Page 76 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bride

Ronald sucks in a deep breath and releases it slowly. “I don’t think you have a very strong position if you’re not going to step up as CEO. If you come in and throw around these accusations against your uncle and then disappear again, there won’t be a Bolton at the helm for the first time in almost two hundred years. That could throw everything into turmoil. Force a sale…I thought it meant something to you, your family legacy. I’ve worked hard to ensure that it stayed in place for years after you left, so you could come back and take over—”

“Including covering up my father and uncle’s crimes.”

“You know why I did that.”

I offer him an indignant laugh. “I know why yousayyou did that.”

“I’m making amends now.”

His defensiveness comes with the territory. Ronald has been fixing problems for the Boltons since before I was born, and he’s used to having to defend others—not himself. Now that the target will also be on him when he brings all the information forward, he’s going to end up in a very uncomfortable position—likely publicly.

I don’t give a fuck what happens to Ronald or me, but I stare at the seat where Lyla sat only yesterday, so full of piss and vinegar, so angry at me.

Rightfully so…

Whiskey lifts his nose and looks up at me, tilting his head. Leaving her alone up there without Whiskey this morning felt wrong, but she couldn’t be a witness to this phone call.

She’s going to be pissed when I get back and tell her what I’ve done, what I plan to do. But protecting her from what’s coming is far too important to worry about her hating me for it.

Ronald clears his throat awkwardly. “I didn’t want to have to tell you this, Silas…”

Acid churns in my stomach. “Tell me what?”

His voice drops low, like he’s concerned someone might be listening to his end of the conversation. “Your uncle might suspect something.”

Icy dread floods my veins, and my entire body goes rigid. “What do you mean, he might suspect something?”

“He’s been acting shiftier than usual since I came back from Millsburg.”

“What’s he doing?”

“A lot of closed-door meetings with people. A lot of phone calls to board members that they won’t discuss with me. It’s almost like he’s preparing an offensive, but he shouldn’t know there’s anyone coming in for the attack.”

I slam my fist against the steering wheel, making Whiskey jump. “Fuck, I need Lyla out of this, even more then.”

Ronald sighs. “There’s no way we could get an annulment between now and the board meeting, anyway.”

“Fine. Then we’ll do it after. But there’s no way I’m bringing her into that room with me. If Uncle Marty never meets her and doesn’t know who she is, I have a chance at keeping her safe. If your friends at the FBI do what they’re supposed to and take him into custody and ensure he stays there, then maybe she can get out of this unscathed.”

At least, any more than she already has been by me…

Silence lingers on the line between us for a moment before Ronald releases another sigh. “The contract you signed with her saidbothparties have to agree to end the marriage—”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem from her end. I know how to piss her off enough not to want to be here. She came close to leaving yesterday already.”

He chuckles, the sound so out of place in such a serious conversation. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. We’ll discuss it more after the board meeting. I need you to really think about if that’s what you want to do, if you want to give up the company and your family legacy.”

“I’m not going to change my mind.”

All that means nothing if it requires me to put Lyla in the middle of the crossfire between me and the other last remaining Bolton.

I end the call as a familiar blue pickup truck approaches the intersection and stops next to me. Brent looks over at me and raises a brow, then rolls down his window.

Shit.

Forcing a half-smile, I roll mine down, too.

“Silas, what are you doing back down here? Forget something yesterday?”

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