Page 33 of Ruthless Wars

Fuck. I’m dead.

My eyes shut tight as I try to pour out an apology. “Richard, I—”

“But Margot’s not my girl. Well, she’s not the one I’m engaged to.”

I stare back blankly, still not connecting the dots.

“Jaclyn’s my girl. And now my fiancée. But I’ll have Margot’s back until the day I die, even if she weren’t about to be my sister-in-law, because she’ll always be like a sister to me. So, don’t relax too much if you’re involved with Margot. Trust me, I’ll be watching you like the fucking NSA.”

“Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about there.” Disenchanted, I turn my head to scan the fields. “The maneater, as you call her, has chewed me up and spit me out.”

“Am I wrong, or do I hear a tinge of regret?”

Stewing and staring off, I say nothing.

Richard prods me further. “You’re the player of players. Didn’t you once threaten to have The Original One-Night Stand trademarked and tattooed on your ass? What do you care if a woman moves along?”

Shrugging defiantly, I say, “Who says I do? I don’t.”

“Fine.”

“She’s got her life, and I’ve got mine.”

“Great.”

“And a womanizer and a maneater together would be a nightmare in the making.”

“If you say so,” Richard says casually.

After a long silence, I’m dying to know. “So, you know Margot?”

“Yup,” Richard says, popping the p and offering nothing more.

“Why does she have to be so goddamn confusing? And complicated? And stubborn? And two steps ahead of me. And ...”

“And?”

“And unbelievably gorgeous and smart. When she pouts, I can’t think straight. And when she smiles, I melt.” Waving my hands wildly in the tiny space, I say, “Me! Melting over a woman that frustrates the hell out of me. I had to get out of that goddamn meeting because I couldn’t concentrate. And why the hell she went from smoking hot to arctic cold is beyond me. Unless ...”

Richard tilts his head. “Unless she found out what you really want?”

I don’t answer. The weak shake of my head does my talking for me. “I don’t know. Maybe she did.”

“Well, now that you bring it up, let me get back to the reason we’re here now.” His voice turning controlled and hard, Richard asks, “You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing? I told you the deal was off.”

Stubbornly, I push back. “Your deal is off. Not mine. You left the Alliance, but I brought them their next best deal. The Alliance backs whoever can bring in the biggest gain. At the moment, that’s me. Long Multinational gift wrapped in a seat on the board.” Having said that, I let my concerns push through. “Does this put us on opposite teams now?”

“Would it matter if it did?”

“No,” I say firmly, adamant in the path I’ve chosen.

“Then the answer doesn’t matter.”

“Jesus, now you sound like Margot.”

Chuckling, Richard takes the observation as a compliment. “Who do you think I learned it from?”

The thought of a tech mogul like Richard Black learning something from Margot brings a smile to my face. And the strangest sense of pride.

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