Page 17 of Sunburned

“Someone in my inner circle,” he said darkly.

“What makes you think that?”

“This address is private. Only people close to me would know it.”

I raised my brows, turning on the sarcasm. “Like me?”

“You’re a ‘discovery agent,’ right? I think we both know you could easily have discovered it.”

“As could any number of other people. Not to mention anyone that works here or has seen you come and go,” I added.

“So, you’ll need to narrow down the list.”

I swallowed the acid in my throat. It was true that he could ruin my life with a lot less self-sabotage than would be necessary for me to ruin his. If I was really going to stay here—which I would decide once I had a moment to parse out whether his threat held water—I needed to blunt the sharp edges between us before this turned into a bloodbath.

“Let’s start over,” I said, composing myself. “You mentioned your inner circle. Is there anyone you’re close to that you suspect could mean you harm?”

“All of them.”

I refrained from pointing out that if he treated them anything like the way he was treating me right now, he deserved it. “I’m gonna need more than that.”

He took a slurp of his green drink. “The board wants to take the company public, and I won’t let them.”

“Anyone specific, or the board in general?”

“Most of them are too scared to cross me. They saw what happened last time someone did that.”

“Which was?”

“Suffice it to say his career is over.”

I narrowed my eyes, wishing he’d allowed me a pen and paper. “Could he be the one behind this?”

Tyson shook his head. “He’s dead.”

I gaped at him.

“Not my fault he decided to off himself,” he muttered.

“Jesus, Tyson.” His cruelty was one thing, but this level of antipathy was something else entirely. “So, who is most adamant you take the company public?”

“That conversation is tabled,” he said. “Now it’s about bringing in additional investors. I don’t have any interest in diluting my shares further, but Allison needs the money.”

“Why?”

“She made a bad investment and now she owes the bank eighty million. She’s getting desperate. She already sold her house in Aspen. Lately she’s been trying to talk me into buying her out or allowing herto sell some of her shares to an investor. Like I’m responsible for her bad decisions.”

I swallowed my impulse to comment on Tyson’s blatant insensitivity. “So, you think she could be planning to blackmail you to get money out of you?”

He shrugged.

“Okay,” I said evenly. “Who else?”

“My brother hates me.”

I tilted my head. “Why?”

“He thinks I don’t respect him.”

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