Page 43 of The Tempo of Truth
“Are you threatening to murder me?”Oliver balked and glared at me, his gaze fluctuating between barely concealed insanity and legitimate fear.“The Hallidays aren’t above the law, Winnie.Eventually, someone is going to come along and bring you to your knees.Your family isn’t all-powerful.”
“Theonlyperson who can bring me to my knees is my child’s father, and that’s only because I want to be there for him.I don’t need to be all-powerful; I just need to be powerful enough to protect those I love.”I sneered at him.“And powerful enough to punish those who go against me.”I snorted and asked, “Would you rather I let Ky handle the retribution?He nearly beat you to death once.Imagine what would happen to you if I removed the restraints keeping him in check.You would end up in the same state as that poor kid in the park.”
I didn’t want Ky in prison, so I had one of Helio’s guys practically sitting on top of him while he grieved and started to navigate his life without Lev and the gym.I knew he wanted nothing more than to rip Oliver Byrd limb from limb, but there was no evidence tying Oliver directly to the arson or the murder.The money trail ended with a former executive assistant who claimed they hired someone to start the blaze at the request of Oliver’s grandfather.The story given to the police and the press was that the older man couldn’t handle the way Oliver was smearing the longstanding image of the family and the company, so he started to make big moves to derail the merger he never wanted.Burning down the gym was payback for his grandson’s beatdown and a supposed warning.Attacking Lev was never on the agenda; he was simply an unfortunate sacrificial pawn lost in the game going on around him.
It was obvious that Oliver’s father and grandfather were willing to take the fall for any misdeeds as long as the son was able to work and rebuild everything they had lost.They would sacrifice everything to preserve the Byrd name and legacy, even as tainted as it currently was.
I shoved the finalized contract to the side and gestured for Oliver to leave.I didn’t want to spend a second more with him.I wasn’t a violent person, but whenever I thought of how much this entitled man had made Ky suffer, I wanted to punch him in the face and bury him in a pit so deep and dark he forgot what daylight looked like.
Oliver got to his feet and smoothed his wrinkled shirt.He was still dressed in designer labels, but he was light-years away from the composed man I first started working with.“All of this over a washed-up athlete who amounts to nothing.You ruined your reputation and have the entire business circle questioning your sanity over a loser who has no prospects and no future.You’re an embarrassment to the Halliday name, Winnie.And once I get back on my feet, I’m going to bury you and strip away everything that has ever mattered to you.”
I smiled at him with a sharp flash of teeth.I’d actually never lived up to my name more than when I was plotting his punishment and downfall.The way I wanted Oliver to experience the same sadness Ky was struggling to find his way out of made me feel more like Colette Halliday than anything else ever had.I finally understood why she led with absolute ruthlessness and how evil machinations came to fill her insides.There was no fighting against evil without having a touch of darkness stain your soul.While my grandmother’s cruelty overtook her whole heart, I only allowed it to steal a small sliver because I knew I would never survive in the company without it.The rest I had to keep untainted for Ky and Lowe.“I’ll worry about retribution when you can be a real threat to me.Until then, I’m busy.Get out of my office.”At that moment, Oliver, who was once my peer, had become nothing more than an annoying insect buzzing around.I could squash him like a bug, but I wanted him to have lots and lots of time to wallow in the wreckage he created.
It wasn’t enough to make him lose everything he loved all at once.
Nope.
Oliver Byrd was never going to have another easy day if I had anything to say about it.At any point, if it seemed like he could lift his head and see the light, I planned to yank him right back down into the darkness.
Security escorted Oliver out of my office when he loitered longer than I could tolerate.I’d refused to meet with him since I had dismantled his family’s century-old business.I relented today, because he was starting to bug my family members and I didn’t want him popping up outside the brownstone or my son’s school if he became desperate enough to talk with me I didn’t have the patience to suffer fools lightly.
I stewed in aggravation as I tried to get my head on straight for the next meeting.The people who worked under me had been steering clear of me since I brought down several members of my board of directors.My Uncle Win’s reputation was that of a sharp and lethal businessman, while my Uncle Alistair was seen as a visionary and someone with groundbreaking ingenuity.So far, the mark I’d left seemed painful and led to those I dealt with being more on guard and responsive in order to avoid ending up on the wrong side of my rearrangement.I knew I was seen as a bit of a shrew and as someone who was operating the business in an unhinged and unrestrained manner.
In my opinion, as long as a bitch got the job done, I didn’t care that people were secretly likening me to Catherine the Great and, of course, Colette Halliday.
I knew that ruling an empire required absolute strength and authority.But as soon as I stepped out of work, I reverted to the woman who wanted nothing more than to eat sweets, cuddle on the couch with her man, and spend time with her precocious kid.I couldn’t stay cold and reserved when I was with those closest to me.The armor I wore at work was too cold and far too heavy to haul home each and every day.I left it for the battlefield.Which is why the mask I wore while dealing with my unwanted guest dropped the second Ky showed up at my office door.
