Page 104 of Thorns of Malice

She rolls her eyes. "By losing you, silly."

I can't even speak.

She adds, "He was the first man I'd ever seen with a broken heart, and it made me never want to see another one again."

18

Dax

Avery seethes, narrowing her eyes further. "You know this hurts Carrington Enterprises. So the company needs to pay for my attorney and make this disappear."

I grunt. "Carrington Enterprises isn't paying for any of your legal fees. You made your own bed. You can sleep in it."

Her glare intensifies as she points at me. "If I go down, you're going down too, Dax. You are."

"Yeah, how's that?" I question arrogantly. My sister has always been smart and cunning, but she forgot that I taught her how to be that way. If she thinks I didn't dot my i's and cross my t's before putting everything in motion, she's wrong.

"You will. I'll make sure of it," she threatens.

I lean across the desk. "How are you going to do that, Avery? You have no proof I've done anything wrong. It's only you who's done despicable things."

"Don't sit on your high horse, dear brother! You've done just as horrible things as I have," she snarls.

Some of that's true, but she's crossed the line way further than I ever did. It doesn't make the things I did while playing the game right, but I'm not going to pretend like what I've done even comes close to what she's participated in.

I taunt, "I wonder what color the prison uniforms are nowadays."

The color in her face drains. She squeezes her eyes shut. "Dax, please. This has gotten out of control. We haven't always gotten along, but I'm your sister."

"Sorry, I can't do anything for you."

Her expression morphs back to one of rage. She hurls, "If Avery Carrington Scents goes down, it'll also take Carrington Enterprises with it."

I chuckle, and my amusement grows.

She snaps, "There's nothing funny about what I said."

I stop laughing. "No?" I arch my eyebrows. "I think it's funny you think that your company, the one you wanted under my brand, even matters."

She huffs. "Of course it matters. It's under Carrington Enterprises, so the company has to take care of my legal fees," she declares.

Once again, I can't help it, and my lips curl into a smile.

"It won't be funny when you lose billions," she spouts.

"I'm not losing any money, Avery. By the way, you're no longer part of your company."

She freezes then slowly shakes her head.

It’s priceless. I wish I could take a video so I could put it on my TV to watch every day.

She asserts, "I don't know what you're talking about, but I will always be part of Avery Carrington Scents. There is no company without me."

Giddiness fills me. I open my desk drawer and pull out a file. I toss it in front of her, open it, and put a pen next to thefirst sticker that says "Sign here." I add, "You can either do this willingly or unwillingly. It doesn't matter. Either way, you don't belong with Avery Carrington Scents or Carrington Enterprises, so you might as well sign it over to me now. I'll put out a PR statement that you voluntarily resigned."

"You wish," she seethes.

I shrug. "Okay, that's fine. I'll take matters into my own hands."

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