“Maybe it was. He had fucked-up priorities, if that’s the case, but you might be right.”
“Oh, I’m right. Trust me.”
“Would he really want his pride and joy sold off to the highest bidder? Possibly to a rival?”
“Obviously the chance to screw me over meant more to him than his billion dollar company. Seems like classic Derek Wolfe to me.”
“Seriously, Rock. You say yourself that his work meant more to him than his children. This company represents his work, what he considered the most important. He wouldn’t just let it go.”
“What does he care? He’s dead.”
“Maybe, just maybe, he did what he felt would be putting it in the best hands.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. The bastard hated me.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Or maybe he thought you were the perfect person to run his company. To run your company.”
I thought for a moment. Actually considered her words. But, “Nice thought, but it’s bullshit. Nope, he hated me so much that he put me in a position to either ruin my own life or my siblings’. Classic Derek Wolfe.”
She sighed. “All right. He put you in an impossible situation as a form of punishment. Let’s say you’re right.”
“I am right.”
“Fine. Then rise to the challenge.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You do. But you’re a good man who can’t turn his back on his siblings. That says a lot about you. You’re one hundred times the man your father ever was.”
Her words ignited a fire within me. “Do you really think so?”
“I know so.”
“Damn, Lacey.” I pushed her back against the wall and crushed our mouths together.
She opened at once, and I dived in, kissing her, licking her, running my tongue over her teeth, her gum line. I wanted to touch every part of her. I poured my appreciation for what she’d said into that kiss, and she responded with all the vigor I imagined.
She broke the kiss and gasped. “Not here!”
“Please,” I said. “I have to have you. I’m hard as a rock, baby. I need you.”
“I work here.”
“Don’t care.”
She pushed me away. “Well, I do. And your brothers and sister are waiting for us in the bar.”
I adjusted my jeans. Damn, I was rock hard. “All right. We’ll go deal with them. And then you’re coming to my hotel room.”
“Rock, I—”
“I’m not taking no for an answer. You want this as much as I do. Admit it.”
She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. I touched her cheek, and her eyes popped open.
“Admit it, Lacey. Admit that you want me. That you want to be in my bed.”
“I… I want to be in your bed.”
I nearly creamed my pants right there. “You’ll be there. Right after we finish this meeting.
I steadied her and we walked back into the bar. Reid, Roy, and Riley were still seated, talking, but went silent when Lacey and I sat back down at the table.
Silenced droned on as eyes burned into me. “I’ll do it,” I said. “And Lacey won’t be part of the deal. Though I do want your help,” I said to her.
“Of course. Whatever I can do,” she said.
“Finally you’re talking sense,” Reid said.
“Sense? No, I’m not talking sense. I’m about ready to take a job I’m in no way qualified for. If it was Dad’s desire to see his company run into the ground, he may just get his wish.”
“You won’t run the company into the ground,” Reid said. “I won’t let you.”
I shook my head. “I won’t let me either. The bastard may have fucked me over royally, but I won’t let him fuck the rest of you over. As much as I’d like to go running back to Montana, I can’t let that happen.”
Riley smiled, and for a moment, she was that happy toddler I used to play with. “Thank you, Rock. That means a lot to all of us. To our mother too.”
“Hey, I’m not doing any of this for Mommie Dearest.”
“You’re not going to make sure she continues to get an allowance?”
“Is that part of this deal?” My mother was no candidate for mother of the year. She wasn’t as bad as my father. Only Hitler and Stalin had that honor. But she’d turned a blind eye to his antics the entire time we were kids. She let him beat the shit out of us, and she’d let him go into Riley’s room at night. “Why do any of you care about that shrew?”
“Because she’s our mother, Rock,” Reid said. “She was his victim too.”
Boy, was my brother short-sighted. “I don’t buy that. Not at all. If we’re going to talk about Connie, I’m going to need another drink.” I signaled the waiter.
“He cut her off,” Reid said. “Spousal maintenance ceases when the payor dies. He didn’t leave Fonda anything either. They’re both pissed.”
“Then maybe they’ll have to stop wearing designer clothing and going in for plastic surgery every other month,” I said. “Cry me a river.”