Watching him walk across the sleek and elegant office packed with antiques and multibillion-dollar business deals, in his torn jeans, old boots, and faded T-shirt was a bit of a mind-fuck.It was my two worlds smashing together and making the earth shake.
“You look like you’ve lost weight.”My gaze greedily roved over him since we hadn’t been able to see each other much in the days after the funeral.Ky’s mom and her husband stayed in town for two weeks, helping Ky settle Lev’s estate and getting to know her grandson.I was busy making sure Ky saw some form of justice for Lev, even if my methods weren’t as satisfying as an eye-for-an-eye.I’d been working a lot of overtime and trying to navigate the choppy waters left by my defiant actions.
Ky held up a bag he brought from a familiar bakery.I belatedly realized my entire office smelled sweet and sugary.“You’re the one who is losing weight.I brought you a snack.Lowe says that you haven’t taken him out for dessert in weeks.”
I pushed my hair away from my face and reached for the bag, my mouth watering as he came closer.“I’ve been really busy.I’m so grateful you’ve been there to take care of Lowe.”
The bag of pastries hit my desk as Ky reached out and turned the swivel of my chair to face him.He stooped and put his hands on the arms to cage me between the back and his warm body.“He’s my kid.Of course, I’m going to take care of him.But it looks like I’ve neglected taking care of his mom.You really look like shit, Winnie.When was the last time you slept through the night?You’re gone in the morning when I get up, and you don’t come to bed until long after I’m asleep.”
I reached out a hand and put it on the center of his chest.He was definitely thinner since he wasn’t spending every single day in the gym.“Revenge is hard work.You can’t lift your foot off the back of your target’s neck for even a second.”And I wasn’t a naturally malicious person.I had to dig deep into parts of myself I’d long ignored to play the game of payback with those who’d wronged my family and interests.
Ky sighed and reached out to touch the pale skin underneath one of my eyes.I knew the color was a faint blue, and I looked a bit like a corpse bride as of late.It couldn’t be helped.I had to give my all to avenge him and to let those who doubted me know I wasn’t playing around when it came to my family or my company.
“What if I tell you that you don’t have to do this for me anymore?”Ky brushed a bit of hair out of my face and stared at me intently.“What if I wantyoumore than payback, Winnie?”
I blinked in surprise.I recently told him that I wanted him more than the truth.I knew what a huge deal those words were.I opened my mouth to respond but couldn’t make the words work.It never occurred to me that I might hold an equal weight in this man’s life as he held in mine.
“You already have me, Ky.”I’d been his since we were teenagers, and he just refused to acknowledge it.
He smiled faintly and traced a line over my frowning eyebrows and down the bridge of my nose.“I want all of you.Not just your currently exhausted body; I want your smile when you watch Lowe discover something new.I want your eyes and the way they light up when you see me.I like your mind and the clever way you trick me into doing whatever it is you want.I want your hand to hold when things get overwhelming and hard.And I want your heart.I know I’ve been reluctant to take it each time you’ve been brave enough to offer it to me, but I’m not scared anymore.”He lowered his head and kissed the center of my forehead.“Give it to me, Winnie.”
I tugged on a handful of his T-shirt and pulled until we were eye level.“What brought all of this about?”Before Lowe was born, for years, I’d been trying to show him how well I could love him.I wanted to know why he suddenly noticed my efforts when his focus should be on healing from the loss of his friend and savior.
Ky pressed a soft kiss on my lips.“Realizing how much I’m like Lev these last few weeks has been pretty eye-opening.My mom told me that all I know how to do is fight, just like Lev.It’s why the two of them never worked out.I think she really loved him, but he was too busy fighting for whatever opportunity came next.He ended up alone, with nothing but a group of guys who were always too busy trying to get up after being knocked down to remember him.No kids.No one who loved him with their whole heart.I think he had the chance to have everything, and he foolishly passed it up because he was afraid.I don’t want to look back and regret letting something spectacular get away because of my inferiority complex.I don’t think I’ll ever be worthy of being loved by you, Winnie, but I’ll always feel unbelievably lucky that you do.”
“Love isn’t transactional, Ky.It’s never been about worth or who has more to offer.You showing up for me and Lowe, that means more than any of the money the Hallidays have in the bank.”I got to my feet and gave him a quick hug.It felt like we could both use a bit of comfort at the moment.
His wide palm slid down my back, and his lips brushed against my ear.I shivered in response and pulled back to look at him.His dark eyes were gleaming, and, for the first time in ages, he didn’t look like a man waiting for the world to kick him while he was down.
“I ran into that asshole, Byrd, on my way up to see you.”I frowned, belatedly realizing one left and the other arrived shortly after.“I didn’t hurt him…much.I knew if I let that piece of shit matter to me more than you and Lowe, I’d end up locked up somewhere.If I allowed that to happen, there would really be no way to salvage our relationship.I love you and our son.And I finally understand that I have to love myself…more than I hate that guy or all of the stuff that happened to me in the past.”
