Page 42 of The Re-Proposal

Prickles of heat spreads on the back of my neck.

“You’ve been making the rounds with your CEO friends. Strangely, everyone you talked to was directly related to our foundation. And they all mysteriously decided to cut ties with us. Know anything about that?”

“Are you accusing me of something?” I ask in an even tone.

“Would you admit it even if I did?”

I glance away.

“What the hell were you thinking, Cody?” Clarissa pokes her finger in my chest. “Is this some kind of power trip? For what? So we would beg you? So we would be desperate and do anything you wanted? Do you see us as a joke?”

“Of course not.”

Her jaw tenses and there’s the faintest flash of angry white teeth around her lips. “This isn’t a game. This is our lives. You had no right to do that. You wasted everyone’s time. I spent hours on those pitches. I put my ego to the side and begged for them to reconsider, but no one would budge.” Her voice climbs. “Because the great Cody Bolton said to shut the door in our faces—”

“Ris…”

“You must really think we’re idiots.”

“I don’t. I only want to help.”

“Bull!” She lifts her chin. “You went so far as to buy a companyjustto block us. What the hell is up with that?”

I lift a finger. “ThatI didn’t do. The company has great potential. The fact that you were related to it was a coincidence.”

“What are you going to do with that place?”

“I’m going to tear it down and sell it for parts.”

Her fingers clench into her skirt. “Is that what you do? Destroy things?”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Her brows knit together like an angry V. “Go to hell.”

“Ris.”

“Don’tcall my name like that.”

I capture her hand and tug her toward me. My arm falls against her waist. She struggles to wiggle free, but I hold firm.

“I know my methods weren’t right.” A heavy sigh falls out of me. “I shouldn’t have been so… aggressive.”

Her bark of laughter is dark and unamused. I’m frantic to fix this, but not so much that I miss how she hasn’t pushed me away.

Anger I can work with.

Cold eyes. Clenched jaws. Apathy. That’s a bigger hurdle.

Clarissa Maura feels something for me.

Hatred, yes.

But at least it’s something.

“I went about it the wrong way, but the bottom line is the same. I do want to help. And I’ll back that up with actions. I’ll give you double what those companies combined would have donated.”

“This is not about money,” she fumes. “It’s about respect.”

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