Page 72 of Rugged and Filthy

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do, honey. He’s basically doing me, no, us a favor. I know you don’t like it and when the idea was thrown at me, I laughed. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the ticket to changing our lives for the better. You know I want what’s best for my family. That’s what your mother would have wanted.”

That might be the case, but I was still sick inside. What was I supposed to tell the men who were counting on me now? “What about our employees?”

“You said it yourself that some of them are set to retire, others just need to move on. Now, they can. We can afford to give them severance pay.”

“Not Declan.”

“Why not Declan? What happened?”

“The bastard is working with Madden. That’s why I don’t like this at all.”

At least my father had the decency to seem shocked at what I’d just said. “I doubt that. He’s worked for me for years.”

“Less than you think, Pops. Less than three. That doesn’t make him a lifetime trusted man.”

“I’ll talk with him.”

“Don’t bother. I fired him.”

“Why?”

“Because he lied. Because he went behind my back.” Why bother telling him about the payoff? What did it matter?

“I’m certain he had his reasons.” He acted as if he was going to get angry.

“Not good ones. You wanted me to take the helm, Daddy. At least at first. There is something going on with Madden. Money or no money, I won’t allow someone to betray us.”

My father softened a few seconds later. “You’re so much like your mother. Bold. Fearless. You would take on an entire army if it meant protecting your family. I adore that about you. Both she and Finn would be proud. But stop worrying about me. I’ll be just fine.”

Why was it I wondered if both were staring down at me from heaven with wide eyes and gaping mouths? I knew I was right. Something terrible was going on and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

No matter how much it pissed off my father. I loved him but he could be foolish sometimes.

Whatever was going on, Foxx was right about at least one thing.

It was entirely dangerous.

CHAPTER 20

Rylee

There was something to be said for hot sex. Especially with a man I’d claimed to hate with a passion. Did that make us a fabulous couple out of a romance novel, the genre enemies to lovers? I’d ended the beautiful moment by basically ushering him out of the house, torn apart by my weakness.

What was this called, the third act breakup? Maybe so but I doubted we’d reached a second act let alone a third. I was frustrated with myself, wishing I could go back to the night before, shoving the door in the man’s face. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the explosive orgasms or the jolts of extreme electricity. I would be a bald-faced liar if I tried to make myself believe in that nonsense.

What I needed to do now was to get on the goddamn rig and find out if the reports provided to and by my father were all bogus. If Foxx, Jack, and Hudson could figure that out, I’d be eternally grateful, but I wasn’t going to sell my soul or my body to do it. Now that I’d had a discussion with my father, I wouldn’t put it past him to doctor them for my benefit only. What if he knew there was a hell of a lot more oil in the water?

Granted, we’d need new equipment, which of course we couldn’t afford.

However, I’d need to tell them everything and it unnerved me to think about sharing our personal, ugly family business with them.

I grabbed my bag and closed the truck door, scanning the area. We were being taken by helicopter, the chopper pilot used to the run. I didn’t like being forced into it, but it was about time I embraced the reality of the situation my family was in.

As my father had insisted, selling might be the best option, but not to a man like Madden Byrne. I just couldn’t understand how he’d allowed that to happen. And who the hell had suggested it? I had an idea. Declan. It made sense. My guess was Declan would earn a significant finder’s fee or maybe he’d be promoted to operations manager under the new owner. I wouldn’t put anything past the underhanded man. Not one thing.

As I hiked the overnight bag over my shoulder, I thought about the tears my little boy had shed. Aiden hadn’t reacted badly on the last trip, but things were getting tougher on him. I could see it in his eyes. I’d left Xena with him for another night, almost considering not taking her with me even though I needed a fuzzy friend to keep me warm at night.

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