Page 54 of Gentle Fox

Dennis was waiting for us in the reception area next to my desk. I guess Maverick didn’t want him to see any further into the building. I couldn’t blame him; I didn’t trust Dennis not to cause trouble when he was here.

“Really, Annalee? That’s how you show up to speak to me after making me wait. The least you could’ve done was pull yourself together.”

I called it.

“It’s a good thing I don’t care what you think.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why are you here, Dennis?”

He looked around at the other men in the room. “You want to do this with an audience?”

I wanted as many witnesses as possible, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I didn’t need Dennis feeling any more superior than he already did. It was no doubt my stepbrother thought he had the upper hand by showing up and calling me back here this late at night.

“I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Fine.” He huffed and straightened his suit jacket because, yes, he showed up in a three-piece suit like he thought he was someone more important than he was. “I’m here to get you to sign the paperwork to revert Dad’s will back to what it was before you asked him to change it.”

I forced myself to take a deep breath.

Then another.

Then a third for good measure.

But it did nothing to tamp down the inferno that was now my blood pressure.

“First off, he wasn’t your dad. You were seventeen when our parents married and never didmyfather adopt you, or show any signs of doing so. If I remember correctly, your mother mentioned it and you threw a fit. Second of all, I have no idea what my father’s will said before he changed it. That was between him and his lawyer, just like the changes were. My father asked me to respect his wishes and that’s what I plan to do.”

Dennis slammed his fist down on my desk and sent papers flying everywhere. “My mother stayed married to that ungrateful asshole for twenty-eight years! She’s entitled toeverythingand was assured she would be taken care of for the rest of her life.”

Ungrateful, my ass.

“I have no idea how you could ever come to the conclusion that my father was ungrateful, but he made sure Seraphina was taken care of. It’s not my fault she can’t survive on the very generous allowance my father left her.”

Dennis continued to fume. “Theodore never understood the doors she could open for him if he just allowed her to. He was content being another cog in the wheel when he should’ve been running the business by the time of his death. His net worth could’ve been millions more, but instead, he insisted on donating too much every year.”

Un-fucking-believable. I was tired of listening to this shit already. I was right. I would never get anything other than whining out of this man because it was always about him.

“You and your mother are the ungrateful ones. My father was happy with his life. He adored being at the top of his company without actually being in charge. He had plenty of money to meet his needs and he loved to donate. It made him feel rewarded. If you can’t see that, then I can see why he changed his will in the end. I wouldn’t want you to squander away all my hard earnings either.”

Wrong thing to say.

“I knew you had something to do with it, you bitch.”

“Watch how you fucking speak to her or this meeting is over,” Owen growled and tried to push me behind him but I was having none of it.

I was no longer afraid of Dennis. He was a giant man-baby, prone to temper tantrums. He would never do anything to me physically because that would mean he had to take the chance of me fighting back. Dennis would never do such a thing; he preferred to destroy material objects that couldn’t give him problems.

“I have no idea why my father changed his will, but I wish I did. I would love to know what finally made him see who you and your mother really are.”

Dennis looked back and forth between Owen and me. For a second I thought he was going to back down, but then he puffed out his small chest and dug his grave just a little deeper.

“He saw nothing. Just like you won’t see anything. We’ll make sure of it. You think you’ve won but the games have only started. Watch your back, Annalee. You never know who’s going to stab you in it.”

I held Owen back from going after Dennis as he stormed out of the building. I didn’t want Owen getting into trouble for me.

“I’m going to destroy that fucker.”

“And you’ll have plenty of help, but we do it legally.” It was the first time Maverick had spoken since we showed up. I had almost forgotten he was here while I was exchanging barbs with Dennis.

I had my arms wrapped around Owen so that my front was pressed into his back. I could feel the adrenaline pouring off him in waves.

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