help however I can, Mason. But I can’t marry Preston. We don’t even like each other and I think he might actually hate me.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know. He can’t even fake being nice to me. All he does is yell and sneer all the time. I’m not even sure why he asked me to marry him, though if I were to guess, it was probably to gain access to the company.”

Mason rumbles into the phone.

“And I only said yes because I was afraid. But I need to stop making decisions based on what scares me.”

“Bella,” Mason draws in a deep breath. “If I’d known any of this…”

“I get it, Mason. I don’t mean to make your life more difficult.”

“Let me consider our options. Just don’t do anything.”

Everybody is thinking. Making plans. While I’m supposed to sit here and wait. I click off my phone, setting it back in my bag.

I think I’m tired of waiting. It’s time for me to make some plans of my own.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Gris

Drivingfrom Arabella’s I call my brother Tris. “Are you home?”

“No. I’m at the office.”

“All right. I’ll meet you there in fifteen.” I need this conversation to be reasonably private, but that can be achieved in Tris’s office or my own.

Tris manages far more of the daily operations of the company.

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