Page 105 of The Unwanted Wife

"Why wouldn’t it be?" Knox frowns.

"Because I sense there’s something unsaid here?" Quentin narrows his gaze on me. "What is it, Nate? What are you not saying?"

Silence descends. The tension in the room feels like the approach of a thunderstorm. Heavy, silent, but with that growing static that sets my teeth on edge and prickles the hair on my forearms taut with urgency. A heavy weight pushes down on my chest. The tension in the room is so evident, even Knox straightens. "Arthur? Gramps? What’s happening?"

"Ask your half-brother," he murmurs.

Half-brother, huh? Arthur’s never treated me like anything less than family before. He’s never referred to me as half-anything. I place the tips of my fingers together, making myself comfortable in my chair.

"Nate?" Knox’s gaze is piercing across the space. "What have you done?"

"You sure you want to know?" I half smile, still holding Arthur’s gaze. A bead of sweat slides down my spine, but I ignore it.

"Of-fucking-course, I do. Will you come out and tell us already?"

I turn to Knox. "I’m appointing you as the deputy CEO."

Knox blinks, then barks out a laugh. "Deputy CEO."

"Gives you all the powers of a CEO—you can step in when I’m not around. And you can bet I’ll take advantage of that, considering I want to spend more time with my wife."

Knox’s frown deepens. He opens and shuts his mouth, then shakes his head. "The fuck? I don’t think I trust why you’re doing this."

"Does it matter?" I half smile. "It puts you in the driver’s seat. Isn’t that what you want? Also"—I turn to Quentin—"in addition to taking over as the CEO of the info-comms division, I’d like to appoint you as Group Chief Operating Officer."

He scans my features. "That’s a big responsibility."

"It is."

"I’ve yet to acclimate to my existing role."

"I’m sure you can manage."

He nods slowly. "Can I think about this and give you my answer later?"

"Of course." I look around the table. "If that will be all…" I rise to my feet.

"Sit down," Arthur snaps.

Fucking hell, and I thought I’d pulled it off. I thought I’d made it through this meeting without having to be interrogated by Gramps, but apparently not.

"I need to speak with Nathan"—he sets his jaw—"alone."

Both Quentin and Knox hesitate. Then Quentin spins around on his heels and walks out, followed by Knox. The door snicks shut. Silence descends. Tiny sneezes. It seems to shake Arthur out of his reverie.

He glances away and sighs. "Were you going to tell me at all?" he finally asks.

"That I had the option of selling out my shares to the Madisons, which would have resulted in them increasing their stake in our company? That I could have then coerced your grandsons into parting with their shares for the right amount, setting things up for a takeover?”

Arthur scowls. “They’d have never agreed to that.”

“Considering how pissed off they are at you, and for a generous asking price?—”

A shadow crosses Arthur’s gaze. "But you didn’t go through with the plan."

“I didn’t.”

A vein pops at his temple. "What stopped you? And don’t tell me it’s because you had an attack of conscience at the last moment."

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