Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“I did it to protect you—"
“No, you did it to control me!” His lips slam down on mine, brutal and demanding.
I pull back. “I can’t.”
“Because you think I’m playing you.”
“Because I think you’re a liar.”
He disappears down the hall, returning with a pile of papers and dropping them on the counter in front of me. “See for yourself.”
“If these are more pictures—”
“Read it.”
I look down, pushing around the papers. One catches my eye, and I pick it up. “I don’t understand. What is this?”
“My way out.”
I read through the pages. Land surveys, contracts. . . Pages and pages of financial reports. The last page is a statement from Theo detailing his non-involvement. I look up at him. “You’re going to expose yourself and the company for fraudulent mishandling of properties?”
“I’m stating that, for the record, I had no prior knowledge of this. It wasn’t until you caught the error in the plat survey for Bill Geller that I started putting things together. While you were with your family after your father’s heart attack, I started digging. I’ve never been in direct contact with Charles Hill or the part his company plays in these deals. My job, as you know, was to close. My father would just demand I sign off on deals involving the Hill Group. I never thought twice about it until something strange appeared in the Geller deal. I’m not sure if you remember, but Bill Geller doesn’t exactly come across as a businessman who would have lied about something like this. So, I reached out to Lance to do another, more discreet, land survey.”
“And? What did it say?”
“The exact opposite of what the Hill Group reported. Geller’s land was perfectly fine for construction. But, per our company, it wasn’t labeled as such. We were going to swoop in and save the day, offering him a shit price for the land to save him from a total loss, and in return, claim to clean it up and resell it for triple what we paid.”
“Jesus, how could they do that?”
“Again, money. Geller and Geller wasn’t the first client we did this to. As you found, there were dozens more.”
“Theo—”
“I confronted my father about it, but he blew it off.”
“So, he’s scamming people into selling their land? That’s all sorts of illegal. He can’t get away with this.”
“And I don’t plan on letting him.”
There’s a moment of silence until the realization of his words sinks in. “Wait, but your name—”
“If he doesn’t allow me to walk away, I will expose him.”
I shake my head. “But that can blow up in your face. Theo, you just told me how much money and power he has. What makes you think he won’t do something crazy, like turn the blame on you?”
“That’s where Craig comes in. To make sure it doesn’t.”
My stomach aches at the next question. “And the confession?”
He cups his hands over his mouth, exhaling a breath. “Worst case, I’m prepared to fight.”
“Theo.” I stand, too many thoughts and worries clouding my brain, and shuffle through the papers. “Some of these dates are within the last five years. That makes you just as guilty. If you expose this, you’re exposing yourself.”
“I know.” The seriousness and finality with which he says it tells me he’s already accepted this possibility.
“That’s not fair. If they’re lying, and you knew nothing about this, you can’t—”
“I only care about you. Nothing else matters.”
“If you cared about me, you wouldn’t give up!” I raise my voice.
“I’m not.”
I pause to take all this in. “So, what are you going to do? Go to the police?”
“I’ll negotiate. If he dissolves that contract and allows me to walk away, I’ll keep the documents to myself. If he disagrees, I’ll go public. To the police. The media. I have a whole contact list of people at The New York Times who would die for this story.”
“And if he thinks you’re bluffing? Theo, the law is not always on our side. Innocent people go to jail every day.”
He cups my cheek. “I refuse to be under his hold any longer.”
A tear cascades down my cheek, and he brushes it away. “And what about these photos? What happens if he does what he’s threatened? I believe you now, but they look bad.”
“I have to trust the legal system to prove my innocence.”
A sudden rush of panic steals my breath. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t.” His knuckles brush along my cheek. “I need you to know. The day you came into my life, you changed things for me. You made me choose to fight for what I wanted. Which was love. A life of happiness. My biggest regret is I didn’t make a move sooner. I should have made you mine.”
“You should have been honest with me.”
“I should have. And that’s something I have to live with. But I’m telling you now. I’m laying it all out. And even after sharing this, I know you may still be done with us. I’ll have to accept that. If you choose to stay, I need you to know that things will get ugly. I know what my father’s capable of. He will go after you first.”