Page 10 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bride

I scrub my hands over my face. “Fuck.”

The business always did well. Even growing up, I understood the way we lived wasn’t normal. And at eighteen, when I left, I knew what I was giving up and leaving behind. But I never imagined it would have ballooned intothis.

“But there’s a catch.”

I drop my hands, burying my fingers on my right hand into Whiskey’s fur to brace myself for what’s coming. “What catch?”

“The cash is yours, no matter what. But if you want to take any control in the company or the other assets controlled by the trust, your father put certain conditions on it.”

“I already said Idon’t wantcontrol of the company.”

He slams his hand down, the first sign of his anger leaking out from his always poised and controlled nature. “You want your uncle to have it?”

“No, of course not. But—”

“No buts. I’m done being his fixer. I’m done being their lackey. I want to take the man down, and you’re the only person who can help me do it. You’re the only one who hates him as much as I do.”

Shaking my head, I snort. “I guarantee you, there are dozens and dozens of people who hate him as much as we do. All the other people he hurt…”

I don’t have to extrapolate on that because Ronald was the one paying them off under the table, making sure Uncle Marty’s proclivities never became public knowledge, ensuring there were never lawsuits or prison time.

“Listen to me, Silas. If you can meet the terms of the trust and take your fifty percent of the company, then, when we get him removed, you’ll have full control. At that point, if you don’t want it, sell it. I don’t care. It’s your family legacy, not mine, but we have to get him out first. It could be a temporary deal if you don’t desire to be involved long-term. But it should beyourdecision to make. You’re the last Bolton.”

That had always been the plan…for me to take over when the Bolton brothers finally retired or passed away. Without an heir on Marty’s side, it fell squarely on my shoulders to keep Bolton Steel in the family and secure its future. But that was a long time ago. And those plans ended the day I almost died. The day I ran.

“You make it sound easy.”

It won’t be.

Uncle Marty has far too much power. Too many people in his pocket. Too much money that can easily be passed under the table. And I’ve been living in this damn cabin for the last decade and a half. I never went to college, and I don’t have the slightest fucking clue how to run a Fortune 100 company.

Ronald’s jaw tightens. “It could be easier than you think. All those things I cleaned up for your father and your uncle—I have evidence. Recordings, videotapes, correspondence with the victims’ families.”

My ears perk up, and I still my hand on Whiskey’s head. “You kept it all? I thought for sure Father would have you destroy everything.”

“He thought I did.”

Sly fucker…

I never thought Ronald had it in him to betray the men who were his best friends for half a century. But it isn’t as simple as turning over the evidence. It will have a snowball effect.

Consequences.

“So, what? You’re going to sacrifice yourself and come forward, go to the police, and explain everything that happened?”

He shakes his head. “No. Your uncle owns the police. I’m going to the FBI. A lot of his crimes involved transporting people across state lines for illegal activities. That makes them federal offenses. More prison time, much harsher.”

Hope flutters in my chest after all these years that the people who destroyed me might finally get what’s coming to them. “You really think you can take him down?”

“I do.”

“And what about you? You’ll go to prison, too, for all the things you’ve done.”

He shrugs. “Potentially. If I can’t negotiate a proffer agreement for my willingness to testify against him. I think they’ll want the bigger fish, but if I have to pay for my sins behind bars, then so be it.”

“You can do all this without me.”

He twists his mug on the table, staring into it. “I can, but if I remove him and you have not legally inherited your fifty percent, then the company gets sold out from under you rather than you getting everything and being able to make a decision for yourself about what to do with it.”

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