I stared at Emery as a dark voice in my head whispered that she’d never had money before. When we’d been in Monaco, she’d been fixated on how much everything cost. She’d grown up struggling, and this amount could be more than she’d make in her entire life.
That was why I tried not to take it personally when she hesitated.
“No,” she said finally, and I exhaled.
Displeasure smeared across Wayne’s face. “Ten million.”
The room went quiet, but alarms blared in my head, and for the first time in my life, I wished my father were here. He’d warn me Emery was emotionally compromised and we should walk. Better to not close a deal than make a bad one, he’d say.
Her chest rose and fell with her rapid, uneven breath, and her gaze went to the floor, too overwhelmed to look at either of us. Or maybe she needed to focus on fighting the temptation to consider his offer.
Her voice was small. “I want you to delete the video.”
“That’s not part of my offer,” he snapped.
My father’s voice was loud in my mind. Get control. Weaken his position to bargain.
It surged out of me. “Turn that down because I’ll match it. I’ll have ten million wired to your account first thing Monday morning.”
All that did was throw more chaos at her, and Emery’s wild eyes found mind.
The idea of paying ten million dollars to the woman I was dating didn’t sit well with me, but what choice did I have? It was only money. And it was well spent if it would secure her decision to protect my family.
“This is my final offer, and I suggest you be smart and take it.” Wayne’s voice was colder than a nor’easter in winter. “You keep your mouth shut for the watch, fifteen million, and the promise I won’t turn you both in to the authorities for breaking into my safe.”
The fear that splashed across her beautiful face flipped the world upside-down. Everything was slipping away.
“You don’t have proof,” I spat out.
“Maybe not yet, but I’ll find some, Vance. Nobody’s perfect.”
We’d worked hard to cover our tracks, but it was possible we’d made a mistake and he’d find some evidence we’d been in his safe. And if he didn’t? I fully believed he’d fabricate it.
It meant she’d go to prison and never be allowed to work in her field again. It meant I could go to prison, just like my father had.
The room grew even smaller, and time slowed to a crawl. Emery said she loved me, but—
Did she love me enough to turn down fifteen million dollars and risk everything?
It was so much money, and even though I could match it, I couldn’t compete with the rest of his offer. A dark thought took hold in my heart, growing too big to ignore. I’d been betrayed before, and I’d be a fool not to consider the possibility that her feelings for me were not as strong as she made them out to be. She’d demonstrated time and time again how skilled she was at playing a role.
She looked at me with her trembling chin and her face full of turmoil, wordlessly begging me to tell her what to do.
My mouth was bone dry, but I attempted to speak anyway. “Don’t.”
I saw it in her eyes the moment she made up her mind, and I failed to live up to the Hale family motto. I was about to lose.
She took in a shallow breath and set her gaze on her uncle. “I accept.”
Bile crawled up my throat at his revolting, victorious smile.
“Good. I’ll go fetch the watch and my checkbook in a moment.” His attention shifted over to me, and he was so smug it took every ounce of strength to stay in my seat and not punch his fucking face. “I no longer see a need to negotiate. Best case scenario for you if anything leaks is the mutual destruction of our companies, but let’s be honest. That won’t happen. There’ll be an investigation and maybe a significant fine for Barlowe, but we’ll weather the storm. I doubt the same is true for HBHC.”
I hated that he was right.
He tipped his chin down and commanded it like he owned me. “Get me what I want, or I’ll leak the video, and then there will plenty of space for me—every board seat will be available.”
Wayne had slid her check and her father’s watch across his desktop, told us to leave, and Emery hadn’t looked at me since she’d taken them. As we left, she put the check in her purse, but her fingers remained wrapped around the watch. It was more precious than the fortune Wayne had scribbled out to her, and more important than me.
On some level I was aware that wasn’t fair, but I was too angry with the situation to see reason. She’d sold me out.