Page 136 of Forgotten Desires

“You have that.” He laughs once. “You’ve always had that.”

I smile softly and then recall he said the article wasn’t going to run. “You mentioned they weren’t going to print the article? How did you manage that?”

Crew shrugs. “I bought the paper.”

“You bought what paper?”

“The newspaper that was planning to print the article. I own it, as well as all the articles past, current, and those in process. Knight Corporation has a very strict rule about defamation of the company, especially anything about me. The minute we signed the deal, that article became part of my company property, which means they couldn’t print it.”

I blink, my jaw is slack, and I stare at him. “You bought the paper. Like the whole thing?”

“Yes. On the day you collapsed.”

“In a day?”

“Yes.”

“Because?”

He sighs with a shake of his head. “Because they made you cry. They almost took you from me. They made you think I didn’t love you or want you, and I was not going to let anything hurt you. I vowed, on that beach, in front of our family that I would honor and protect you. So, I bought the paper that threatened to hurt you and shut it down.”

I gasp. “Wait. You shut it down?”

“Yup.”

“Crew, you can’t . . . no . . . you can’t just buy a paper and shut it down. That had to cost a fortune!” My hand covers my mouth and then I ask the next most important question. “For how much?”

He just looks at me without emotion. “Well, I did buy it, and now it’s my turn to remind you that you promised to stay calm.”

Right. Calm. Like I can stay calm now. I focus on doing some breathing exercises because there’s no way this conversation is over.

“Do you really want to know how much I paid?”

I’m not really sure I do, but . . .

“I think so.”

“You get really uncomfortable when it comes to money.”

Yes, because I really don’t understand just how rich he is. It’shismoney and I never feel comfortable asking.

But he bought a damn company and shut it down. That couldn’t be cheap, right? I mean, it was at least ten million I would guess.

“Can I ask a few questions first?”

He nods with a grin. “Anything.”

“Okay . . . how rich are you?”

Crew laughs softly. “Took you long enough to ask that. I’m extremely wealthy. On top of what my companies are worth, I inherited a ridiculous amount of money when my grandfather died. I’ve sold three companies prior to the five I own now, and one sold for three billion dollars.”

Oh. So, yeah, he’s like . . . loaded-loaded.

“I’m starting to feel woozy,” I admit.

“Do you understand that I would give it all up for you and Layla?” I have a feeling he took out a healthy chunk by buying this paper. He lifts my chin, so our eyes meet. “That the money means nothing without the two of you?”

I nod. “It was never about the money for me.”

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