Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I nearly groaned.
Just when I thought that I was getting out of this hellhole…
“That’s not how this works.” Martin Palmer’s jowls shook as he stood up, his manicured hands fisting on either side of his personalized custom leather notebook. “There is a line of checks and balances, and you have not been voted…”
“Martin, does your wife know that you liked to fuck teen girls when you go on your overseas trips?” Copper asked curiously.
Martin paled.
“And you, Scroggins.” Copper turned to the man that was clearly mad, but not willing to stand up and confront Copper. “Are you willing to vote against me when I know that your daughter is in deep with a cartel leader in Nicaragua? How would your family, the straight-laced law enforcement that they are, feel knowing that you not only condone the relationship, but helped set them up?”
Scroggins’ eyes went wide.
“Beaufort,” Copper continued. “What was it that I learned last month? That baby that your wife and you had last year. Wasn’t it with your mistress? Not your surrogate?”
Beaufort went from his usually tanned self to a much paler version. “How…”
“I’ve had a lot of years to look into all of this,” he said. “I have something on each and every one of you. I’ve made sure to have so much dirt, that even if you find a way out of what I just shared, I have just as much, if not more in the wings, ready to go. You fight me on this appointment, and I’ll ruin each and every one of you.”
“Why are you doing this?” Palmer raised his voice.
“Because you all stood by and let Pettigrew fuck us all over,” he revealed. “You forced my granddad to waste his life savings to fight y’all in court. You fought and you made our lives a living hell. Me especially.” He narrowed his eyes, leveling each and every one of them a scathing look before he went on. “I deserve this. I want this. You will sell me all of your shares, and by sell, I mean give. You will get the fuck out of our lives. You will stay so far out of our sight that we forget you exist. And god help you if you decide to fight this, because I’m angry, motherfuckers. I’m so fucking angry that I’m willing to take every one of you down with me if I have to. Don’t. Test. Me.”
I was so proud of my brother that I could scream.
This was what I’d been waiting for.
For the last six years that I’d been playing this game, I’d hoped and prayed that this day would come.
Now that it was finally here…
Euphoric.
That was how I was feeling in that moment.
My brother dropped me off at work with a promise that he would be back to pick me up in the morning once I got off.
I handed him my keys without asking why he couldn’t use his bike and said, “I know that your place is furnished and all, but there are renters in it. We can kick them out after we give them notice, but they’re good people. I would hate to kick them out without giving them ample time to move first.”
He shook his head. “Don’t kick ’em out just yet. I don’t mind staying with you until I figure it all out.”
I winced. “Don’t read my mail.”
His brows rose as I started gathering my things, and I quickly looked away.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“Just…” I hesitated, then deflated. “I’m fairly sure that I got a vacate the premises letter this morning, but I never got a chance to open it because I got a call from Cutter to come pick you up.”
He sighed.
“I thought you’d paid three years in advance?” he asked.
“I did, which locked me in with that lower price, but business is booming in downtown Dallas, and they can get three times that amount now than I originally paid. They want their apartment back and know I’m not willing to pay the extra bullshit price they’re going to set.” I gathered my belongings. “Just…don’t open it, okay?”
“I won’t,” he lied.
We both knew he’d open it.
My brothers were so damn nosy.
I might’ve had better luck not telling him about the mail at all, but they’d always been so into everything of mine that it’d been near impossible to hide anything from them.
“There’s cash in the drawer beside my microwave,” I said. “And there’s an extra card for my checking account with it. Feel free to use it.”
He pulled me in and placed a kiss on the side of my head. “I love you, kid.”
I winked at him. “Not a kid anymore, Copper.”
I immediately regretted the words because his face fell as he said, “Yeah. I know. I missed a lot.”
Feeling the lowest of low, I got out and headed inside.