Page 356 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 5
“It is.” Her lips pouted slightly as she stared at me. “I mean, I guess he is a little displeased with you right now.”
“About that. If he wants to hurt me? Fine. But Scarlett…”
“I really don’t want to talk about business tonight.”
“I’m only here to talk about business.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Is the thought of getting to know me that awful?”
“I fell in love with a member of your family. Mr. Pruitt killed her. And Isabella forced one of my best friends to marry her. And then after he finally divorced her, she went even more psycho and tried to have him and his wife…”
“I’m not Isabella.”
“You could have fooled me.”
She lowered her eyebrows. “I know my cousin had her flaws.”
“It was a little more than that.”
“Fine, she was crazy,” Poppy said with a laugh.
And for some reason I smiled too.
“It’s a lot of pressure being in this family. Uncle Richard is very hard to please. And honestly? I had no desire to take over the business. It was always supposed to be Isabella. There were even rumors in the family for a few months there when we all thought Brooklyn might be handed the reins.”
That never would have happened.
“But…here I am.” She shrugged. “I’m actually kind of good at it. And I enjoy the work. It’s given me something to focus on after my divorce.”
“You could just get a normal job.”
“Now where’s the fun in that? Besides, you got a legacy job. It’s not that different.”
“I earned my position. And it is different, Poppy. My job is legal.”
“So is mine.”
Did she honestly believe that? I stared at her and she smiled. It didn’t look quite as evil as before, but the message was still clear. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what kind of business she was about to take over.
“I’m no accountant though,” Poppy said. “Uncle Richard had Isabella study the appropriate subjects in college to prepare. But I was never supposed to take over. You do accounting though, right?”
“Finance is different.”
“Surely you took similar classes. All business majors do. I was going to be a teacher.”
I raised my eyebrows. I really couldn’t picture her teaching children. She’d been really harsh and distant with her daughter, Gigi.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said with a laugh. “I actually love children. Stop, I’m serious,” she said with a laugh.
I must have still been making the same face. “I’m sorry. It just seemed like Gigi…”
“Annoys me to no end? Well, sometimes. Most people see me when they look at her. But she has her father’s eyes. And nose. And I can’t help but see a cheating scoundrel. I’m going to therapy for that. I don’t want to resent my daughter the way I resent my ex-husband.”
Wow. That was…a lot.And way more insightful than I ever expected from her.
“But I do love children. And I will do my best to make sure nothing happens to Scarlett.”
“Your best? The other day you said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
